Trump May Have Just Cost Himself a Bunch of Allies
Donald Trump may be off the hook for his criminal trials, but that doesn’t mean his associates are getting equal treatment.Dozens of the president-elect’s aides and allies are still facing the music in five states—Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Michigan—for their involvement in Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy.“Our job is justice and that job does not change depending upon who wins the presidential election,” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford told Politico. “The rule of law does not cease to exist because [Trump] has won the presidency.”Eighteen of Trump’s associates are on the hook in Arizona, where they’re accused of orchestrating a scheme to use fake electors to flip Arizona’s 2020 election results over to Trump. They include Rudy Giuliani, Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and attorneys John Eastman and Christina Bobb. Two of the charged individuals have already pleaded guilty, including former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, who arranged a plea deal with state prosecutors in exchange for dismissed charges.The rest of the lot are slated to start trial in January 2026. All of the indicted individuals in Arizona face the same slew of charges, which include counts for conspiracy, forgery, fraudulent schemes and practices, and fraudulent schemes and artifices—the last of which holds a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.“I have no intention of breaking that case up. I have no intention of dropping that case,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told MSNBC last month. “A grand jury in the state of Arizona decided that these individuals who engaged in an attempt to overthrow our democracy in 2020 should be held accountable, so we won’t be cowed, we won’t be intimidated.”Eighteen people close to Trump are charged in Georgia for their participation in the fake elector conspiracy, including some who overlap with the Arizona case, such as Giuliani and Meadows. Four individuals have already pleaded guilty, including the architect of the scheme Kenneth Chesebro, though he has since attempted to withdraw his plea.In Wisconsin, Chesebro, Trump campaign operative Michael Roman, and veteran Wisconsin lawyer James Troupis have been charged with forgery in the alleged fraud. In Nevada, 21 GOP activists still face prosecution for their role in the scheme. And in Michigan, 16 GOP electors have been charged with felonies, though one has since been let off the hook through a plea deal.But Trump’s return to the White House and his ability to suddenly walk free will put jurors and prosecutors deliberating the case in a strange position: identifying guilt in Trump’s allies as they dance around the soon-to-be president’s role at the epicenter of the vast conspiracy.The criminal cases against Trump died overnight after the MAGA leader won the presidential election, effectively allowing him to skirt all responsibility by resuming an office that cannot be criminally prosecuted. Trump faced 91 criminal charges across four cases that prosecutors waited years to take to court. Separately, he was convicted on 34 criminal counts relating to covert hush-money payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election—but that sentencing dissolved just days after Trump won the election. However, he’s still on the hook for eight civil cases relating to his involvement in the January 6 attack. The cases, which come from congress members and injured police officers, could be the last bastion in holding Trump to account for failing to intervene as his supporters ransacked the U.S. Capitol.
Donald Trump may be off the hook for his criminal trials, but that doesn’t mean his associates are getting equal treatment.
Dozens of the president-elect’s aides and allies are still facing the music in five states—Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Michigan—for their involvement in Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy.
“Our job is justice and that job does not change depending upon who wins the presidential election,” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford told Politico. “The rule of law does not cease to exist because [Trump] has won the presidency.”
Eighteen of Trump’s associates are on the hook in Arizona, where they’re accused of orchestrating a scheme to use fake electors to flip Arizona’s 2020 election results over to Trump. They include Rudy Giuliani, Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and attorneys John Eastman and Christina Bobb. Two of the charged individuals have already pleaded guilty, including former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, who arranged a plea deal with state prosecutors in exchange for dismissed charges.
The rest of the lot are slated to start trial in January 2026. All of the indicted individuals in Arizona face the same slew of charges, which include counts for conspiracy, forgery, fraudulent schemes and practices, and fraudulent schemes and artifices—the last of which holds a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.
“I have no intention of breaking that case up. I have no intention of dropping that case,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told MSNBC last month. “A grand jury in the state of Arizona decided that these individuals who engaged in an attempt to overthrow our democracy in 2020 should be held accountable, so we won’t be cowed, we won’t be intimidated.”
Eighteen people close to Trump are charged in Georgia for their participation in the fake elector conspiracy, including some who overlap with the Arizona case, such as Giuliani and Meadows. Four individuals have already pleaded guilty, including the architect of the scheme Kenneth Chesebro, though he has since attempted to withdraw his plea.
In Wisconsin, Chesebro, Trump campaign operative Michael Roman, and veteran Wisconsin lawyer James Troupis have been charged with forgery in the alleged fraud. In Nevada, 21 GOP activists still face prosecution for their role in the scheme. And in Michigan, 16 GOP electors have been charged with felonies, though one has since been let off the hook through a plea deal.
But Trump’s return to the White House and his ability to suddenly walk free will put jurors and prosecutors deliberating the case in a strange position: identifying guilt in Trump’s allies as they dance around the soon-to-be president’s role at the epicenter of the vast conspiracy.
The criminal cases against Trump died overnight after the MAGA leader won the presidential election, effectively allowing him to skirt all responsibility by resuming an office that cannot be criminally prosecuted. Trump faced 91 criminal charges across four cases that prosecutors waited years to take to court. Separately, he was convicted on 34 criminal counts relating to covert hush-money payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election—but that sentencing dissolved just days after Trump won the election.
However, he’s still on the hook for eight civil cases relating to his involvement in the January 6 attack. The cases, which come from congress members and injured police officers, could be the last bastion in holding Trump to account for failing to intervene as his supporters ransacked the U.S. Capitol.
