Federal judge won't shut down Michigan AG Dana Nessel's case against 2020 fake electors
(CNN) — A federal judge on Thursday declined to shut down Michigan's state-level prosecution of pro-Trump fake electors who tried to subvert the 2020 election.
One of the fake electors charged in the case, Clifford Frost, had argued that the federal judge needed to intervene because the case was politically tainted and brought in "bad faith" by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat and Trump critic.
But U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker declined to step in, saying there wasn't compelling evidence of prosecutorial malfeasance, and that the fake electors will have opportunities to raise concerns about Nessel's motivations as the case progresses in the state courts.
Nessel's office did not immediately reply to CNN's request for comment on the ruling.
Michigan made history last summer by becoming the first state to charge the GOP activists who participated in the nationwide plot to keep Donald Trump in power by subverting the Electoral College, even though he lost the 2020 election. The novel case faces some challenges, so each attempt to chip away at the charges is being closely watched.
"Frost has certainly raised multiple issues that a court will have to address and resolve on the merits. But this is by no means enough to establish the bad faith prosecution," Jonker wrote in his 11-page decision, pushing back on claims that the case is biased.
The judge added, "There is nothing remotely unique or exceptional about Frost's arguments that would require this Court to intervene in his state criminal prosecution."
The 16 fake electors from Michigan were each charged with eight state felonies. One already agreed to cooperate with Nessel's prosecutors, in exchange for the charges being dropped. Frost and the remaining 14 defendants have all pleaded not guilty.
More state hearings are expected in the coming months to determine if there is enough evidence for the case to move forward. Frost and some of the other fake electors have argued in court that Nessel has contorted the state forgery laws to charge a case when none exists, because nobody was ever deceived into thinking they were the real electors.
Some of the defendants also tried – but failed – to get the charges thrown out over controversial comments from Nessel that they were "brainwashed" into signing the fake elector certificates. They argued that this proved they didn't have intent to break the law.