Arizona AG Dismisses Fake Elector Case, Plans Indictment

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has moved to dismiss the state's high-profile criminal case against allies of former President Donald Trump accused of participating in the 2020 "fake elector" scheme. The dismissal, filed on Thursday, June 18, 2026, is without prejudice, meaning prosecutors intend to seek a new indictment from a grand jury at a later date.

The motion follows a series of legal setbacks for the prosecution. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge had ordered the case returned to a grand jury after defense attorneys successfully argued that the original grand jury was not shown relevant portions of the federal Electoral Count Act. After the Arizona Supreme Court declined earlier this month to review that decision, prosecutors faced a 15-day deadline to begin new grand jury proceedings by Friday, June 19. In the court filing, Mayes’s office stated it could not meet that deadline due to the case's complexity and the need to accommodate defense requests to present evidence.

The original indictment, filed in April 2024, charged 18 defendants with fraud, forgery, and conspiracy. They were accused of submitting documents falsely asserting that Trump had won Arizona’s...