“Eighty-four Republicans in seven states falsely claimed to be Donald Trump’s presidential electors in December 2020. Three and a half years later, dozens of them are facing criminal charges,” Politico said (here) on May 11, 2024. “Dozens of others have not been charged at all.”
While Politico says that depends “almost entirely” on where they live, that’s not actually the case. There’s variation in state laws (and what constitutes a crime), but the fake electoral vote forms weren’t all the same, either.
The 25 fake electors in Pennsylvania and New Mexico appear to have a solid defense. Their electoral vote forms were worded to be contingent on the Trump campaign overturning those states’ election results in the courts. Because of that, signing them didn’t “cross the line into criminality” (see stories here and here).
In the other five states, the fake electors represented themselves as actual electors. Wisconsin hasn’t made a decision yet about it’s 10 fake electors. In the other states, conspiracy and forgery indictments were handed down against Arizona’s 11 fake electors, three of Georgia’s 16 fake electors, all of Michigan’s 16 fake electors, and Nevada’s 6 fake electors. Georgia’s other 13 fake electors took cooperation deals in exchange for immunity.
One of the fake electors being prosecuted in Georgia is Shawn Still (photo above), a pool builder and rafting company owner who was elected to the state senate in 2022. On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, his attorney argued because the charges should be dropped “because he only participated in the conspiracy for 26 minutes.” There’s even a video of the attorney’s argument embedded in the story here.
Frankly, I don’t think that will work; but if it does, it could spawn an entire cottage industry. Here are some examples of potential defense arguments:
“Your Honor, my client was in and out of the convenience store within 2 minutes.”
“Your Honor, my client was out of the parking garage with the catalytic converter in less than 3 minutes. He cuts them off really fast!”
“Your Honor, it took my client only 5 minutes to rob the bank. You’re giving him 10 years for a crime that last only 5 minutes?”
“Your Honor, my client spent only a fraction of a second pulling the trigger.”
“Your Honor, the victim was dead within 10 minutes.”
Yeah, well, as far as I know it’s the crime you commit and not how long it takes to commit it that determines the charges, verdict, and sentence. Best of luck with that stupid-beyond-words defense, Mr. Still. In my opinion, you should’ve taken the cooperation deal.