Political “good” news is rare these days, so when we find some, we seize it!  (We’ve learned to redefine “good” over the last decade, but that’s a story for another day) Some good news came out of Michigan this week, as Heather Cox Richardson notes in part of her daily newsletter yesterday …

Then, today, Michigan’s attorney general Dana Nessel charged sixteen fake electors who signed fake certificates claiming that Trump had won Michigan’s electoral votes in 2020 with felonies: forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, election law forgery, conspiracy to commit election law forgery, publishing a counterfeit record, and conspiring to publish a counterfeit record.

The sixteen Republicans met in the basement of the state Republican Party’s headquarters and signed fake documents claiming that they were the state’s legitimate electors and that Trump had won the state. Their actions were part of a plan to claim that the electoral votes of certain states were “contested,” allowing then–vice president Mike Pence to reject the votes of those states and throw the election to Trump.

The fake electors attested they were “the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America for the state of Michigan,” Nessel said. “That was a lie. They weren’t the duly elected and qualified electors, and each of the defendants knew it.” “The false electors’ actions undermine the public’s faith in the integrity of our elections and not only violated the spirit of the laws enshrining and defending our democracy, but we believe also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan and peaceably transfer power in America,” Nessel said. “This plan, to reject the will of the voters and undermine democracy, was fraudulent and legally baseless.”

Text messages at the time show that the sixteen were “all asked to keep silent [so] as to not draw attention to what the other states were doing similar to ours!” One of those charged was former co-chair of the state Republican committee, Meshawn Maddock, who called the charges “political persecution.”  

Legal analyst Renato Mariotti noted that the charges against the sixteen fake electors send a powerful message for those at the state level who might consider abetting Trump in the future. Those fake electors aren’t part of Trump’s inner circle who might get some kind of a reward for their trouble. They are just party operatives who are facing an expensive, stressful, and humiliating experience that could lead to hefty fines or imprisonment. Their example might well make others think carefully before they sign on to similar plans.

I’m told they could spend quite a long time – a decade or more – in prison and while I hate to say it, that is as it should be.  First, because they knowingly attempted to overthrow an election that would have had grievous consequences reaching far into the future; and second because this is precedent-setting, and they must serve as a deterrent for any who consider similar actions in the future.  If they just get a slap on the wrist, that wouldn’t be much of a deterrent now, would it?

The sixteen are:

• Kathy Berden, 70, of Snover
• William (Hank) Choate, 72, of Cement City
• Amy Facchinello, 55, of Grand Blanc
• Clifford Frost, 75, of Warren
• Stanley Grot, 71, of Shelby Township
• John Haggard, 82, of Charlevoix
• Mari-Ann Henry, 65, of Brighton
• Timothy King, 56, of Ypsilanti
• Michele Lundgren, 73, of Detroit
• Meshawn Maddock, 55, of Milford
• James Renner, 76, of Lansing
• Mayra Rodriguez, 64, of Grosse Pointe Farms
• Rose Rook, 81, of Paw Paw
• Marian Sheridan, 69, of West Bloomfield
• Ken Thompson, 68, of Orleans
• Kent Vanderwood, 69, of Wyoming

Every single one is over the age of 50, certainly old enough to have known better!