Editor’s Note: What I noticed about the photo of the supporters of the fake electors—they look like Fox News viewers (according to data collected about the Fox News audience).
This article first appeared on Michigan Advance.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Monday that her office will not appeal the September 2025 decision by Lansing 54-A District Court Judge Kristen Simmons to dismiss charges against the 15 defendants who faced criminal charges for their alleged participation as a false slate of electors during the 2020 presidential election.
A press release from Nessel’s office emphasized that the decision was not reached lightly, and that her team made its decision based on considerations of “the resources and time required to pursue justice in these cases, the pace and difficulty with which various courts have dealt with criminal violations of election law, and our likelihood of success given stringent appellate review standards.”
“This decision does not reflect any change in my belief in each defendant’s culpability for their alleged crimes, nor do I feel it any less urgent that those who work to undermine our elections should face accountability,” Nessel said in the press release.
“The President at the center of this conspiracy has returned to power, elections across the country are scheduled to commence in November, and most of the conspirators involved in the false electors plot nationally have never been brought to justice for their acts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.”
Nessel’s office also released a 110-page report detailing accusations, charges and evidence against each defendant, as well as an explanation of the decision not to appeal the district court ruling.
At the time of the district court decision, Nessel called it “the most dangerous slippery slope that exists for American democracy,” adding, “When the courts determine that violations of election law should not even be heard by a jury; when state legislators and governors across America make it easier for Trump to cheat; when the Supreme Court hands the president a blank check to violate any law, commit any crime without penalty or consequence.”
In the conclusion of the new report, Nessel shared a similar sentiment, writing, “Lies, like those told by the false slate, Trump, and Trump’s bevy of election denialists are deliberate and dangerous. The harm done cannot be overestimated.”
The Attorney General’s office confirmed that this concludes the state prosecution of these defendants.
Each of the alleged false electors were pardoned by Trump in November — though those were largely symbolic, as they only apply to federal charges, which none of the individuals on the list were facing.
Nessel also referenced those pardons in her conclusion to the report, noting that they eliminated any possibility of future federal prosecutions.
“The failure to provide accountability to Michigan’s false slate will surely inspire others to be as creative as possible in finding electoral mechanisms to exploit, at the behest of Trump or other candidates for political office,” she continued.
“Even with disappointing setbacks, such as the outcome of the false slate cases in Michigan, we must not grow tolerant of political lies and criminal conspiracies aimed at undermining our free and fair elections.”
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: in**@*************ce.com.
