AG Ford mum on Nevada Republican elector investigation

Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford is refusing to say whether the state is investigating the six Republican electors who submitted false certificates of election declaring Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election.

“I know it’s not a satisfying answer for a lot of people, but I wouldn’t jeopardize anything we’re doing or can do by commenting on whether we’re investigating,” Ford said Friday during a press call with the Democrat. Attorney General’s Association regarding the second anniversary of the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol.

Ford said he does not comment on any investigation, whether it involves elder abuse, child abuse or Republican voters.

“The minute I decide to comment on voter fraud, someone is going to say this is a partisan investigation because I’m not commenting on anything anyway,” Ford said.

Ford said he is cooperating and participating in the Justice Department’s investigation.

Attorneys general in other states are not shy about saying whether they are investigating illegal voters.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said on the call that she plans to open a state investigation into the 16 Republican electors in Michigan who submitted false voter certificates on Trump’s behalf after an “overwhelming amount of evidence” emerged from the House committee. selected to investigate. the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

“We’re reopening our investigation because I don’t know what the federal government plans to do, and maybe they’ll move forward, and I hope they do,” Nessel said. “But I think it’s important … that there’s some accountability. You know, let’s be clear about what that was. It was an attempt to subvert a legitimate election and I think this type of activity cannot go without consequences.”

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said she will direct her office to launch an investigation into Republican electoral fraud in Arizona.

“We certainly don’t want to interfere with any federal investigation and we will work with them,” Mayes said. “But I think … it’s not the kind of thing that can go unexamined. You know, we cannot allow a situation that clearly involved an attempt to undermine our democracy to go uninvestigated.”

On December 14, 2020, six Republican electors gathered outside the Nevada Capitol in Carson City and signed a fake certificate of attestation certifying the election results for Trump — despite him losing by about 30,000 votes to Joe Biden and the real electors certifying the results for Biden in the presence of Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske.

Nevada Republican electors joined Republicans in other battleground states in submitting the certificates to Congress and the National Archives in hopes that Vice President Mike Pence would use them to certify the election for Trump.

Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald referred all requests for comment to his attorney, who did not immediately return a call from the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday. The federal government investigated McDonald, seizing his cell phone.

McDonald and National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid, who was one of the other Republican constituents, also testified before the committee on January 6, but invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. DeGraffenreid could not be reached for comment Friday.

Contact Jessica Hill at [email protected] Follow @jess_hillyeah on Twitter.