Las Vegas, Nevada – The criminal case against six Nevada Republicans accused of acting as “fake electors” in the 2020 presidential election resumed Monday in Clark County, with sharp debate over whether prosecutors can prove the defendants intended to commit fraud. The hearing followed a Nevada Supreme Court ruling that Clark County is the proper venue to hear the case.
The defendants face charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument after convening a December 2020 ceremony in Carson City and signing documents falsely awarding Nevada’s electoral votes to President Donald Trump and then–Vice President Mike Pence, despite Joe Biden winning the state. Those documents were sent to multiple officials, including the vice president, the National Archives, and the secretary of state.
During Monday’s proceedings, Clark County Judge Mary Kay Holthus expressed skepticism about the prosecution’s ability to establish “intent to defraud,” a required element for one of the charges. Holthus said it was difficult to see how the defendants could have believed their actions would successfully overturn the election outcome. Prosecutors countered that the intent could be inferred from the creation and distribution of documents containing knowingly false information.
Defense attorneys argued the electors were engaging in political expression and preserving potential legal challenges, not committing fraud. Holthus ordered prosecutors to submit additional briefing on intent by early March. The next hearing is scheduled for April 10.
The case involves prominent Nevada GOP figures and is part of a broader, slow-moving effort by states to pursue accountability in similar fake elector schemes following the 2020 election.
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