CARSON CITY, Nev. — The yearslong case against six Nevada Republicans who were accused of submitting a bogus certificate that declared President Donald Trump the winner of the state’s 2020 presidential election has been sent back to Clark County, where a jury is more likely to rule against them.
The opinion released Thursday from the Nevada Supreme Court is a response to an earlier ruling from a state judge that ruled Clark County was the wrong venue for the case because the alleged crimes had occurred elsewhere in the state. Clark County is home to Las Vegas and leans Democratic.
After the 2020 election, the six electors gathered outside of the Nevada Legislature to sign certificates giving the state’s six electoral votes to Trump, despite former President Joe Biden winning the state by more than 30,000 votes. The event was broadcast online, and the video footage was used as evidence in the case.
Officials have said the defendants’ actions were part of a larger scheme across seven battleground states to keep Trump in the White House after losing to Biden. Criminal cases were brought against Republican electors in Michigan, Georgia and Arizona. On Monday, Trump pardoned his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others accused of aiding his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
The defendants have called the case political prosecution. They say they were exercising their First Amendment rights to criticize the state’s election processes.
The six Nevadans, who had pleaded not guilty, include Michael McDonald, the chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, and Jesse Law, the former Clark County Republican Party chairman who was recently ousted in a July election.
