Creation And Promotion Of “Alternate” Elector Slates

After failing to overturn the 2020 election through court challenges and state-level pressure campaigns, Donald Trump and his allies pursued a coordinated effort to create and submit fraudulent “alternate” slates of presidential electors. The scheme operated across seven states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—all of which had formally certified Joe Biden as the winner under state law.

The effort went far beyond political rhetoric. Trump campaign lawyers and outside attorneys developed a plan to generate official-looking electoral certificates falsely claiming Trump had won states he had lost. These documents were transmitted to Congress, the National Archives, and other government entities despite the absence of any legal authority and despite the existence of lawfully certified electors.

Internal memoranda written by Trump-aligned attorneys outlined how competing slates of electors could be used to create procedural confusion on January 6, 2021. The strategy relied on manufacturing the appearance of a disputed election in order to give Congress or the Vice President a pretext to delay, reject, or overturn the lawful counting of electoral votes.

Trump was personally involved in encouraging the plan. He was repeatedly briefed on the fake elector strategy and continued to promote it even after being informed by the Department of Justice and White House counsel that the plan was unlawful. Trump later pressured Vice President Mike Pence to treat the fraudulent elector certificates as legitimate during the January 6 joint session of Congress.

In December 2020, pro-Trump activists in the targeted states convened to sign documents falsely asserting they were the “duly elected and qualified” presidential electors. In several states, these meetings were conducted in secrecy after state officials denied access to government buildings. The certificates closely mimicked legitimate Electoral College documents and were sent to federal authorities.

Some participants were told the documents would only be used if Trump later prevailed in court, but contemporaneous emails and legal memoranda show the certificates were intended to be used regardless of litigation outcomes. Investigators concluded that the documents were knowingly false at the time they were signed and submitted.

Congressional investigators and prosecutors determined that the fake elector scheme was designed to directly interfere with Congress’s certification of the election and the peaceful transfer of power. Unlike litigation or public advocacy, the effort involved the creation and submission of false documents to federal institutions.

How The Laws May Apply

18 U.S.C. § 371 — Coordinating the creation and submission of fraudulent elector certificates may constitute a conspiracy to interfere with the federal government’s lawful function of counting electoral votes.

18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) — Using false documents to disrupt or delay Congress’s certification of the Electoral College may qualify as obstruction of an official proceeding.

18 U.S.C. § 1001 — Submitting knowingly false elector certificates to Congress and the National Archives may constitute false statements to the federal government.

Sources

https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf

https://www.justsecurity.org/84976/fake-electors-scheme-explained/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/us/politics/trump-fake-electors.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/25/trump-fake-electors-plot/

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-trump-campaign-lawyer-wrote-memos-outlining-fake-elector-strategy-2022-01-19/

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/fake-electors-jan-6-hearings-00040931