Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has evidence that clears some Republicans targeted in the Georgia indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 others, The Federalist has reported.
Willis has claimed that Republican electors for Trump constituted an unlawful conspiracy to overturn the results in Georgia's 2020 presidential election.
Included in those charged are David Shafer, one of Georgia's 2020 Republican electors, and Ray Smith, who was one of Trump's lawyers at the time of the election.
In the Aug. 14 indictment, Willis alleged that Shafer and other alternate electors "unlawfully falsely held themselves out" as Georgia's "duly elected and qualified" presidential electors.
And, she maintained, these electors, along with Smith's assistance, tried to "mislead" officials — such as then-Vice President Mike Pence and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, into believing that they actually were such officers."
But The Federalist noted Willis possesses a document that reveals a completely different story.
That document — a transcript of the Georgia Republican electors' Dec. 14, 2020, meeting — was obtained by The Federalist. That document reportedly shows the intent behind casting alternate electors was to lawfully preserve Trump's legal challenge to Georgia's election results, and not to impersonate public officers, as Willis alleged, according to the outlet.
"[President Trump] has filed a contest to the certified returns. That contest — is pending [and has] not been decided or even heard by any judge with the authority to hear it," Shafer said. "And so in order to preserve his rights, it's important that the Republican nominees for Presidential Elector meet here today and cast their votes."
During the meeting, Shafer further addressed the legal rationale for filing alternate electors in a talk with Smith.
He asked Trump's then-lawyer: "And so the only way for us to have any judge consider the merits of our complaint, the thousands of people we allege voted unlawfully, is for us to have this meeting and permit the contest to continue?"
"That's correct," Smith replied.
Shafer and Trump had filed suit against Raffensperger on Dec. 4, 2020, claiming there were tens of thousands of illegal votes cast in the state's presidential election, The Federalist noted.
Willis did not respond to The Federalist's request for comment.
Meanwhile, Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday. He is seeking to sever his case from other defendants who are accused along with him of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, according to The Associated Press.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had set arraignment hearings for Trump and the 18 others charged in the case for Sept. 6. A court filing waiving arraignment means Trump won't have to show up.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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