Trump campaign recognized legal risks of false electors, still went forward

Lansing — Top advisers within Donald Trump's campaign were aware of concerns in early December 2020 that criminal charges could result from submitting certificates falsely claiming the Republican won battleground states like Michigan that he had actually lost, according to documents obtained by The Detroit News.

The emails and text messages among campaign officials and volunteers showed supporters of Trump's bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election worked to ease worries about potential prosecution in Pennsylvania and New Mexico. But they declined to act on the concerns in Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin, according to the records from Kenneth Chesebro, a lawyer who aided the Trump campaign.

It was a group of Republicans in Pennsylvania — a state Democrat Joe Biden won in 2020 by 1 percentage point — who had hesitations about signing certificates falsely claiming to be Pennsylvania's official presidential electors, according to the documents. They voiced their legal concerns during a Dec. 12, 2020, conference call that featured Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, and Mike Roman, a Trump campaign official, according to emails about the conversation.

"The electors are concerned about the partisan AG targeting them," wrote Chesebro, a lawyer who was also involved in the conference call, in a Dec. 12, 2020, email to Matthew Morgan, an attorney for Trump's campaign.

So Chesebro decided to write alternative language for the Pennsylvania and New Mexico electoral certificates stipulating the Republicans in those states weren't the official electors but "might later be determined" to be the electors, according to an email.

"Mike, I think the language at the start of the certificate should be changed in all the states," Chesebro wrote in a text message to Roman on Dec. 12, 2020, the day of the conference call. "Let's look at the language carefully."

"I don't," replied Roman, the Trump campaign's director of election day operations.

"I can help with drafting in a couple hours," Chesebro then messaged.

Roman responded, "F--- these guys."

The News reviewed hundreds of pages of emails and text messages Attorney General Dana Nessel's office obtained involving Chesebro. He participated in an interview with an agent of Nessel's office earlier this month, records show.

The internal emails and text messages shine new light on the deep involvement of the Trump campaign in orchestrating the slates of false electors — a central piece of the push to undermine the results of the 2020 election — and the behind-the-scenes deliberations that accompanied the effort, including in Michigan.

Trump's campaign didn't immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

Chesebro later told Michigan investigators the Dec. 12, 2020, conference call was "very heated," but he wasn't sure why Roman messaged, "F--- these guys."

"Just placate PA?" Chesebro asked Roman in another Dec. 12, 2020, text message. "OK."

"I do think they're worried about AG a--hole," Chesebro added, likely referring to then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat. Shapiro is now the state's governor.

The exchange between Roman and Chesebro came two days before Dec. 14, 2020, the day Republicans gathered in battleground states to sign electoral certificates as part of a strategy to challenge Biden's victory in Congress.

Unlike in New Mexico and Pennsylvania, 16 Republicans in Michigan signed a certificate falsely claiming to be Michigan's "duly elected and qualified" electors. Trump had lost the state to Biden by 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points, meaning Biden's electors were the true electors.

Nessel, a Democrat, charged each of the 16 Republicans who signed the certificates with eight felonies related to forgery in July. Some of them are expected to appear for their preliminary examinations in Ingham County District Court on Wednesday.

'Might be good'

Chesebro, a Wisconsin native and lawyer who crafted memos used by the Trump campaign to guide their false electors strategy, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents in Georgia in October and has been cooperating with investigators.

Chesebro argued in one Dec. 11, 2020, email that the purpose of sending Republican electoral votes to Congress was "to provide the opportunity to debate election irregularities in Congress and to keep alive the possibility that the votes could be flipped to Trump."

Ultimately, Congress upheld Biden's victory on Jan. 6, 2021, after supporters of Trump stormed the Capitol building.

As Trump's campaign and Chesebro were working to set up and organize the Dec. 14, 2020, gatherings of Republicans in battleground states, Chesebro himself began expressing apprehensions about whether the electoral certificates they signed should specifically claim the Republicans were the "duly elected" electors. The other option was to base the certificates on conditions, such as a future and unlikely court ruling that would reverse a result in a certain state.

Chesebro's concerns came after the Pennsylvania Republicans voiced their worries in the Dec. 12, 2020, conference call.

In an email to Morgan on Dec. 12, 2020, Chesebro said the Pennsylvania Republicans wanted "assurance that any legal expenses would be covered." Giuliani "was receptive to" the idea, Chesebro wrote.

On Dec. 12, 2020, Chesebro suggested adding language to the Pennsylvania certificates that said the Republicans weren't the duly elected electors but that it "might later be determined" that they were the electors.

"It strike (sic) me that if inserting these few words is a good idea for PA, it might be worth suggesting to the electors in other states," Chesebro wrote in an email to Roman, a Trump campaign operative.

Roman didn't directly respond to the idea in email exchanges, according to the records obtained by The News.

The Trump campaign's plans initially focused on six states. But on Dec. 12, 2020, Boris Epshteyn, an adviser to Trump, asked Chesebro also to create a meeting packet for Republicans in New Mexico, according to the records. Biden won New Mexico by about 10 percentage points.

In an email on Dec. 13, 2020, Chesebro told Roman that he added "qualifying language" at the start of the New Mexico certificate, similar to the Pennsylvania certificate.

"Might be good to have it added in all states," Chesebro added.

However, Chesebro had already sent out certificates to be used in other states, including Michigan. Chesebro sent a draft certificate to Marian Sheridan, a Republican activist from Oakland County, on Dec. 10, according to emails.

The ultimate New Mexico certificates featured the "might later be determined" language. In the Michigan certificates, the Republicans falsely described themselves as "the duly elected and qualified electors."

'It wasn't done'

A day after sending his idea to alter the certificates to top Trump campaign officials, Chesebro defended the certificates to James Fitzpatrick, a Trump campaign employee working on the ground in Pennsylvania, where Republicans were voicing concerns.

Prosecutors can't "punish electors for being faithful and backing their candidate through speech acts that expand Congress's options," Chesebro said.

"The campaign should indemnify electors against any legal costs. If AG tries this, a (federal) court might well enjoin it," Chesebro wrote in an email.

In a Dec. 6 interview with an agent of Nessel's office, Chesebro said his immediate reaction to the concerns in Pennsylvania was to change the language, according to a recording of the interview.

Chesebro told Nessel's office that Roman "didn't agree."

Chesebro said he used the conditional wording in the New Mexico documents and suggested doing it for all of the states.

"For whatever reason, it wasn't done," Chesebro said during his interview.

Roman is now facing criminal charges as part of an investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the election in Georgia, including conspiracy to commit forgery. A fundraising page for Roman's legal defense says, "Mike, a father of eight and a devout Roman Catholic, is being targeted by the government in an unprecedented effort to criminalize politics."

No Trump campaign staffers have been charged in Michigan. But charges are pending against 15 of the 16 Republican electors in Michigan.

Nessel's office reached a cooperation deal with and dropped the charges against one of the 16 Republicans, James Renner of Lansing.

cmauger@detroitnews.com