LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Last week, the office of Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced six people had been accused of submitting false documents to Congress saying Donald Trump won the 2020 election in Nevada even though he did not.
AG Ford was originally scheduled to hold a press conference on December 6. However, the UNLV shooting that rocked the valley took priority and his office announced the speech would be rescheduled to a later date.
Ford opens with an acknowledgment of the shooting last week before calling for a moment of silence. "We are a community that rallies behind each other and we will rally here as well," Ford said.
After the silence he begins laying out the lengthy process for the investigation, saying they have been working on this case for years. The six so-called "fake electors" are now facing charges for categories C and D felonies.
The attorney general notes the investigation remains ongoing, and cannot comment on many more further details. However, he stated that Senate Bill 133, which he testified in support of at the Nevada Legislature back in May, would have "directly addressed the issue" at hand for this investigation.
According to the Office of the Attorney General, there is no statute that directly criminalizes trying to pass yourself off as elector when you are not, or "fake elector schemes." The bill aiming to do so passed but was ultimately vetoed by Governor Joe Lombardo.
However, AG Ford did say there are "of course" other generally applicable state statutes that address what these individuals did, such as offering a false instrument for filing or uttering a forged instrument. He says the evidence found, combined with review and new evidence that continues to come in, his office was fortified in their belief they could meet those elements to proceed to indict on those theories.
According to Ford, Trump is on the witness list but would not be able to speak on the details of why the former president was not charged at this time.
He says the six individuals perpetrated a grave offense against the State of Nevada. "I noted during my testimony for Senate Bill 133 that as long as I'm attorney general I'll never, never stop fighting against those seeking to undermine our elections, I will never stop fighting those who seek to undermine our democracy, I meant it," Ford mentioned, before speaking more about the investigation itself.
When asked about how long exactly the investigation has been underway, he said they were at least a year in when he testified back in May 2023.
He continued, saying he was likely to advocate for SB133 again in the next session.
When asked about how quickly other states were able to carry out investigations seemingly similar to this one, or if the timeline of the investigation was politically motivated, Ford said, "we do not operate our office on the perception of other folks."
The arraignment in the Eighth Judicial Court will be Monday December 18. There, the six indicted will be able to enter their pleas. No other timeline of court dates were made available.
