(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch announced today it received 5,789 pages of records from the Michigan Department of Attorney General in a Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that show the state’s coordination with the nonprofit States United Democracy Center, which pushed indictments of President Donald Trump’s supporters, lawyers, activists, and Republican Party officials who disputed the 2020 election. Indictments of Trump alternative electors by Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel were thrown out by a judge earlier this year. The documents suggest a broad conspiracy by several states to prosecute Americans over 2020 election disputes.
The records show that States United has a multistate operation aimed at prosecuting and disbarring Trump attorneys and associates in several states. States United was started by Norm Eisen, who was “ethics czar” for President Barak Obama and special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for the impeachment of Trump.
The Michigan production confirms close contact between States United and Michigan state officials.
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On August 8, 2024, Williams writes in an email to Meingast:
Following up on our earlier conversations regarding the USPS, in collaboration with our clients in Nevada, we’ve put together a draft Common Interest Agreement for your consideration. Once we’ve got everyone on board, we can schedule a multi-state call to discuss further. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
The records include a States United action plan, which discusses efforts to target Republicans who raised 2020 election questions in several states, including Michigan:
Election Deniers scored multiple wins in the Arizona and Michigan primaries and will now head to the general election in November. As States United has documented, candidates who continue to spread lies about our elections are running for positions that oversee or influence election administration across the country, posing a threat to our democracy.
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A September 28, 2023, email from Williams to Meingast details interest in cases around the country attempting to have President Trump removed from the 2024 ballot via the disqualification clause of the 14th Amendment. States United Democracy Center would go on to provide a “litigation tracker,” tallying all efforts in states aimed at removing Trump from the ballot.
(The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in March 2024 that states cannot use the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause to remove a federal candidate from the ballot. The court determined that only Congress has the power to enforce this provision against federal officeholders.)
The records include a Michigan court filing in Davis v. Benson and Trump (No. 23-000128)) which points out that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who oversees state elections, had made “many public comments” which “demonstrate her extreme and incurable bias against President Trump.”
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On February 22, 2024, Tiger Mar, a project assistant at States United emails Pier King-Piepenbrok in the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and mentions “our regular briefings.”
“These documents are startling and affirm concerns that Democrat swing state prosecutors were targeting President Trump and his supporters with political prosecutions,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Judicial Watch is being assisted by Robert Muise of The Muise Law Group in Ann Arbor.
Judicial Watch continues to work to obtain records from Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin, which appear to have been part of the same coordinated efforts led by States United Democracy Center.
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