PHOENIX — The criminal case against Arizona’s 2020 “fake electors” is over for now, but the defendants are fighting to make sure it never comes back.
Former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon has asked the Arizona Court of Appeals to step in and order a dismissal that would prevent Attorney General Kris Mayes from bringing new charges, Capitol Media Services reported Monday via KJZZ. Several co-defendants plan to make the same argument.
How the case got here
The 2024 indictment accused 11 Arizona Republicans of forgery and conspiracy for signing documents after the 2020 election falsely asserting that Donald Trump had won the state. Eight more people, all Trump allies or lawyers, were charged as well.
In August, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers dismissed the case without prejudice after earlier finding the grand jury had not been given all the relevant information. That ruling left the door open for the state to seek a new indictment, and Mayes’ office has said it intends to return the case to a grand jury.
The anti-SLAPP argument
Arizona’s anti-SLAPP law was written for civil lawsuits, but in 2022 the Legislature expanded it to criminal cases, making Arizona the only state where the law can require dismissal of a prosecution found to be “substantially motivated” by a desire to retaliate against or deter the exercise of constitutional rights.
In February 2025, Myers found the defendants had cleared the first step of that test, citing campaign-trail statements by Mayes previewing the investigation. The burden then shifted to the state to show the case was not politically motivated. According to the report, the state never made that showing and instead appealed; the appeals court declined to take up that appeal, and the indictment was later thrown out on other grounds. Myers then concluded that, with all charges gone, he had no basis to rule on the anti-SLAPP motions.
Lamon’s lawyers say that leaves the defendants owed a ruling. “The trial court had jurisdiction to act, and it also had a duty to act,” attorney Lacy Cooper wrote in the filing, which asks for dismissal of the charges and attorneys’ fees. Lamon’s own charges were dismissed without prejudice in January 2025 after he agreed to provide emails to the state.
Others have filed notices of appeal raising the same issue: former Trump attorneys John Eastman and Christina Bobb, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Turning Point Action COO Tyler Bowyer, state Sen. Jake Hoffman, Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn and Nancy Cottle. Bobb is also appealing a ruling that denied her bid to disqualify Mayes.
What’s next
One open question is whether Lamon has standing to bring the request, since he faces no active charges. The Court of Appeals has broad discretion to decline it. Mayes spokesperson Richie Taylor declined to comment. The state’s response to Lamon is due Oct. 16, and no briefing schedule has been set for the others. Because Arizona appellate courts have not issued binding rulings on how the criminal anti-SLAPP provision works, the outcome could set precedent.
Photo: w_lemay via Flickr / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). File photo of the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix.