Exams wrapped up Wednesday for the final three people charged with submitting false electoral votes for former President Donald Trump in 2020.
The three defendants, Stanley Grot, Timothy King and Kent Vandwerwood, had their cases back in court this week in front of Ingham County District Judge Kristen Simmons, who will decide whether there is enough evidence against those charged in the case to send them on to trial in circuit court.
Grot, King and Vanderwood were among 16 people charged last year by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office with several felonies, accused of fraudulently submitting fake electoral votes for former President Donald Trump to the U.S. Senate and National Archives.
Each defendant faces eight counts including charges of forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, uttering and publishing, conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing, election law forgery and conspiracy to commit election law forgery. The forgery-related charges each carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, while the election law charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
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16 Michigan Republicans charged with felonies in 2020 fake elector scheme
A 16th defendant, James Renner, had his charges dropped as part of a cooperation agreement with the Attorney General’s Office, in exchange for testifying on behalf of the prosecution.
Renner was on the stand Tuesday and Wednesday, recalling the circumstances that led to he and the 15 defendants meeting on Dec. 14, 2020, at the Michigan Republican Party headquarters in Lansing. At that meeting, prosecutors say they signed documents identifying themselves as the rightful electors of Michigan, and then attempted to cast the state’s electoral votes for former President Donald Trump.
That was despite the fact that President Joe Biden won Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and a Democratic panel of electors were the rightful group to submit the state’s electoral votes. But conspiracies over election fraud, spearheaded by Trump, led many in the state of Michigan to question and deny the integrity of the 2020 election. Trump continues to make the false claims as he campaigns for a second term.
As he testified in December, Renner said there was never any discussion to the group that the documents were, in fact, illegal, but instead that should the election be overturned and Trump be determined to have won the 2020 presidential election, the paperwork would ensure that the appropriate partisan electors would be counted and Michigan could submit its votes for Trump.
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Renner was one of two last-minute replacements for original elector candidates Terri Lynn Land, a former secretary of state, and Gerald Wall, neither of whom attended the Dec. 14, 2020, gathering.
Renner testified that after signing the document, the group later walked it over to the Capitol building to try and deliver it to the state Senate, but were denied entry as the legal Electoral College was meeting to cast their votes for Biden. A videoof that encounter was played in court and confirmed by Renner as authentic. At the time of the attempted delivery, the lawful Democratic electors were gathered inside and casting their ballots as prescribed by law.
Renner also testified to the presence of Ian Northon, who he said he had first noticed joining the group as they walked to the Capitol. Northon is an attorney who was identified by former Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) to the Jan. 6 committee as one of those pressuring him on behalf of the Trump campaign to illegally appoint fake electors.
Defense attorneys worked to portray their clients as having been misled by others leading the effort, such as Northon, but also Kenneth Chesebro, the former Trump attorney who has admitted to orchestrating a multi-state fake elector plot to present fake elector documents in favor of a Trump presidency, and who pleaded guilty in October 2023 to a felony count in Georgia as part of that plot.
He is also an unindicted co-conspirator in the Michigan case, along with Trump, and several others, including Trump lawyers Jenna Ellis and Rudy Giuliani.
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Ex-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro, left, conferred with his defense lawyer, Scott Grubman, during a Fulton County court hearing in the sweeping 2020 presidential election interference case. Two weeks later, Chesebro returned to court Oct. 20 to plead guilty to his role in trying to illegally overturn the 2020 election results. (Alyssa Pointer/Pool Photo via AP)
Also testifying was Howard Shock, a special agent investigator with the Michigan Department of Attorney General, who conducted the investigation that led to the charges. He previously revealed that Chesebro had been cooperating with their investigation, including turning over an email that contained a copy of a false certificate that the defendants later signed.
Defense attorneys in all three sets of hearings have argued that their clients believed they were filling out the document as an alternate slate of electors, and not as the duly sworn electors required by law to cast their votes for the winner of Michigan’s popular vote, which was Biden.
At one point, Grot’s attorney, Derek Wilczynski, asked Shock if there was any law that he was aware of that said that the Republican electors were not allowed to cast their votes for President Trump and Vice President Pence even though the Democratic electors were legally empowered to do so as Biden had won the popular vote.
“So what I found was there was election law that lays out how the party that receives the popular vote, casts the (electoral) votes, but nothing in the law that I found that says the Republican Party can’t cast their votes,” said Shock.
On redirect, Assistant Attorney General LaDonna Logan had Shock confirm that the document the defendants all signed affirmed that as required by Michigan’s faithful electors provision, MCL 168.47, they were casting their votes for Trump and Pence as the duly sworn electors, which they were not.
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Shock was also asked by Vanderwood’s attorney Brian Lennons whether there was a witness or a document that would confirm his client ever reviewed any documents, altered or not, by Kenneth Chesebro or anyone else from the Donald Trump campaign.
“Just the one with his signature on it,” replied Shock.
Simmons initially decided in January to split up the docket into two groups, with preliminary exams concluding in April for the first six defendants, which included Michigan GOP National Committeewoman Kathleen Berden, former Michigan GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock, Amy Facchinello, John Haggard, Mari-Ann Henry and Michele Lundgren.
A second group — Rose Rook, Clifford Frost, Marian Sheridan, Kenneth Thompson, William Choate and Mayra Rodriguez — had their exams conclude in June.
Grot, King and Vandwerwood, had their cases adjourned to later dates for various reasons, and were eventually scheduled together to be held this week.
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Ingham County Judge Kristen Simmons presides over a preliminary exam in Lansing for six of the defendants in the Attorney General’s case against individuals it says submitted false election results for the 2020 presidential election. The court appearance took place on Dec. 13, 2023. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)
At the conclusion of Wednesday’s hearing, Wilczynski requested that the defense attorneys receive transcripts of all the hearings before they filed briefs against binding over their clients for trial.
Simmons, as she had to previous requests for transcripts, rejected the request as well as a follow-up motion by Wilczynski that another hearing be held once the transcripts were available.
“I’m not inclined to carry this matter over any further, because this matter should have been wrapped up a while ago. Remember, I separated this into two factions, not three, and so this was because three of you all failed to comply with the other court dates. And so I’m not going to set this out an additional time,” she said.
It’s not known how long Simmons will take to render her decision, although prosecution briefs are expected within the next 30 days, with defense attorneys having at least 30 days after that to respond.
Paula Wethington is a digital producer at CBS Detroit. She previously held digital content roles at NEWSnet, Gannett/USA Today network and The Monroe News in Michigan. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.
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A pedestrian was struck and died of her injuries early Friday on the Lodge Freeway in Detroit.
Emergency dispatchers started to get calls about 2:30 a.m. about someone who was walking along the Lodge, and then were notified that the person had been struck by a vehicle, the Michigan State Police reported.
When troopers arrived, they found multiple cars stopped along the freeway, and people standing around a woman who was severely injured.
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Detroit EMS pronounced the woman dead at the scene, state police said. She has not yet been identified.
The driver who struck the woman did not stay at the scene.
“Troopers are currently using technology that is available in the area to identify the vehicle involved,” MSP F/Lt. Mike Shaw said.
The Lodge Freeway, also known as M-10, was closed at about 2:46 a.m. Friday between Chicago Boulevard / Hamilton Avenue and Clairmount Street for the investigation and emergency assistance, according to Michigan Department of Transportation reports. The Lodge was reported back open at 6:05 a.m.
Michigan Department of Transportation traffic reports are at the MI Drive site.
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State police said their investigation is continuing. Those who witnessed the crash or have other information are asked to call the MSP Metro South Post at 734-287-5000 or Crime Stoppers of Michigan at 800-SPEAK-UP.
Bryce Underwood talks Michigan football during spring practice
Bryce Underwood talks Michigan football during spring practice at Schembechler Hall in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, March 25, 2026.
The buzzword continued to come up in Schembechler Hall, from each one of the captains.
From Bryce Underwood to Jordan Marshall, Rod Moore to Trey Pierce − Michigan football players around for the previous regime and in the case of the latter two, the one before that too − each said Wednesday, March 25, that there’s a noticeable difference within the program under new coach Kyle Whittingham.
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For Moore, a sixth-year player who will likely become a third-time captain when the official leaders are voted on later this summer, he recognized the vibe.
SCHEME DREAM: Michigan football tailoring offense to strength behind Bryce Underwood
“I would say it’s kind of a similarity to coach Harbaugh’s regimen,” he said. “It’s a lot more strict than the past two years, and the weight room has kind of been a night-and-day difference than the past two years. We feel a lot stronger, a lot more progress.”
The Wolverines finished winter conditioning and Whittingham graded it with an “A+.” Hope is often the dominant mode at this time of year and adding a new coaching staff to what’s generally a positive time creates little surprise that the Wolverines are raving about the new system.
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But beyond the platitudes and clichés, there are tangible examples. Take Pierce: The projected starting defensive tackle has trimmed his weight to 300 pounds while adding muscle mass to his overall frame.
“Something new that we have now is that whenever we start meetings, there’s like a loud air horn that goes off throughout the whole building,” Moore said. “The past two years, we would start the meeting at 2:30, but now we start the meeting at 2:25, even though it’s a 2:30 meeting. Just everyone being five minutes early. The coaches are holding everyone accountable in the meetings, going to class.
“Just the little things that makes a team great, not just the big, broad things that everyone sees.”
There was an implication from everyone, though nothing said explicitly, that the past two seasons featured little enforcement. Most players would show up on time for lifts, but there were those who didn’t, with few repercussions.
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“It’s the little things,” Pierce said. “Guys being late for lifts, guys not being where they’re supposed to be, whether it’s [missing] class. Just enforcing that a little bit heavier, that type of thing. … A lot of coaches say that when you’re being recruited in front of your parents. But for [Whittingham] to say that in front of the huddle after practice and say, ‘That’s why I’m here,’ I would say, ‘OK, he cares. He gets it.’”
Throughout the offseason, some who’ve spent time inside the facility said the weightlifting sessions had notably more juice. The past two years felt like a carryover of the previous years in terms of style, but accountability and discipline wavered.
Now, with Doug Elisaia leading the strength and conditioning room, there are different philosophies.
RAINIER SABIN: Kyle Whittingham is dreaming big for Michigan football; it’s doable
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Practices are a bit shorter these days – two hours – but as Marshall said, “I don’t stop moving at practice, like, we’re always doing something that’s not only going to help with us competing with teams, but our conditioning.”
Marshall believes it can take the Wolverines to the next level, he said.
Just more than a week into spring ball, players are oozing confidence. Not just in their skills − the running back room is deep, the wide receiver room has as much raw talent as at any point the past decade, the offensive line returned multiple key pieces, the secondary added depth and the defensive tackles feel underrated − but in mindset.
U-M had early, demanding lifting sessions during winter conditioning, with a clear organization.
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“It introduces that factor of toughness, like we’ve been through this at 6:30 a.m., 6:15 a.m., all these days in the grind together,” Pierce said. “It improves team bonding, and puts you in the headspace of, we’ve done harder stuff than this, and nothing can break us.”
The difference between winning and losing can often be razor-thin. Will this pay off when it counts during the season?
“If I can trust you to do things maybe you don’t want to do,” Marshall said, “then I can trust you on the field when it’s the fourth quarter and we have one minute left.”
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
