Arizona state senator pleads not guilty in fake elector case; 2 more in court Friday

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — An Arizona state senator indicted in the so-called “fake elector” scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election appeared before a judge on Thursday and entered his plea.

State Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Republican from Queen Creek, pleaded not guilty through his attorney to the conspiracy, forgery and fraud charges.

He told the judge he’d be traveling out of state this summer for different GOP events, and the judge said that was OK.

Two more defendants, former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump 2020 campaign operative Michael Roman, will be arraigned on Friday.

They are part of the 18 people indicted in April by an Arizona grand jury for their alleged roles in the “alternate electors” scheme.

Twelve of the defendants were arraigned on May 21.

Eleven Arizona politicians met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state.

The Arizona Republican Party posted a one-minute video of the signing ceremony on social media at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.

Trump lost Arizona in 2020 to Joe Biden by less than 11,000 votes and then-Gov. Doug Ducey had already certified the election.

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