{"id":2067922,"date":"2023-10-15T09:19:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T13:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/local-michigan-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-the-cases-against-michigan-gop-electors\/"},"modified":"2023-10-15T09:23:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-15T13:23:41","slug":"local-michigan-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-the-cases-against-michigan-gop-electors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/local-michigan-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-the-cases-against-michigan-gop-electors\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan judge denies motion to dismiss cases against GOP electors."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flocal-michigan-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-the-cases-against-michigan-gop-electors%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2067922&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote>\n<h2>Michigan Judge Refuses \u2063to Dismiss Case Against Republican \u200cElectors<\/h2>\n<p>On Oct. 6, Lansing Judge \u200bKristen Simmons, a Democrat appointee, refused \u2063to dismiss the case of Mari-Ann Henry and rejected the motion for summary disposition of Clifford Frost.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Henry and Mr. Frost are two\u200c of 16 Republican\u2063 presidential electors charged with eight felony counts of fraud and election forgery in connection with the \u20632020 election.<\/p>\n<p>Months before that election, the 16 were lawfully chosen at \u200da <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prager-the-human-need-to-feel-important-and-how-government-squelches-it\/\" title=\"PRAGER: The Human Need To Feel Important \u2013 And How Government Squelches It\">party convention<\/a> of\u2063 the Michigan GOP and bound by Michigan law to cast \u200ctheir \u2063Electoral College votes for Pres. Donald Trump if he\u2064 won the state that November.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Related Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/michigans-alternate-electors-up-to-fighting-alleged-fraud-charges-constitutional-attorney-5434519?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><strong>Michigan&#8217;s Alternate Electors Up\u2064 to Fighting Alleged \u2063Fraud Charges: Constitutional Attorney<\/strong><\/a>  &#8211; 7\/31\/2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/michigan-alternate-electors-plea-not-guilty-to-forgery-charges-5456965?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><strong>Michigan Alternate\u2063 Electors Plead Not Guilty to Forgery Charges<\/strong><\/a>  &#8211; 8\/10\/2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When challenger Joe Biden was declared the winner, the result provoked a flurry of investigations disputing his victory, as well as several lawsuits trying to prove that\u200b Mr. Trump had actually won.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200d uncertainty of\u2064 the outcome led the 16 Republicans to, pursuant to\u2063 law, meet, vote, and \u200cpresent themselves by mail to Congress as a contingent slate of electors if Mr. Biden\u2019s win was overturned.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2><strong>A Prosecutorial Non-Starter<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In an April 26, 2021, \u200dmemo\u2063 to his colleagues explaining his reasons for \u2064declining to prosecute, Ingham\u200b County Assistant Prosecuting\u200b Attorney\u200d Andrew Stevens wrote:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cBased \u200con my \u200dreview of the evidence \u200dand legal authority, I do not recommend authorizing charges against \u2064the sixteen Republican candidates for \u200belectors\u2026We face challenges of satisfying our burden\u2063 of proof\u200d on two elements of\u200d Michigan\u2019s Election\u200d Law\u200b Forgery statute.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on my review, this was \u2064a\u200b political stunt\u2026Whether the Republican candidates were\u2064 grandstanding or preserving their \u2063rights, nobody was fooled \u2062by their transmitted certification of votes.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2><strong>The Same, Only Different<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Similar to the actions of the Republican Party, the \u200cDemocrat Party lawfully chose 16\u2063 presidential electors who were legally bound to cast their electoral votes for Mr. Biden if he won\u2062 the Nov. 3, 2020 election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>On\u2064 Nov. 23, \u2064the Board of \u2063State \u2062Canvassers officially determined Mr. Biden was the winner \u2063by about 154,000 votes.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrat electors\u2019 votes for Mr. Biden were then officially affirmed, signed, \u200cand sealed by Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in \u2064a certificate of ascertainment, which was\u2062 sent to Congress and accepted on Jan. 6, 2021\u2014all pursuant to state and federal law.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2><strong>An Expected End<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Ms. Simmons&#8217;s rulings against the two GOP defendants \u2062came as no surprise because even Michigan\u2019s Democrat \u200dAttorney General, Dana Nessel, the prosecutor of the\u200c case,\u200d said in a widely publicized Sept. 18 video that the jurisdiction in which the electors are being tried is \u201cvery, very Democrat-leaning.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Speaking to a virtual conference of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kamala-harris-condemns-d-c-demonstrators-despite-past-encouragement-of-violent-blm-mobs\/\" title=\"Kamala Harris condemns D.C. demonstrators despite past encouragement of violent BLM mobs\">left-wing activists<\/a>, Ms. Nessel said of the 16 Republican defendants, \u201cThese people have been brainwashed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said they legitimately \u2064believe\u200c that they\u200d are in the right and are\u200d not\u200c changing their view.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Nessel also said in the \u200bvideo that the defendants\u2019 sincere belief that Mr. Trump actually won the state and that they did nothing wrong\u2064 makes it highly unlikely that any of the 16 \u2062would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-trump-please-pardon-jon-woods-a-victim-of-process-crimes-like-michael-flynn\/\" title=\"President Trump, Please Pardon Jon Woods, a Victim of Process Crimes Like Michael Flynn\">plead guilty<\/a> or flip\u2064 to become witnesses for the prosecution against their colleagues.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2><strong>A\u2064 Pattern for Future Pleadings was Set<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>George M. Brown, Ms. Henry\u2019s attorney, told The Epoch Times\u200b in an email after the hearing, \u201cWe were disappointed in the court\u2019s decision \u200cbut will continue to make our arguments at\u200d the preliminary exam.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Attorney General represents the People of the\u200d State of Michigan, so\u2064 her statements are admissible in\u200d court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer claims and the \u2064court filings both can\u2019t be true. If the Attorney General believes what she said, how is she continuing to prosecute these people?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis issue isn\u2019t going away,\u201d Mr. Brown wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2><strong>The Arguments of Clifford Frost<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Mr. Frost, 75, of Macomb County, is a realtor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>His lawyer,\u2063 Kevin Kijewski, moved to sever Mr. Frost\u2019s \u200bcase from the other 15 defendants\u2064 so\u200c that he \u2063could be dealt with individually.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Kijewski told the judge that \u200csince Ms. Nessel decided to charge all 16 defendants separately,\u200b they should be\u200c tried separately.<\/p>\n<p>He contended that, though Mr. Frost \u2062is a de facto codefendant, he is not a\u200b codefendant \u2062de jure\u200b because Ms. Nessel did not charge \u2064all of the defendants with\u2064 the same instrument.<\/p>\n<p>The motion to\u2063 sever was denied, \u2062with Ms. Simmons explaining that the \u200cdetermination was within the discretion of the court.<\/p>\n<p>The court\u2063 also rejected \u2063a \u2063motion for the summary disposition of the \u200dcase against\u2064 Mr. Frost.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Simmons explained her decision, saying,\u2064 \u201cWe need to have an evidentiary-based hearing. There are no facts on record in this case until a\u200c preliminary examination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe People, as well \u2062as the defendant, have a \u200bright to a preliminary examination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lansing attorney David Kallman, who represents defendant Hank \u200cChoate, a 72-year-old\u200d dairy farmer, attended the Oct. 6 hearing via\u200d Zoom.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Choate is scheduled to appear in court later this month.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Kallman told \u2062The Epoch Times that Ms. \u200bNessel\u2019s admissions\u2064 in the video were very unusual coming from an opposing party and \u2064may help the defendants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn making her decision, the judge basically \u2064ignored the video \u2064and did not address the admissions,\u201d Mr. \u2063Kallman said.<\/p>\n<p>He stated that he expects that the cases \u2063of all 16\u2063 defendants will eventually be \u200dbound over to Ingham County Circuit Court by Ms. Simmons.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/local-michigan-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-the-cases-against-michigan-gop-electors\/\" title=\"Michigan judge denies motion to dismiss cases against GOP electors.\">post-hearing phone\u200d interview<\/a>, Mr. Kijewski told The\u200b Epoch Times that the strength of his client\u2019s case is that \u201cMr. Frost did not commit a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that Mr. Frost did not deceive, defraud, or cheat anybody by engaging in what he called a \u201cpolitical protest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to\u2062 Mr. Kijewski, no one was exposed \u200dto a \u200crisk\u200b of loss because\u200b state and federal statutes mandate that a governor\u2019s certificate \u2063of ascertainment is the only official \u200cdocument \u2062that Congress can accept.<\/p>\n<p>He said the GOP electors did not forge that document, nor did\u200c they forge the names of anybody \u200cwho affixed their \u2063signature on \u200cit, nor in some\u200b way\u2063 did they claim to be the Democrat electors. Instead, they signed their own names\u200b on their own certificate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not a crime,\u201d he stated. \u201cThe Republican electors\u2019\u2062 certificate is indisputably what it purports to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Kijewski said \u2064that his research has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-rep-jack-bergman-introduces-bill-to-crack-down-on-foreign-state-media-operating-on-capitol-hill\/\" title=\"GOP Rep Jack Bergman Introduces Bill To Crack Down On Foreign State Media Operating On Capitol Hill\">found numerous instances<\/a> of \u200calternative certificates being \u200bput\u2062 forward and, to his knowledge,\u200b the Michigan case is the first one that has ever been prosecuted.<\/p>\n<p>He \u200cstated,\u200d \u201cThe case against the Michigan Republican electors is a political prosecution and persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The timing of \u200bthe charges appears very suspect, occurring as\u200b it does, 941 days\u200d after the event took\u200c place, Mr. Kijewski\u200b said.<\/p>\n<p>The next step in the \u200cFrost\u200c case is a probable cause conference \u2064set for Dec. 15.<\/p>\n<p>A hearing for six\u2064 electors\u200c scheduled for Oct. 12 was \u200babruptly canceled and rescheduled for Dec. 13\u2062 and 14.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How will\u2064 the defendants continue to defend their client in the upcoming preliminary examination, despite the\u200b judge&#8217;s decision<\/h2>\n<p><span>  An expressed \u200bdisappointment with the judge&#8217;s decision, stating,\u2063 &#8220;We think that the evidence clearly shows that \u2064our client\u2062 is innocent, \u200dand we were hoping for a dismissal\u200c of the case. However, we \u2063respect \u2063the\u2062 court&#8217;s\u200d decision and will continue to vigorously defend our client in the upcoming preliminary examination.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The \u2063case \u2062against\u200b the 16 Republican presidential electors in Michigan continues \u2062to move forward, despite efforts by some to have it dismissed. \u200bJudge Kristen\u2064 Simmons\u2062 has refused \u2063to\u2063 dismiss \u2062the case\u2064 against Mari-Ann Henry and Clifford Frost, two of the defendants, and has \u2063rejected the motion for summary disposition. The\u200d judge&#8217;s decisions\u200d were expected, given\u200c the\u2063 political \u2062leanings of the jurisdiction and the statements\u2062 made by Michigan&#8217;s Democrat Attorney General, Dana Nessel.<\/p>\n<p>The defendants maintain their belief that President Donald Trump actually won \u2062the state and that they did nothing \u2064wrong in casting their\u2062 Electoral College votes\u200c for him. Their<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Oct. 6, Judge Kristen Simmons, a Democrat appointee in Lansing, denied the dismissal of Mari-Ann Henry&#8217;s case and rejected the motion for summary disposition of Clifford Frost. Both are among 16 Republican electors facing eight felony charges of fraud and election forgery related to the 2020 election. Months have passed since the charges were filed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":369,"featured_media":2067923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2067922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/369"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2067922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2067923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2067922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2067922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2067922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}