A Maricopa County judge has all but guaranteed the end of Attorney General Kris Mayes’ case against the 2020 electors for President Donald Trump.
On Monday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers ruled the electors had enough to prove they had an anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) defense claim. However, Myers didn’t rule to dismiss Mayes’ case completely.
“The court finds that the defendant’s motions do include information that the charges in this case include, at least in part, some arguably lawful exercise of their rights of petition and speech,” stated Myers. “Defendant’s motions also include information that the attorney general has made statements in the past, suggesting that what happened in this case should never happen again, which they argue shows a desire to deter the actions that were alleged in this case.”
Arizona SLAPP law protects individuals from lawfare intended to deter or retaliate against speech. Under that law, Mayes must show justification based on clearly established law, and that no deterrence, prevention, or retaliation against the exercise of constitutional rights occurred. Mayes may only satisfy those requirements by proving the investigators made their decision on legal action while unaware of the individuals’ lawful exercise of the constitutional right, and establishing a consistent practice of pursuing similar legal actions against similarly situated persons not following lawful constitutional rights.
As a reason for his ruling, Myers referenced a remark made by Mayes in 2023 shortly after taking office.
“We obviously can’t ever have this happen again or anything close to it,” said Mayes.
Those reliant on a favorable anti-SLAPP ruling are former Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward and her husband, Michael Ward; Turning Point Action COO Tyler Bowyer; Arizona Federation of Republican Women member Nancy Cottle; State Senators Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern; former congressional candidate Jim Lamon; former Cochise County Republican Committee chair Robert Montgomery; former Gila County Republican Party leader Samuel Moorhead; Ahwatukee Republican Women member Loraine Pellegrino; and former Arizona Republican Party leader Greg Safsten.
These 11, along with seven other associates of Trump’s, were indicted last April.
In a response to Monday’s ruling, Kelli Ward issued a statement detailing next steps for her and her husband.
Mayes said she plans to appeal Myers’ ruling. The attorney general issued a very brief statement in a press release following the ruling.
“It is not the lawful exercise of free speech to file forged slates of electors to deprive Arizona voters of their right to vote,” said Mayes.
This ruling may have never come to be, had it not been for a change in the assigned judge on the case. Last November, the original judge on the case, Bruce Cohen, resigned after his emails demanding the defense of then-Democratic presidential nomineeKamala Harris came to light.
Last year, the Arizona Daily Independent reported on Mayes relying on a dark money leftist nonprofit — States United Democracy (SUDC) — to prosecute the Trump electors.
SUDC was part of the notorious 2020 “shadow campaign” launched shortly before that election by key top Democratic movers and shakers” former President Barack Obama’s “Ethics Czar,” Norm Eisen; former Massachusetts chief deputy attorney general, Joanna Lydgate; and Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor, EPA administrator under President George W. Bush, and founding member of the Republican Leadership Council. The Progressive State Leaders Committee (PSLC) launched the nonprofit.