Defendants ask judge to dismiss Arizona 'fake elector' case with trial set to begin in 2026

PHOENIX — After three days of arguments and with a trial scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026, the decision about whether Arizona's "fake electors" case will move forward is in Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen’s hands.

Defendants argued over Monday and Tuesday that the indictment against 11 people who signed documents claiming to be Arizona's Electoral College electors in 2020 — even though Joe Biden won the state and Arizona certified his victory — and other Donald Trump allies should be dismissed on the grounds that they were exercising their First Amendment rights.

Mark Williams, the attorney for former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, told Cohen on Tuesday that the indictment was brought to "deprive my client of his right of freedom of speech, freedom to associate, freedom to petition the government for political redress."

"These things are not illegal," Williams added.

On Wednesday, the state defended its case, arguing the charges of engaging in fraud, forgeries and conspiracy were not related to the defendants’ political speech or associations.

"Conspiracy itself not protected speech," prosecutor Nicholas Klingerman said. "Yes, Mr. Giuliani had every right to hold a fake hearing at the Hilton on Nov. 30 and say that thousands of people in Arizona fraudulently voted in the election. But what he did not have the right to do was use was make those statements with intent to commit a fraud, and that's what he's charged with."

In addition to the alleged "fake electors," the defendants are Giuliani; Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; former Trump campaign attorney Christina Bobb; former Trump attorneys John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis; and Trump’s director of Election Day operations, Michael