Republican Michigan elector testifies he never intended to make false public record

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan Republican accused of participating in a fake elector plot after the 2020 presidential election testified Wednesday that he did not know how the electoral process worked and never intended to make a false public record.

“We were told this was an appropriate process,” James Renner, 77, said during a preliminary hearing for a half-dozen other electors who face forgery and other charges.

If he had known any part of the process was illegal, Renner — who served with the state police during the 1970s — said he “would have challenged it.”

“My background was enforcing the law, not breaking the law,” he testified under cross-examination by a defense attorney for one of the electors.

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Attorney General Dana Nessel has said Renner, of Lansing, was one of 16 Republicans who acted as false electors for then-President Donald Trump.

Charges against Renner were dropped last year after he and the state attorney general’s office reached a cooperation deal. He was called to testify