Group of alleged Michigan fake electors appear in district court
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Another eight of the alleged fake electors had a court date in Lansing on Tuesday, with all but one appearing virtually via Zoom.
Each of the eight people is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly submitting false electoral votes for former President Donald Trump after the 2020 election appeared via Zoom in district court in Lansing.
The group's goal was to award Michigan's 16 electoral college votes to Trump over President Joe Biden, who won the state by a little more than 150,000 votes.
"Due to the complexity of the evidence that's being presented, the volume of evidence we have not gotten, I don't think even halfway through," said District Court Judge Kristen Simmons during the proceedings.
The group of alleged fake electors was split into two groups by the judge late last year, and even with the smaller groups, the defendants and their attorneys were in court for multiple nine-hour days.
"It would be a nightmare for me to begin another set of exams with the same set of evidence at a different time, and so to keep things as clean as possible, I am going to proceed with the first six before beginning this," Simmons said.
The courtroom was packed at previous court dates as the defendants and their legal teams crowded into the courtroom on the upper floor of Lansing City Hall.
The later court dates in February, March, and April, the judge decided, will be held in another location with more room. Simmons also forecasted that the first six will be done with their preliminary exams by March.