AG Mayes Moves To Dismiss Arizona Alternate Elector Case Without Prejudice, Plans New Indictment

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has moved to dismiss the state’s 2020 Trump alternate-elector prosecution without prejudice, while telling the court that her office still intends to re-present the case to a state grand jury and seek a new indictment.

The filing came after the Arizona Supreme Court declined to review lower court rulings that sent the case back to a grand jury, leaving the prosecution in limbo after more than a year of litigation. According to KJZZ, the Supreme Court’s June 4 denial triggered a 15-day deadline for prosecutors to begin new grand jury proceedings by June 19.

Mayes’ criminal division chief, Nicholas Klingerman, told the court the Attorney General’s Office could not meet that deadline and filed a motion to dismiss the case “without prejudice,” which would allow prosecutors to refile charges at a later date, KJZZ reported.

“This case is complex and will require substantial presentation of evidence and time to accommodate Defendants’ requests to testify and present evidence,” prosecutors wrote, according to the Washington Examiner. “While the State intends to re-present the case to the State Grand Jury, that re-presentation will not happen within the 15-day deadline.”

NEW: Attorney General Kris Mayes moves to dismiss electors prosecution without prejudice. The state plans to pursue another indictment but noted it cannot meet the 15-day deadline to start re-presenting its case to the state grand jury. pic.twitter.com/WEmJ246J8J

— Kiera Riley (@kiera_riley) June 18, 2026

The Arizona case began in April 2024, when a state grand jury indicted Republican electors and Trump allies on charges including fraud, forgery, and conspiracy, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and subsequent reporting by the Associated Press. The defendants included Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Christina Bobb, and Jenna Ellis; then-Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn; then-Trump campaign official Michael Roman; then-Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward and Dr. Michael Ward; Turning Point Action COO Tyler Bowyer; Arizona Republican activists Nancy Cottle and Lorraine Pellegrino; then-state representative-elect Jake Hoffman and then-state Rep. Anthony Kern; former U.S. Senate candidate and businessman James Lamon; former Cochise County Republican Committee Chairman Robert Montgomery; former Gila County Republican Party Chairman Samuel Moorhead; and former Arizona Republican Party Executive Director Gregory Safsten.

The prosecution alleged the defendants were involved in submitting electoral votes for President Donald Trump after Joe Biden was certified as the winner of Arizona’s 2020 presidential election. Biden won Arizona by 10,457 votes, according to the Associated Press, after the result was challenged in court and through other post-election efforts.

The case stalled after Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers ordered that the case be returned to a grand jury. Defense attorneys had argued that the original grand jury was not shown relevant portions of the Electoral Count Act, the federal law governing presidential election certification, according to the AP. Mayes appealed, seeking to avoid returning the case to the grand jury, but the Arizona Supreme Court declined earlier this month to revive the prosecution, Votebeat reported.

The move drew immediate reaction from defendants and their attorneys.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, one of the defendants, wrote on social media that “[t]he prosecutor in Arizona has finally dropped the unjustified and unconstitutional charges against me and all my innocent co-defendants,” according to KJZZ. “All the claims about falsifying data, electors et al was a part of the Democrat massive corruption of our previously world renowned justice system,” he added on X.

The prosecutor in Arizona has finally dropped the unjustified and unconstitutional charges against me and all my innocent co-defendants.

All the claims about falsifying data, electors et al was a part of the Democrat massive corruption of our previously world renowned justice…

— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) June 18, 2026

Mark Williams, Giuliani’s attorney, told the Associated Press that Giuliani and the other Republican defendants “did nothing wrong” and were exercising free speech and petition rights.

“This action was brought to punish Mr. Giuliani and the other Republican defendants for exercising their constitutional rights,” Williams said, according to the Associated Press. “It’s appropriate that it’s being dismissed.”

Dr. Kelli Ward posted to X, “After years of the left’s rabid, politically-driven pursuit of the Arizona alternate electors, it’s basically silent now that Kris Mayes dismissed the case. Weird.”

Former state Sen. Kern wrote in an X post, “Corrupt AG Kris Mayes finally dropped all ‘Elector’ charges. As Democrat AG – She lied to the Grand Jury, withheld evidence, and was defeated in several courts, including the Arizona Supreme Court. President Donald Trump provided a pardon. Justice prevailed.” Trump issued federal pardons in 2025 to individuals connected to the 2020 elector cases, though those pardons did not affect the state charges in Arizona.

The dismissal request does not amount to an abandonment of the case if the court grants it without prejudice. The Washington Examiner reported that the Maricopa County Superior Court still must approve dismissal without prejudice before Mayes can proceed on that footing.

Three defendants have previously resolved their cases, according to the Associated Press. Ellis entered a cooperation agreement with the state in August 2024, and Mayes’ office agreed to drop the charges against her in exchange for her cooperation, according to an Arizona Attorney General’s Office announcement. Pellegrino pleaded guilty in August 2024 to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false document, according to the Arizona Mirror.

The Arizona prosecution has also drawn scrutiny over alleged outside coordination. In November, the California Globe reported on a whistleblower memorandum authored by Bobb and released by Judicial Watch, which alleged that the prosecution was connected to a broader political operation involving the Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) and the States United Democracy Center (SUDC). 

“The motion that I filed said, This looks improper; she needs to be disqualified.” – @christina_bobb believes AG Kris Mayes should be disqualified from prosecuting because of alleged legal and ethical violations from her connection with a pro-democracy nonprofit. @ericbolling pic.twitter.com/Mg8Cbp8EKU

— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) November 12, 2025

Bobb has continued to press those allegations in court, with State Affairs reporting this week that she again sought to disqualify Mayes from the prosecution over the alleged States United connection. The Federalist also reported Friday that Bobb’s counsel filed a supplemental motion alleging broader coordination involving States United, DAGA-linked actors, and other state attorney general offices.

Mayes’ office has denied any financial link, and the Globe reported at the time that publicly available campaign finance and IRS records did not corroborate the payments referenced in the memorandum.

In May 2026, the Arizona Court of Appeals found that Mayes acted illegally by withholding certain States United communications, according to the AZ Capitol Times, and ordered the Attorney General’s Office to provide “more than generalities” for records it claims are exempt from the Public Records Law. Appellate Judge Jeffrey Sklar, writing for the three-judge panel, said Mayes’ office must provide “specific assertions explaining why the document is purportedly privileged to the greatest extent possible without revealing its content or otherwise violating the privilege.”

The Arizona case is one of several state prosecutions brought after the 2020 election involving Republican elector slates. The Associated Press reported that courts have dismissed similar cases in Michigan and Georgia, while cases related to the elector effort remain in Nevada and Wisconsin.

The case has also become an issue in Arizona’s 2026 Attorney General race. Mayes is seeking reelection and is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Republicans Rodney Glassman and Senate President Warren Petersen are running in the GOP primary. Both Republican candidates have said they would dismiss the 2020 election case if elected attorney general, according to the Washington Examiner.

The immediate question before the court is whether to grant Mayes’ request to dismiss the case without prejudice. If granted, the current indictment would be dismissed, but prosecutors could seek a new indictment from a state grand jury later, which Mayes’ office has stated it intends to do. If the court rejects the request or declines to dismiss the case on those terms, Mayes’ office could face a steeper path to reviving the prosecution after acknowledging it cannot meet the current deadline to re-present the case.