PHOENIX (CN) — Arizona state Senator Jake Hoffman appeared virtually in court Thursday for the first time since he was indicted over an apparent scheme to falsely name Donald Trump as the president in the 2020 election.
Hoffman was indicted in April on conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges for signing a document in December 2020 claiming to be one of Arizona’s certified presidential electors and giving Arizona’s votes to former President Trump, even though he lost to President Joe Biden in Arizona by more than 10,000 votes. Ten other Republican electors and seven Trump allies, including former New York Mayor and attorney Rudy Giuliani, were indicted alongside Hoffman.
Hoffman appeared virtually in Maricopa County Superior Court Thursday morning to plead not guilty to the nine felony charges he faces in the state grand jury indictment. He was accompanied by his attorney Tim La Sota, who also appeared virtually.
La Sota asked the court that Hoffman be allowed to retain his firearms as long as he isn’t convicted.
“Jake Hoffman has never been convicted of any crime,” La Sota said. “Obviously the allegations here are of a nonviolent nature. He does regularly receive death threats, and feels he shouldn’t have his Second Amendment rights affected given all the circumstances.”
Neither the judge nor the state objected. State prosecutor Nicholas Klingerman said after the hearing that, typically, one would only lose their Second Amendment rights if they are convicted, not just indicted.
La Sota said Hoffman plans to book himself at the Maricopa County Jail on Wednesday, June 12, for processing and fingerprinting. He has no bond, and will be allowed to travel out of state for the Republican National Convention and other events this summer. His next hearing is set for July 2.
The senator is also permitted to communicate with any of his 17 codefendants — convenient for Hoffman, as one of them is fellow state senator and far-right Freedom Caucus member Anthony Kern, who is currently under investigation for his presence at the Jan. 6 insurrection and pleaded not guilty in May alongside Giuliani.
Before each presidential election, both the Democratic and Republican parties in each state select one elector for each congressional seat that state has. Arizona has 11. Once the popular vote in the state determines a winner, the governor certifies the electors chosen by the winning party, who then cast their votes in alignment with the popular vote.
The 11 indicted “fake electors” were chosen by the Republican Party, but weren’t certified because the candidate on the Republican ticket lost. Thus, they lacked authority to sign the certificate claiming to be electors and giving Arizona’s votes to Trump.
But as Trump and his supporters spread baseless conspiracy theories of widespread election fraud, the Republican electors saw an opportunity to have their voice heard anyway. The electors, organized by Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward, convened at GOP headquarters in Phoenix one month after the election to sign a fraudulent certificate handing Arizona’s electoral votes to Trump.
Hoffman defended his actions outside the state capitol weeks after he signed the document.
“In unprecedented times, unprecedented action has occurred,” he said. “There’s no case law, there’s no precedent that exists as to whether or not an election that is currently being litigated in the courts has due standing. Which is why it felt appropriate to provide Congress and the vice president with dueling opinions.”
Hoffman declined to explain how the signing was organized or how he was told to show up when he did, but the indictment suggests Ward was the main organizer.
Hoffman later sent a letter to then-Vice President Mike Pence asking him not to accept the state’s official electoral votes and instead allow the Republican-controlled state Legislature to decide which electors were to decide the Presidential vote.
Discussions to use Republican electors to change the election outcome began as early as Nov. 4, 2020, according to the indictment, which details memos drafted by the Trump administration that advocate for Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania to “send their own electors to vote and have it go to the SCOTUS.”
Texts from Trump suggest that states should have refused to seat Democrat electors, regardless of the election outcome. Attorneys for Trump eventually decided that the strategy was “legally unsound,” but Trump’s campaign continued to fight anyway, according to the indictment.
Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and campaign aid Mike Roman are scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning. The remaining three defendants will be arraigned on June 18.
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