The prosecution of Arizona Republicans and allies of President-elect Donald Trump for their alleged role in the “alternate elector” scheme is at a standstill as 2024 comes to a close. 

As the criminal prosecution enters a new calendar year, several motions are pending, with appeals from either side likely to follow any ruling from a lower court judge. An attorney for one defendant said he thinks the case remains at “square one and a half.” 

“I think next year, at this time, we might not be in a very different place,” Kurt Altman, attorney for Michael Roman, director of Election Day operations for the Trump campaign in 2020. 

In April, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the state grand jury had levied felony charges against the 11 Arizona Republican presidential electors and seven Trump associates for their role in allegedly attempting to send electoral votes to Trump instead of Joe Biden in 2020. 

The state grand jury returned charges on nine counts: one count of conspiracy, a class two felony; two counts of fraud, one a class two felony and one a class five felony; and six counts of forgery, a class four felony.  

The indictment names Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek; former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward; her husband Michael Ward; then-Executive Director of the state Republican Party Gregory Safsten;  RNC committeeman and Chief Operating Officer of Turning Point USA, Tyler Bowyer; chair of the Arizona Republican Presidential Electors Nancy Cottle; secretary of the electors Lorraine Pellegrino, former Senate candidate Jim Lamon; former chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee Robert Montgomery and member of Gila County Arizona Republican Party Samuel Moorhead.  

The seven indicted Trump confidantes are attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Christina Bobb, Jenna Ellis and John Eastman, attorney and campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and Michael Roman, director of election day operations for the 2020 Trump campaign. 

All 18 plead not guilty, but Ellis and Pellegrino have since agreed to plea deals with the state. Ellis saw the dismissal of all nine charges in exchange for testimony, while Pellegrino pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of filing a false document. 

The remaining 16 defendants have a long road ahead, according to Altman. 

Outstanding now are motions to dismiss the indictment based on the state’s anti-SLAPP, or “strategic lawsuits against public participation” law, a statute requiring the dismissal of lawsuits “substantially motivated by a desire to deter, retaliate against or prevent the lawful exercise of a constitutional right.” 

In August, defense attorneys argued in front of Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen that the indictment was politically motivated and runs afoul of the anti-SLAPP statute. 

But Cohen recused himself in November after an attorney for Hoffman flagged emails in which he rebuked statements made by Trump and encouraged fellow judges to do the same.

The case is now before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kreamer, with no ruling on any motions to dismiss, or motions to remand, in sight. Further motions challenging grand jury proceedings are due in the coming weeks, too. 

“That has to happen before we can even move forward in the case,” Altman said. “These are all very preliminary motions that can either set the case back to the start or make it go away entirely before we even get into the nitty gritty of the courtroom drama that may come.”

A preliminary trial date is set for January 2026. Altman said there is always a chance the current schedule could ring true but was doubtful. He instead predicted the case would still be hanging around by the next election cycle. 

“We’re at square one and a half,” Altman said. “This is going to be a long haul.”