A new report from CNN chronicles new search warrants from state investigators in Michigan, which was among the states won by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election where allies to then-President Donald Trump nonetheless tried assembling slates of electoral votes backing him.
And in Michigan, there’s already a criminal case against individuals who joined that state’s arm of the ploy as sham electors, and the newly reported warrants indicate the investigation remains apparently active. The efforts swept up emails and direct messages on X (formerly called Twitter) from Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney linked to Trump who was also part of the mess that became the sham electors plot, after which criminal cases were also already brought in Georgia, Nevada, and — most recently — Arizona.
Google and X “provided hundreds of files” following the warrants, said CNN, which added that the developments followed reports from that same source “that Chesebro had concealed some of his social media accounts from prosecutors during his cooperation session last year.” Chesebro wasn’t charged in the Michigan case, but he did face charges in Georgia, having already pleaded guilty unlike most other defendants from the case.
Some of what investigators obtained — the contents of which were also a subject of CNN reporting — was, arguably, embarrassing for Chesebro. A large portion of it seemed to chronicle failed outreach, whether offers for help with securing accommodations in Washington, D.C., around January 6, 2021, or attempts to spur support for some of the conspiracy theories driving the whole election push in general. Chesebro reportedly offered accommodations to, for instance, far-right media figure Jim Hoft, who declined, and Chesebro sent details on/arguments of the ex-president’s circles’ stance to various political/legal figures. “Most” of that outreach was “ignored,” per CNN.
State authorities in Arizona similarly characterized their own sham electors investigation as active, suggesting a possibility of it expanding. Among those already criminally charged there is reportedly Rudy Giuliani.
