A state investigator replied "yes" during a cross-examination Wednesday when asked whether Trump and his allies were uncharged co-conspirators in the Michigan attorney general's "false electors" probe.

April 24, 2024, 4:35 PM PDT / Updated April 24, 2024, 7:18 PM PDT
By Zoë Richards

Former President Donald Trump, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows and his former attorney Rudy Giuliani are uncharged co-conspirators in a Michigan "false electors" scheme tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a state investigator testified Wednesday.

During a hearing related to the case, Duane Silverthorn, an attorney for a defendant who was charged in the scheme, read a list of names and asked whether they were “unindicted co-conspirators” in Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's investigation.

Howard Shock, a special agent for the AG's office who was being cross-examined, replied in the affirmative when the names of Trump, Meadows and Giuliani were read. Shock also responded "yes" when former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis' name was read.

Last year, Nessel's office brought charges against 16 people who signed paperwork falsely claiming Trump defeated Democrat Joe Biden in the state.

Steven Cheung, a campaign spokesman for Trump, said in a statement Wednesday that Trump was being targeted as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and that Biden's Democratic allies were "further abusing and misusing the power of their offices in a no-holds barred effort to interfere in the presidential election."

Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, said in a statement Wednesday that Giuliani "is proud to stand up for the countless Americans who raised legitimate concerns surrounding the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election."

An attorney for Meadows suggested Shock's statement was not factual, saying someone's "saying that does not make it so."

"Sounds like an opinion, not a fact,” George Terwilliger, the attorney, said in a statement to NBC News.

Ellis and a spokesperson for Nessel's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.

A state grand jury in Arizona on Wednesday also indicted “fake electors” and key Trump aides in connection with a scheme to keep Trump in office after his election loss in 2020. Some of the names are redacted; Meadows, Giuliani and Ellis are among those who have been charged but not yet served.

Trump is not charged but is described as “Unindicted Coconspirator 1” in the indictment.

Trump, Giuliani, Meadows and Ellis were indicted along with 15 other people on charges in Georgia last year related to alleged attempts to keep Trump in office after he lost the election to Biden in 2020. Trump, Meadows and Giuliani have pleaded not guilty. Ellis is just one of four co-defendants originally charged in that indictment who pleaded guilty.

Special counsel Jack Smith has also filed federal charges alleging Trump plotted to overturn his election loss in 2020. Although he is unnamed in the indictment, Giuliani is most likely the first of six unindicted co-conspirators in that case. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Zoë Rich