Arizona 'fake elector' flips on GOP scheme to steal 2020 election

Last week, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes teased that one of the 11 "fake electors" charged in the scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election would flip in a deal with prosecutors. On Tuesday, that elector appeared to be revealed.

Loraine Pellegrino, the former president of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for reduced charges in the case, according to Politico's Kyle Cheney.

As part of the agreement for unsupervised probation, Pellegrino is to agree to several conditions including paying restitution, a prohibition on possessing guns, and completing substance abuse treatment.

This comes a day after Mayes announced that Jenna Ellis, a pro-Trump attorney who was also charged in connection in the same fake electors plot, agreed to a cooperation deal in exchange for the dismissal of all nine felony charges against her — a generous deal that some legal experts think might be intended to send a signal to Rudy Giuliani, also named as a defendant, to cooperate himself.

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"This agreement represents a significant step forward in our case," Mayes said of the Ellis agreement. "As I stated when the initial charges were announced, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined - it is far too important. Today's announcement is a win for the rule of law."

Arizona is one of multiple states where "fake electors," who falsely attested to represent a Trump victory in the Electoral College in several battleground states carried by President Joe Biden, have faced charges. Similar cases have been brought in Michigan and, most notably, Georgia, where Trump himself was named as a defendant. Trump's case is on hold due to a review of ethics complaints against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

A civil suit was also brought against fake electors in Wisconsin.