LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel has decided not to appeal a court ruling that dismissed charges against the state’s 2020 Republican alternate electors, but the legal fight isn’t over – it’s just changing sides.
Several of the electors now say they plan to sue Nessel and her office, accusing the attorney general of filing criminal charges with “malicious intent” and abusing her power for political purposes. The group filed notices of intent to sue under Michigan law, a required step before filing a civil case against the State. The electors say they intend to pursue damages that could reach millions of dollars.
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“Dana Nessel, who is perhaps the worst lawyer in the USA, was smart when she decided to not lose – twice – the same case,” said former Michigan GOP co-chair and 2020 Michigan Republican elector Meshawn Maddock in a statement announcing the legal action. “Dana and her far left persecutors need to learn, perhaps the hard way, that her out of control legal behavior is unacceptable. I am also hopeful that our attorneys will be successful in having her, personally, pay the millions of dollars in damages that her horrible and malicious actions caused.”
Charges tossed — but the argument didn’t end.
The dispute stems from Nessel’s original 2023 criminal case against 16 Republicans who signed documents claiming to be Michigan’s presidential electors after the 2020 election. Prosecutors argued the group committed multiple felonies, including conspiracy to commit forgery and election law violations.
State Rep. Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia) says about the case, “The facts are simple: a district court judge reviewed the evidence and refused to bind these individuals over for trial. The charges were dismissed.”
The case never reached trial.
As Rigas pointed out, a judge in the 54-A District Court in Ingham County declined to bind the defendants over for trial after a series of preliminary examinations held over many months. The ruling ended the criminal case before it could proceed to a jury.
Nessel, the loser in the case, announced she would not appeal the dismissal – but nevertheless recently released a 110-page report defending the prosecution and criticizing the court’s decision, arguing the case still showed an attempt to undermine the election. Rigas pointed to inflammatory language in the report like “false slate, fraudulent and criminal conspiracy” which she says is not a legal analysis, it is a “misuse of the people’s funds.”
AG Nessel said about not appealing the case in a press release, “This decision does not reflect any change in my belief in each defendant’s culpability.” However, she argues in the report that the electors are alleged criminals who worked to undermine Michigan elections.
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At the end of the report Nessel goes after the electors and Trump, a target of multiple lawsuits by her since January of 2025, by saying, “Michigan’s false slate was no minor threat to our democracy; it was a widespread, multi-state effort to end free and fair elections by placing a presidential candidate who was not elected by the people into the office of President of the United States. And the threat to our democracy, the danger to our elections is not over. The threat lives on in every amplified political lie…Lies, like those told by the false slate, Trump, and Trump’s bevy of election denialists are deliberate and dangerous.”
Attorney Erick Kaardal, who represents some of the electors, says, “Government officials who weaponize their offices against citizens for political purposes must be held accountable under the law,” Kaardal said.
Round two coming soon.
The electors’ planned lawsuit would flip the script, accusing Nessel of weaponizing her office for political purposes and seeking damages for what they describe as a wrongful prosecution. While the criminal case against the electors has ended, the legal battle surrounding Michigan’s 2020 alternate elector controversy may be far from finished – with the next courtroom clash potentially placing the state’s top prosecutor on the other side of the defense table.
