Nevada judge Mary Kay Holthus threw out the state’s case against six Republicans who attempted to subvert the will of Nevada voters and elect Donald Trump by presenting themselves as fake electors in 2020.
Per the New York Times, Holthus told state prosecutors that they filed their case in the wrong venue, an assertion that Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford disputed.
“We disagree with the judge’s decision and will be appealing immediately,” spokesperson John Sadler told the Times.
A Nevada grand jury indicted the six Republicans, including Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, last December for their plot to serve as fake electors, accusing them of tampering with and submitting official documents.
Nevada stands alongside at least four other states to launch proceedings against the coordinated attempts to overturn the 2020 election, including Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Michigan. A federal prosecution of Trump’s broader efforts to subvert the election, which was indefinitely paused earlier this month, includes the state-level plots.
Despite an appeal, Holthus’ actions mark another setback to the efforts to hold a 2020 campaign to subvert the election of Joe Biden to account. The actions make it unlikely that the six fake electors will stand trial ahead of the November election, allowing several of the indicted individuals, including McDonald and Clark County GOP chair Jesse Law, to maintain their positions.
Judge Holthus, who serves as a District Court judge in Clark County, holds that the incidents of forgery took place in Carson City, not Clark County, and thus the state could not prosecute the case in her court.
