Michigan judge rejects motions to dismiss charges against two of the alleged fake electors
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - It was rejections on all fronts for two of the alleged fake electors who appeared in court in Lansing on Friday.
The defendants and their lawyers wanted their cases dismissed and, in one case, severed from the others in the group, but the judge ruled against those requests.
"The court is going to deny your motion; this matter will continue to preliminary examination for the purposes of establishing probable cause," said Judge Kristen Simmons during the proceedings.
Simmons rejected the motions from attorneys representing Clifford Frost and Mari-Ann Henry. Both are facing eight criminal charges, among others.
"They didn't claim to be the democratic electors. They signed their own names. This is a political protest if anything," argued Kevin Kijewski, the attorney for Frost.
Both Henry and Frost are part of a group of sixteen people accused of trying to award Michigan's electoral college votes to former president Donald Trump after the 2020 election.
The two appeared in court on Friday, wanting to see their cases dismissed. One of their reasons for the request was because of a video of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel talking about the case last month where she called the Republican electors "brainwashed."
"This particular video makes me think that there are probably other materials that perhaps I don't have," Kiejewski said. "I'm not saying that there are other materials, but I at least want to have that conversation with the attorney general's office. And then, if necessary, I can bring that motion or resurrect it again in the future."
The assistant attorney general who appeared via Zoom for Friday's proceedings argued Nessel's comments are inadmissible;
an argument that left Simmons unmoved. She rejected the motion to dismiss and the motion to separate Frost's case from the rest of the group.
Kiejewski tells CBS News Detroit he looks forward to seeing additional discovery.
"When it comes to Mr. Frost, and I can only speak on his behalf, they will probably be some other motions that we will file even before it gets bound over possibly to circuit court," he said. "But certainly, there's some additional discovery and conversations I want to have with the prosecutor. I think it's very important to be thorough, and we want to be thorough. Defending Mr. Frost because he is unequivocally 100% innocent."
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