Meshawn Maddock fuzzy on details when probed about organizers of 2020 electors scheme

In an appearance on the right-wing news outlet Real America’s Voice, former Michigan GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock offered no details on the identities of attorneys she said organized the 2020 fake electors scheme. 

Maddock, alongside 15 other individuals including Michigan GOP National Committeewoman Kathy Berden, was charged on Tuesday for allegedly sending false documents to the U.S. Senate and National Archives, including a document casting Michigan’s 16 electoral votes for former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Host Steve Gruber pressed Maddock on her previous comments that attorneys advised the group to sign documents declaring Trump the winner of Michigan’s 2020 electoral votes. 

Maddock said the details were vague, and the group had been asked to gather at the Republican party headquarters by members of then-Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox’s staff. 

“A lot of that is still vague to me. And I don’t have any email communications with any of these people,” Maddock said when asked about the attorney’s identities. 

“Laura Cox was our state party chair at the time, somebody from her staff contacted all of us, asked us to be at the Michigan Republican Party office at 2 p.m.,” Maddock said.

Cox, who was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 Congressional Committee, told investigators in May 2022 said she was not expecting the 16 individuals to sign fraudulent documents declaring Trump had won Michigan, and that she had a more “ceremonial” plan in mind. 

In a transcript of her interview with investigators, Cox said the Trump campaign had asked the party to coordinate a meeting of the electors to “sign some sort of document.” 

“I was very uncomfortable with that as per my lawyers’ opinion as well,” Cox said. “We felt that that was something that was not appropriate.”

Maddock previously credited the Trump campaign with organizing the meeting to sign the certificate declaring he had won Michigan’s electoral votes. 

“We fought to seat the electors. The Trump campaign asked us to do that,” Maddock said at a public event in January 2022, according to audio obtained by CNN. 

While Maddock and the other 15 individuals charged will not appear in court until Thursday, Aug. 10, state officials have already begun calling for accountability. 

State Rep. John Fitzgerald (D-Wyoming) issued a statement calling for Wyoming Mayor Kent Vanderwood, one of the individuals charged, to recuse himself from his duties until a verdict has been issued in the case. 

“The actions of Mayor Vanderwood do not reflect the honest values of the people of Wyoming. We are a community of people who prioritize the rule of law, who support our democracy and seek to uphold the Constitution,” Fitzgerald said.

Here’s what we know about the charges against the 2020 Michigan fake electors

State Rep. Phil Skaggs (D-East Grand Rapids) also issued a statement calling on Vanderwood to resign. 

In response to the charges, the city of Wyoming said it was aware of the charges in another statement. 

“These actions did not take place in his capacity as a city official. With any charges, there is a legal process that needs to be followed,” it said. 

The Michigan Bureau of Elections has reportedly notified Shelby Twp. Clerk Stan Grot, another one of the individuals charged, that he will be prohibited from administering elections while the charges are pending, according to the Associated Press.