The Maricopa County Superior Court ruled that Attorney General Kris Mayes must redo her entire case against the 2020 Trump electors.
In a ruling issued on Monday in Arizona v. Bowyer, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers sided with the electors’ argument that Mayes failed to instruct the grand jury as to the applicable provisions of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, or “ECA.” Myers remanded the case back to the grand jury — meaning Mayes must start over if she still hopes to prosecute Trump’s allies in Arizona.
Myers didn’t buy Mayes’ justification for not providing the full ECA to jurors; the attorney general argued the provision of “relevant portions” of the ECA via several Kenneth Chesebro memorandums and an interview, a letter from State Sen. Jake Hoffman’s counsel, and a CNN article were sufficient.
Myers ruled Mayes had failed to provide due process to the electors by not providing “the actual text and provisions” of the ECA.
“A prosecutor has a duty to instruct the grand jury on all the law applicable to the facts of the case,” stated Myers. “Due process compels the prosecutor to make a fair and impartial presentation to the grand jury. … Because the State failed to provide the ECA to the grand jury, the Court finds that the defendants were denied a substantial procedural right as guaranteed by Arizona law.”
Mayes indicted 11 electors for President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 run: Tyler Bowyer, COO of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) arm Turning Point Action; Nancy Cottle, former electors chair and Arizona Federation of Republican Women leader; Sen. Jake Hoffman; former State Sen. Anthony Kern; Jim Lamon, 2022 Senate candidate; Robert Montgomery, former Cochise County GOP Committee chair; Samuel Moorhead, former Gila County GOP leader; Loraine Pellegrino, former electors secretary and president of Ahwatukee Republican Women; Greg Safsten, former Arizona GOP executive director; and Kelli Ward, former Arizona GOP chair, and her husband, Michael Ward.
The electors faced felony charges of conspiracy, fraud, and forgery.
These defendants argued the ECA protected their role as electors for Trump in 2020, saying the law allowed for competing electors in disputed elections.
Hoffman called the case against him and fellow electors “a witch hunt” and “a cheap political campaign promise” by Mayes.
“As I’ve said from day one, the truth is on my side, justice will prevail, and I will be vindicated,” said Hoffman. “In the meantime, Kristin will keep showing the public what a total joke she is.”
I’m one of President @realDonaldTrump’s persecuted 2020 electors
This has been a witch hunt from the start — just a cheap political campaign promise by Kristin Mayes to rile up her fringe far-Left voter base
TPUSA founder and CEO, Charlie Kirk, called the ruling a “major embarrassment” for Mayes.
“It has been political from the very start and never should have happened, and we need to make sure all similar such charges are dropped against all Trump supporters, in all swing states,” said Kirk.
BREAKING: Major embarrassment for the Democrat AG in Arizona. The Judge in the AZ Electors case finds that State prosecutors failed to inform the grand jurors about the statute that was central to the State’s case. Now, the State is forced to re-present the case to the grand…
In a dramatic reversal of policy from the days of the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE), under Secretary Linda McMahon and President Donald Trump, rescinded a $37 million fine against Grand Canyon University with prejudice Friday. The decision scraps the largest fine ever levied against a university by the USDOE.
As previously reported by AZ Free News, Grand Canyon University launched an appeal challenging the enormous fine and allegations of advertising false degree costs. The university was supported by the Goldwater Institute, which launched its own lawsuit in February after the USDOE failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request to gain clarity on the fine against GCU.
U.S. Department of Education rescinds record fine, with prejudice, against GCU https://t.co/RmS8ZMBPb7
In a statement following the decision, GCU President Brian Mueller described the dismissal as welcome, but unsurprising news.
“The facts clearly support our contention that we were wrongly accused of misleading our Doctoral students and we appreciate the recognition that those accusations were without merit,” he said. “GCU is a leader in innovation, transparency and best practices in higher education and we look forward to working cooperatively with the Department in the future – just as we have with all regulatory agencies.”
The USDOE dismissed the case in its entirety with neither findings, fines, liabilities, nor penalties of any variety. According to GCU, the USDOE, “confirmed it has not established that GCU violated any Title IV requirements, including the claim that GCU ‘substantially misrepresented’ the cost of its doctoral programs that was alleged by ED officials under the Biden Administration. The Dismissal stated unequivocally that ‘there are no findings against GCU, or any of its employees, officers, agents, or contractors, and no fine is imposed.’”
In a statement the University said, “The proposed fine action was, by far, the largest the Department of Education had ever levied against a university. GCU filed an appeal to ED’s Office of Hearings and Appeals, maintaining that the unsubstantiated accusations were gross mischaracterizations based on isolated, out-of-context statements from certain enrollment documents and that, in fact, GCU students receive robust information about the time, cost and credits needed to complete a doctoral degree throughout their enrollment and onboarding process. Moreover, GCU maintains that its disclosures surrounding continuation courses, which are common in higher education doctoral programs, provide more information than is legally required or that other universities typically provide. As such, GCU has consistently insisted that it would contest any fine amount – even $1, let alone $37.7 million.”
🚨BIG🚨
This March, Congressman Hamadeh joined the entire Arizona congressional delegation in defending Grand Canyon University against attacks from the Biden administration.
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) May 17, 2025
In a post to X, Arizona Congressman Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ08) praised the dismissal writing, “The record-breaking fine imposed on Grand Canyon University (@gcu) was just one of many attacks by the Biden Administration on Christian organizations. Congressman Hamadeh applauds the Trump Administration’s decision to rescind the fine with prejudice.”
The record-breaking fine imposed on Grand Canyon University (@gcu) was just one of many attacks by the Biden Administration on Christian organizations.
Congressman Hamadeh applauds the Trump Administration’s decision to rescind the fine with prejudice. https://t.co/9rW7Z0x0P9
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) May 19, 2025
Congressman Andy Biggs made a similar post saying, “I’ve urged investigation into the outrageous fine since the moment it was handed down by the radical Biden-Harris regime. Thank you @POTUS and @EDSecMcMahon for working to ensure that the weaponization of government against @GCU isn’t allowed to stand!”
I’ve urged investigation into the outrageous fine since the moment it was handed down by the radical Biden-Harris regime.
In the past decade, environmentalists and central planners have linked arms with woke evangelists to radicalize transportation policy across the country. This was super-charged under Biden’s administration that pushed propaganda about roads being racist, rewrote rules and policies to force the Green New Deal, and made billions in grants to states and localities contingent on them adopting this woke agenda.
Tom George, a Republican Committeeman for Legislative District 29, lost his El Mirage home in a devastating house fire on May 10th, according to friends and colleagues, leaving the single-father and his young son without a home.
AZ Free News was alerted to the tragedy on Tuesday by LD29 GOP Chair Lisa Everett, who said via email, “He’s a great man. He is a precinct committeeman in my LD. He’s one of the hardest working men I’ve ever seen.”
A GoFundMe has been created to benefit George and his son managed by his colleague Eric Miller who wrote in a post to Facebook:
“Please help Tom George rebuild after a devastating house fire. Tom lost everything when his home burned down on May 10th. A dedicated father and selfless community volunteer in El Mirage, AZ, and numerous West Valley communities, Tom has always given his time to help others. Now he needs our help. He has no renter’s insurance, the inflation and economy depleted his finances, and he is starting from scratch. Please donate or share to support a man who’s always shown up for his community. He now needs his community. Tom is a strong, independent man, and he won’t ask for help … so I am asking for him.”
According to the crowd-funding site managed by Miller, “Every donation, no matter how small, will help Tom get back on his feet—providing him with clothes, basic essentials, temporary housing, and the resources needed to rebuild his and his son’s lives. Please consider supporting Tom as he begins this difficult journey forward.”
Miller added, “Tom has volunteered throughout the West Valley to help improve the lives of others. He serves/volunteers as an elected precinct committeeman, where he advocates for his neighbors and the greater community with passion and selflessness. Tom is the kind of person who always puts others first. He’s overcome many struggles in life and continues to lead with strength, generosity, and a heart for service. Now, in his time of greatest need, we have the opportunity to return that generosity.”
In her email to AZ Free News, Chairwoman Everett said the LD29 GOP Committee is organizing a fundraiser and “doing what we can to keep his spirits up.”
The tragic fire at George’s home isn’t the first one in recent memory to bring together West Valley Republicans. As previously reported by AZ Free News, the West Valley Republican & Independent Coalition, a non-profit PAC, suffered an office fire at West Grand Ave. in Sun City in June 2024 that left the office “almost a total loss.” But the tragedy is far keener, when it involves a home, and a family.
As of this report the GoFundMe has raised over $3,000 toward its $10,000 goal.
On Wednesday, the FBI office in Phoenix honored the 64 officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in 2024. Under Director Kash Patel, the FBI has directed public attention to its new special report on those officers’ deaths and the 85,000 assaults on law enforcement reported to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
The report details the deaths of the 64 officers in both felonious circumstances as well as the 43 killed in accidents. It explained, “Thus far in 2025, 16 officers have been feloniously killed in the line of duty. Firearms were used in 75 percent of the incidents. The leading circumstances surrounding officers’ deaths included activities related to responses to unlawful or suspicious activities (7), pursuits (3), and traffic stops (3).”
The data reveals that most officers were killed in the months of April and August followed by February, July, and September, with the majority being killed in the FBI’s Southern region while responding to unlawful or suspicious activity.
In his remarks before the Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) Conference Thursday, Patel said, “The FBI is committed to honoring fallen officers, supporting their families and colleagues, and relentlessly pursuing those who do them harm.”
In his message for National Police Week, Patel told the nation:
“In my time as director, I’ve made a call to every chief or sheriff whose department has lost an officer to an adversarial action in the line of duty. And although I’ve only been in this position for less than three months, I’ve already made far too many of those calls.
“Every line of duty death is a tragedy for the families who lose a loved one; for the officers who lose a colleague and a friend; and for the communities that lose a faithful protector and guardian of justice. Those losses remind us of the tremendous sacrifice law enforcement officers across the country make to keep the American people safe.
“They go to work every morning knowing there’s a chance they won’t make it home that night that they might be targeted just because they wear the badge, like the 64 officers who were feloniously killed in the line of duty last year and the more than 85,000 others who suffered assaults. But the men and women of law enforcement continue showing up for all of us despite the hardships, the demands and the dangers. They do it because they’ve made a choice to serve and protect their fellow American citizens, and they have no intention of letting us down.”
Patel concluded, “I’m honored and humbled to work alongside those who have dedicated their lives to public service, to having the backs of the American people, and all of us owe them a debt we can never repay. That’s why National Police Week is so important. It’s an opportunity to express our deepest gratitude for those who have taken an oath to protect our communities and pursue justice. And to honor the legacies of those who gave their lives so that others could be safe. The FBI and I are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners throughout law enforcement together as we protect our nation.“
