New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez says he was unable to prosecute the so-called “fake” Republican electors that filed paperwork in 2020 to certify that Donald RTrump won the presidential election because they didn’t break state law.
Torrez says unlike in some other states, the Republican electors included the caveat “We, the undersigned, on the understanding that it might later be determined that we are the duly elected” to certify a Donald Trump victory. In places like Michigan and Georgia where GOP electors are facing charges they didn’t include such language.
Torrez and Secretary of State Maggie Touslouse Oliver told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday about the investigation into the electors that uncovered what they called a conspiracy with Trump attorneys and others to use Republican electors in states that had actually been won by Joe Biden.
The purpose of the hearing was to determine what legislation is needed to prevent false electors from ever trying to change election results again.
Chair Joseph Cervantes says the committee has the people to work out the proper bills.
“We have some exceptional attorneys on this committee who have a lot of experience in election law including working with the city of Albuquerque in election positions,” he said. “We’re going to apply that talent to the Attorney General’s commitment and the Secretary of State’s time here today (Wednesday) to try and make sure there is a deterrent to anyone who would think that the solution to our presidential election is by having five people represent themselves falsely as representing the state of New Mexico.”
Things did get a bit tense during the meeting as Republican Senator Mark Moores criticized Torrez for using the phrase “fake electors” against five people he admitted committed no crime.
He asked if Torrez would apologize to the five but refused. Torrez said he would not apologize for investigating the conduct that they had engaged in or the investigation itself.
