Good news! AZ House votes to set aside Civil War-era abortion ban AND an AZ grand jury has indicted 2020's fake electo

First up, the abortion ban repeal.

From AZ Mirror, written by Gloria Rebecca Gomez -

AZ House has voted to repeal the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Supreme Court

After two weeks of thwarted attempts, the Arizona House of Representatives voted Wednesday to repeal a near-total abortion ban from 1864, with three Republican lawmakers breaking from their party to join Democrats in striking it down. 

Earlier this month, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the 1864 law, which carries with it a mandatory prison sentence for doctors who provide an abortion for any reason other than saving a woman’s life, over a 15-week gestational ban passed in 2022. 

My guess: the Center for Arizona Policy is tugging on every leash string available to it in an attempt to have the Rs in the Senate kill the repeal.

Next, the indictment.

From AZ Mirror (again), written by Caitlin Sievers -

Grand jury indicts 18 in fake electors scheme, including two AZ state senators 

A grand jury has indicted 18 people, including two Arizona state senators and the former head of the Arizona Republican Party, in a fake elector scheme that aimed to install Donald Trump as the president after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. 

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has not released the names of everyone who was indicted, but all 11 fake electors were charged: 

• Kelli Ward, former AZGOP chairman
• Arizona Sen. Jake Hoffman, leader of the Arizona Freedom Caucus
• Arizona Sen. Anthony Kern, member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus
• Tyler Bowyer, Turning Point USA CEO
• Michael Ward, husband of Kelli Ward  
• Nancy Cottle, a Republican who’s been active in local politics for a decade
• James Lamon, a failed 2022 U.S. Senate candidate
• Robert Montgomery, former chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee
• Samuel Moorhead, former chairman of Gila County Republican Party 
• Lorraine Pellegrino, former president of the Ahwatukee Republican Women
• Gregory Safsten, former executive director of the AZGOP

There were also seven people indicted whose names were redacted.

CNN has information/guesses on the redacted indictees.

From CNN -

Meadows, Giuliani among indicted in Arizona in latest 2020 election subversion case

A grand jury in Arizona has handed up an indictment against former President Donald Trump’s allies over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, including the fake electors from that state and several individuals connected to his campaign.

Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who remains one of Trump’s closest advisers; former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; and Rudy Giuliani are among those who have been indicted, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

{snip}

While Trump is not among those charged in Arizona, the details in the indictment suggest he is “Unindicted Coconspirator 1.”

{snip}

Other individuals charged in the Arizona indictment but whose names have been redacted, the source familiar with the investigation told CNN, include Trump allies Mike Roman, a 2020 campaign official; Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis; and conservative attorney John Eastman.

{snip}

The Republican Party of Arizona also slammed the indictments in a statement Wednesday.

“Today’s indictments by Attorney General Kris Mayes represent a blatant and unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial power, aimed solely at distracting the public from the critical policy debates our country should be focusing on as we approach the 2024 election,” the statement said.

There are a lot of "nice" days in Arizona (the weather here is fantastic..outside of July and August (and late June), but there are few "good" ones.

Wednesday was a good one.

Knock, knock, knock

From CNN -

Nevada grand jury indicts six pro-Trump fake electors

A Nevada grand jury has indicted six individuals who acted as fake electors in a scheme intended to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, according to the state’s attorney general.

The indictments make Nevada the third state – joining Michigan and Georgia – to bring charges against those who served as fake pro-Trump electors after the 2020 election.

The six Nevadans charged are fake electors: Michael McDonald, Jesse Law, Jim DeGraffenreid, Durward James Hindle III, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice. They 

face felony charges of “offering a false instrument for filing” and “uttering a 

forged instrument.”

The Arizonans involved in this scheme who should be worried about the next knock on their doors (from AZMirror) -

Nancy Cottle

Loraine B. Pellegrino

Tyler Bowyer

Jake Hoffman

Anthony T. Kern

James Lamon

Robert Montgomery

Samuel I. Moorhead

Greg Safsten. 

Dr. Kelli Ward 

Dr. Michael Ward

I did delete the article's descriptions of the backgrounds of each fake elector as thing can change over time, but I will say this -

Hoffman and Kern are members of the current legislature.

If she's convicted of something, will Kelli Ward have to surrender her medical license?

Pointed at this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

If not, maybe the Perryville prison complex (which houses women) needs a doctor.  The Perryville prison is in Goodyear.

From Rolling Stone (behind a paywall) -

Arizona Investigators ‘Aggressively’ Looking at Top Trump Ally Kelli Ward

Arizona’s criminal probe into the 2020 fake electors plot is heating up and investigators are now asking plenty of questions about a key Donald Trump ally involved in it: former state GOP chair Kelli Ward.

The Arizona probe has been accelerating in the past several weeks, two sources familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone, with prosecutors gathering evidence and speaking with individuals with knowledge of how the fake electors scheme was carried out in the state. The fake electors plot was a core component of the then-president and his aligned lawyers’ plans to overturn his 2020 election defeat and stop the legitimate transfer of power to his Democratic successor Joe Biden.

She is still a licensed doctor.

From the website of the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery -

That address goes to a weight loss place.

From the website of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce -

Just a guess here, but if she goes to prison, there probably won't be much demand for her weight loss knowledge.