The 16 people being charged in Michigan allegedly met in the basement of the state's Republican Party headquarters and signed multiple certificates claiming they were “the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America for the state of Michigan,” Nessel said in recorded remarks.
“They may have felt compelled to follow the call to action from a president they held fealty to. They may have even genuinely believed that this was their patriotic duty.”
She continued, “But none of those reasons or feelings provide legal justification to violate the law and upend our Constitution and our nation’s traditions of representative government, self-determination, and a government by the people.”
So if their defense ends up being "we were just following orders" does that mean they could flip and become witnesses against trump? How many of them, in how many states, would it take before all these charges land in his lap too?
Agreed, its not that they can succeed --- the original quote points out that "none of those reasons or feelings provide legal justification to violate the law". What I was wondering is if this is a HINT that perhaps these folks could testify about why they might have felt it was a call to action from the president. Like, did he literally call them and ask them to commit this crime? Would they testify to that in return for, maybe, having this weak ass excuse be accepted and they don't spend time behind bars?
Anyway, thats what I was wondering. (And of course this is a simplification. Probably a few levels between them and Trump)