Lansing, MI – A group of Michigan Republicans who served as alternate electors for former President Donald Trump during the disputed 2020 election say they plan to sue Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, alleging the felony charges filed against them were politically motivated and malicious.
The announcement came shortly after Nessel’s office confirmed it would not appeal a September 2025 ruling by Lansing 54-A District Court Judge Kristen Simmons dismissing the criminal charges against the group. Prosecutors had originally charged 16 individuals in 2023 with multiple felonies including forgery and uttering and publishing false documents related to their efforts to submit alternate electoral certificates following the 2020 presidential election.
According to a press release from the Michigan Conservative Coalition, several of the electors — including Meshawn Maddock, Marian Sheridan, Kathy Berden, Stanley Grot, Clifford Frost, and Kent Vanderwood — are preparing legal action against both Nessel and the Michigan Department of Attorney General.
The group claims the prosecution was politically driven and improperly pursued.
“Dana Nessel, who is perhaps the worst lawyer in the USA, was smart when she decided to not lose — twice — the same case,” said former Michigan Republican Party co-chair Meshawn Maddock in the statement. “Dana and her far left persecutors need to learn, perhaps the hard way, that her out of control legal behavior is unacceptable. I am also hopeful that our attorneys will be successful in having her, personally, pay the millions of dollars in damages that her horrible and malicious actions caused.”
The lawsuit is expected to be pursued by attorney Erick Kaardal of the Minneapolis-based law firm Mohrman, Kaardal & Erickson. Kaardal said the case will seek accountability for what he described as politically motivated prosecution.
“Government officials who weaponize their offices against citizens for political purposes must be held accountable under the law,” Kaardal said.
The charges against the electors were dismissed last year after Judge Simmons ruled that prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
Despite declining to appeal the decision, Nessel said the dismissal does not change her view that the actions of the electors were unlawful.
In a statement released earlier this week, Nessel said her decision not to continue the legal fight was based on the likelihood of success and the resources required for further litigation — not a change in her belief about the defendants’ conduct.
“This does not reflect any change in my belief in each defendant’s culpability for their alleged crimes,” Nessel said at the time.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s office also indicated the lawsuit itself is unlikely to succeed.
“These cases will not be successful, but it’s possible the proceedings will shed further light on the criminal conduct of the plaintiffs,” said Kimberly Bush, spokesperson for the Department of Attorney General.
The electors were originally accused of signing documents in December 2020 claiming Donald Trump had won Michigan’s presidential election, despite the state certifying the results for Democrat Joe Biden.
The group attempted to deliver those documents to the Michigan Capitol on the same day the legitimate electors met to cast their votes, but they were turned away by state troopers.
President Trump later issued federal pardons for several individuals involved in the alternate elector effort in 2025. However, presidential pardons do not affect potential state-level prosecutions.
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