Michigan judge warns false Trump electors against criticizing witnesses on social media

LANSING, Mich. — Ingham County Judge Kristen Simmons opened a court hearing Tuesday by warning a group of Republican electors facing felony charges in Michigan and their lawyers against making "disparaging" social media posts about witnesses.

Such actions are "ridiculous" and could amount to witness intimidation, which can lead to a criminal charge, Simmons said.

"If it appears that you're taking a photo, I'm going to have to take your phone and have it searched," Simmons said. "Because we're not going to have witnesses being intimidated when they're coming in here, under a subpoena, to give testimony."

The remarks from Simmons came on the fifth day of preliminary examinations in the cases of six GOP electors who each face eight felony charges, including forgery, for signing a certificate on Dec. 14, 2020, falsely claiming that Republican Donald Trump won Michigan's 2020 presidential election.

Through the examinations, Simmons will eventually determine whether Attorney General Dana Nessel's office has presented enough evidence to show there is probable cause to believe that crimes occurred.

If Simmons decides prosecutors met that standard, the cases, which spotlight efforts of the Trump campaign to overturn its loss to Democrat Joe Biden, can proceed to trial.

Simmons didn't detail whose social media posts she was focused on in her comments Tuesday but said there would be a future hearing on the matter.

"The court is going to have to address the issue," Simmons said.

Her statements came after calling Nick Somberg, the lawyer for elector Meshawn Maddock, former Michigan Republican Party co-chairwoman, and lawyers from the Attorney General's office into the judge's chamber for a private discussion.

On the most recent day of testimony in the preliminary examinations, Somberg made a social media post that was critical of James Renner, one of the 16 Michigan Republicans who signed the false certificate.

Renner, a Lansing man in his mid-70s, previously reached a cooperation deal with Nessel's office. Through the agreement, Nessel's office dropped the eight felony charges against him.

"Innocent man who turned on his innocent friends out of fear," Somberg wrote on Facebook. "Sad and dishonorable in my opinion."

In an interview, Somberg confirmed that Simmons questioned a social media post that he made featuring a photo of Renner testifying. However, the photo was taken by a member of the media, not Somberg, the lawyer said.

Somberg said his post described Renner as prosecutors' "star snitch."

“Being that that is factually correct, objectively correct, I see no issue here," Somberg said.

In July, Nessel's office brought felony forgery charges against the 16 Republicans who signed certificates on Dec. 14, 2020, attesting that Trump had won the state's election and its 16 electoral votes. Biden had actually beaten Trump by 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points, 51%-48%, in Michigan.

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