Several legal analysts have questioned why former President Donald Trump was not indicted in Arizona along with 18 of his supporters.
Rudy Giuliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows were among the 18 indicted on Wednesday for allegedly trying to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results. Charges include fraud, forgery and conspiracy, according to a statement from Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’s office.
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election, is identified in prosecutors’ court filings as “unindicted co-conspirator 1” and has not been charged.
Newsweek sought email comment from Trump’s attorney on Thursday.
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Ryan Goodman, a New York University law professor, wrote on the Just Security political website that Trump’s absence from the Arizona indictment was “conspicuous.”
“The Arizona indictment raises a question. How is it possible that Trump’s two alter egos have been indicted but the former president — the ego in that equation — has not?”
“The two alter egos are Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Trump’s absence from the indicted co-defendants list is all the more puzzling since Trump is identifiable as ‘unindicted co-conspirator 1’ in the Attorney General’s court filings,” Goodman wrote.
“One can only speculate as to the reasons why Trump might be excluded but the other two men included in the Arizona indictment.”
“The reasons might have to do with direct evidence for Meadows and Giuliani that is lacking for Trump – especially as the former president acted, in part, through them as intermediaries and conduits.”
Goodman added that “the current situation cries out for an explanation of how Trump’s two key agents – Giuliani and Meadows – are included in the list of indicted individuals, but not Trump himself.”
Lawyer Mark Romano wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday that the indictment is allowing Trump to escape responsibility.
“So Arizona says Trump was part of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election results in their state, but they indicted everyone but him. So, once again, Trump continues to get away with his crimes,” wrote Romano, who describes himself as a former Republican on his X account.
Legal analyst Lisa Rubin said on MSNBC that Mayes may be waiting for some of the Arizona accused to “flip” before indicting Trump. Rubin also said Mayes may be waiting to see how Trump’s presidential immunity case plays out in the U.S. Supreme Court.
“One reason Kris Mayes may not have indicted Donald Trump here is she wants to see how that (Supreme Court case) plays itself out first and also give some of those indicted a chance to flip against the boss,” Rubin said.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from his federal election interference case in Washington, D.C.
Trump was indicted on four counts in Washington, D.C., federal district court for allegedly working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. It is one of four criminal cases that Trump is facing while he campaigns in the presidential election. He has also pleaded not guilty to charges in the other cases, denying any wrongdoing, and has repeatedly said that they are part of a political witch hunt.
The Washington, D.C., case has been frozen while the Supreme Court considers the presidential immunity issue. If the Supreme Court rules that Trump has presidential immunity, the ruling would likely bring an end to the Arizona case.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.