Woman charged in Arizona ‘fake elector’ case pleads guilty, docket shows
adamkaz/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — One of former President Donald Trump’s so-called “fake electors,” Loraine Pellegrino, pleaded guilty to a single “reduced charge” in the Arizona 2020 election case, according to the online docket. Her attorney said in a statement she was sentenced to unsupervised probation and community service.
Pellegrino, one of the fake electors charged this spring alongside a number of Trump’s current and former associates, was originally facing multiple counts but pleaded to a single misdemeanor charge of presentment of a false instrument for filing, according to the online docket. The other counts Pellegrino was facing, including forgery, were dismissed due to her plea on the other count, the docket said.
The guilty plea comes after another defendant in the case, ex-Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, on Monday reached a cooperation agreement with law enforcement. It was a deal Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement “represents a significant step forward” in the case.
In a statement, Pellegrino’s attorney said her decision to plead to a lesser charge “reflects her desire to move forward and put this matter behind her.”
“She has taken full responsibility for her actions, demonstrating her commitment to upholding the law and contributing positively to the community,” the attorney, Joshua Kolsrud, said. “The sentence of unsupervised probation with community service acknowledges her remorse and willingness to make amends.”
“We appreciate the Attorney General’s understanding and recognition of Loraine’s character,” the statement continues.
Several former and current key aides to Trump were among those charged by the Arizona State Attorney General in April over their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes also announced in April charges against 11 named alleged fake electors for their alleged role in efforts to subvert Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state.
The charges included fraud, forgery, and conspiracy.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Mark Kelly, a potential vice presidential contender, said on Wednesday that he would vote in support of the PRO Act, a major labor reform measure.
The remarks came a day after ABC News reported concern among labor unions about the Arizona senator as a potential running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris due to his unwillingness to back the pro-labor legislation.
“Why would the Democrats even consider a senator for the vice presidency if he doesn’t support the PRO Act,” John Samuelsen, President of the Transport Workers Union, told ABC News.
On Wednesday, Kelly voiced full support for the PRO Act, saying he would vote for it if it came to the Senate floor.
“I would have voted for it on Day 1,” Kelly said. “I would vote for it today.”
“I am, like a lot of legislation, working to make it better. But if it came to the floor today or any day going back to the day I was sworn in, I would vote for it.”
The Huffington Post first reported Kelly’s comments on the PRO Act. Kelly spokesperson Jacob Peters confirmed the comments to ABC News.
Kelly, who took office in 2020, has declined to sign onto the PRO Act throughout his tenure. The latest version of the bill, known as the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act, boasts the support of 48 of the 51 U.S. Senators who caucus with Democrats.
Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro are reportedly the two leading candidates for the nod as vice president on a potential Harris-led ticket, a senior administration official told ABC News on Tuesday.
Prior to Kelly’s remarks on Wednesday, a union president who backs Harris told ABC News that they opposed the nomination of Kelly due to his position on the PRO Act. The union president requested that ABC News not use their name due to the sensitivity of issues surrounding Harris’s candidacy.
“The Democrats cannot have someone on the ticket who is identified as soft on labor,” the person said. “This is a huge problem.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Kelly’s office said the Arizona senator has robustly backed labor.
“Senator Kelly is the son of two union police officers and has been a strong supporter of workers throughout his time in the Senate,” Peters told ABC News.
Peters pointed ABC News to a statement Kelly made to the Huffington Post in 2021 in which he said he supported the “overall goals” of the legislation while acknowledging that he had “some concerns.”
In 2022, Kelly’s Senate campaign was endorsed by the Arizona AFL-CIO and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
Larry Cohen, former president of the Communications Workers of America, previously said Kelly’s position on the PRO Act raised concern but the primary consideration in assessing his selection as vice president should be whether he helps the Democratic ticket win in November.
“I would tend to go back to the issue of the swing states. Who can move the needle?” Cohen told ABC News, noting Arizona is a battleground state. “The number one goal is beating Trump.”
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is moving full steam ahead in her bid for the White House, with her campaign saying Sunday it has raised more than $200 million in less than a week.
Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, have several campaign events set up this week as they aim their attacks on Harris.
Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Trump attempts to clean up Vance’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comments
Appearing on Fox News The Ingraham Angle on Monday night, Trump attempted to clean up his vice presidential pick’s previous comments about “childless cat ladies,” but didn’t really address the comments.
Instead, he rambled about how Vance is pro-family.
“He made a statement having to do with families. That doesn’t mean that people that aren’t a member of a big and beautiful family with 400 children around and everything else, it doesn’t mean that a person doesn’t have, he’s not against anything, but he loves family. It’s very important to him. He grew up in a very interesting family situation, and he feels family is good, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong in saying that,” Trump said downplaying Vance’s comments.
Gloria Steinem, Chelsea Clinton and more participate in ‘Women for Harris’ call
The Democratic National Committee held a “Women for Harris” call on Monday night.
Over the course of two-and-a-half hours, viewers heard from Chelsea Clinton, California Sen. Laphonza Butler, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Gloria Steinem, Ana Navarro and leaders of organizations like Emily’s List and Mom’s Demand Action.
Clinton lamented her mother’s loss in 2016 but told viewers that defeating the former president is even more important than it was in 2016 because Americans now have a “record” of things to hold him accountable for.
“My mom put a few more cracks in that glass ceiling. And Vice President Harris is going to obliterate that glass ceiling,” Clinton said.
The call included a host of organizations who support Harris, including Black women who held the first iteration of these pop up fundraising calls with the group Win with Black Women. Glynda Carr, founder of Higher Heights PAC, which supports Black women leadership, told attendees what made this call uniquely important was the realization that women from all walks of life are “stronger together.”
Another “Women for Harris” call is planned for Tuesday night.
Harris launches $50 million ad campaign
Vice President Kamala Harris rolled out an aggressive $50 million, three-week advertising blitz for the first ad of her presidential campaign on Tuesday, in which she introduces herself to voters, highlights her career and takes hits at former President Donald Trump.
“The one thing Kamala Harris has always been: fearless,” a narrator says at the start of the minute-long ad, as pictures of Harris over the years — from a toddler to college graduate to vice president — flash on screen.
“As a prosecutor, she put murderers and abusers behind bars,” the narrator continued. “As California’s attorney general, she went after the big banks and won $20 billion for homeowners. And as vice president, she took on the big drug companies to cap the cost of insulin for seniors. Because Kamala Harris has always known who she represents.”
The spot then leads into laying out Harris’ vision and attacking Trump, using footage from her first rally of the campaign last week in a high school gym just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. Where every senior can retire with dignity,” Harris said in the footage from the rally. “But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward, to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and end the Affordable Care Act.”
“But we are not going back,” she added.
Harris campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said in a statement that because of Harris’ prosecutorial, congressional and vice-presidential experience, the vice president is “uniquely suited to take on Donald Trump, a convicted felon who has spent his entire life ripping off working people, tearing away our rights, and fighting for himself.”
‘White Dudes for Harris’ raises over $4 million in 3 hours
The “White Dudes for Harris” livestream held on Monday night raised over $4 million over three hours in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, organizers said.
The event featured participants from politics and a parade of celebrities — including “The Dude” himself, The Big Lebowski’s Jeff Bridges — all making their own call to action for other white men to step up in their support for Harris.
Over 190,000 people tuned into the Zoom call, organizers of the unofficial event said at the conclusion of the stream.
Among the recognizable faces that cropped up during the livestream were Star Wars icon Mark Hamill, Supernatural alum Misha Collins, The West Wing alum Bradley Whitford, Frozen’s Josh Gad and singer Josh Groban. Several potential running mates for Harris also joined the event, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who withdrew from contention for vice president on the Democratic ticket around the time he spoke at the meeting. He did not mention his withdrawal on the call.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, all still in the running for Harris’ vice-presidential pick, were also part of the “White Dudes for Harris” meeting.
JD Vance said Democratic ticket switch to Harris was ‘sucker punch’: Report
Sen. JD Vance, running mate to former President Donald Trump, said over the weekend that Kamala Harris moving to the top of the Democratic ticket was a “sucker punch,” according to the Washington Post.
“All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch,” Vance said to donors over the weekend in Minnesota, per an audio recording the paper said it had obtained. “The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.”
When asked about the report and Vance’s “sucker punch” comment, a spokesperson for the vice presidential contender took aim at Harris.
“Poll after poll shows President Trump leading Kamala Harris as voters become aware of her weak, failed and dangerously liberal agenda. Her far-left ideas are even more radioactive than Joe Biden, particularly in the key swing states that will decide this election like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” Vance spokesperson William Martin said in a statement.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will not be Kamala Harris’ VP pick
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement on Monday night signaling that he’s removed himself from contention as a vice presidential running mate for presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a post on X.
“As l’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.
Trump says he’ll ‘probably end up debating’ Harris
Former President Donald Trump seems to be one step closer to formally agreeing to debate his opponent for the presidency, Vice President Kamala Harris.
During an interview on The Ingraham Angle Monday night, Trump told the Fox News host that he will “probably end up debating” Harris. In his remarks, though, he also appeared to downplay the necessity of debates.
“I want to do a debate, but I also can say this. Everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is,” he said.
“If you’re going to have a debate, you gotta do it, I think, before the votes are cast. I think it’s very important that you do that. So, the answer is yes, but I can also make a case for not doing it,” Trump said.
A short while later, a spokesperson for Harris’ campaign issued a statement on Trump’s comments on Fox, insisting that the vice president will be at the next debate no matter what.
“Why won’t Donald Trump give a straight answer on debating Vice President Harris? It’s clear from tonight’s question-dodging: he’s scared he’ll have to defend his running mate’s weird attacks on women, or his own calls to end elections in America in a debate against the vice president. Vice President Harris will be on the debate stage September 10th. Donald Trump can show up, or not,” the statement said.
Megan Thee Stallion to perform at VP Kamala Harris’ campaign rally in Atlanta: Source
Rapper Megan thee Stallion will give a special performance at Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, a source familiar confirmed to ABC News.
In addition to Megan thee Stallion, Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and former Rep. Stacey Abrams will be in attendance, supporting Harris’ 2024 presidential bid.
The news was first reported by Billboard.
Marianne Williamson suspends her Democratic presidential bid, again
Democratic long-shot nominee Marianne Williamson has suspended her campaign for president, announcing on X Monday that it is “time to let go” of her bid for the White House.
Williamson said she failed to register for the Democratic National Convention’s candidate directory by Saturday evening’s deadline.
Harris will be at ABC News debate with or without Trump, her campaign says
Vice President Kamala Harris will be at ABC News’ Sept. 10 debate with or without former President Donald Trump, her campaign communications director said Monday.
“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” her campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, said in a statement first reported by the Hill. “If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘we’ll see you there’ — and it appears that they are — it’s a convenient, but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on September 10th — we’ll see if Trump shows.”
While Harris has previously affirmed her intention to be at the debate, this statement takes it a step further by saying she’ll show up regardless of Trump’s presence.
Trump accepted the debate when Biden was still the presumptive Democratic nominee, though his campaign has since said they’re waiting until there is an official Democratic nominee before agreeing to debates.
Election content on social media ‘could be propaganda’ for foreign adversaries: ODNI
Content about the election on social media “could be propaganda” for foreign adversaries, officials with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned on Monday.
“The American public should know that content that they read online, especially on social media, could be foreign propaganda, even if it appears to be coming from fellow Americans or originating in the United States,” an ODNI official said on a conference call with reporters on Monday. “In short, foreign influence actors are getting better at hiding their hand and using Americans to do it.”
Russia is still pervasive in this space and remains the biggest threat to the election, according to the officials.
The officials also warned that the influence operators will use the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump “as part of their narratives portraying the event to fit their broad goals.”
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
DNC says it raked in $6.5M in grassroots donations in 24 hours after Biden endorsed Harris
The Democratic National Committee is claiming it has raised $6.5 million in grassroots donations in the 24 hours after President Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Harris on July 21.
The DNC said $1 million was donated in the 5 p.m. hour alone for what they’re claiming is a record for its best online fundraising day of all time.
The DNC is making a significant push in battleground states, investing an additional $15 million into those crucial states this month to fund new field offices, build data infrastructure, mobilize volunteers and strengthen coordinated campaigns.
“Democratic voters, volunteers, and grassroots donors are fired up,” chairman Jaime Harrison said in a memo. “We are confident that in our battleground states, Democrats will win up and down the ballot in November.”
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
5:28 PM EDT Gov. Andy Beshear rallies for Harris in Atlanta, calls out JD Vance
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear spoke on Sunday at the opening of Kamala Harris’ campaign office in Forsyth County, Georgia.
The possible VP pick for Harris has been an effective surrogate for the vice president’s White House bid over the weekend, coming to the metro Atlanta event fresh off of a stump in Iowa on Saturday night.
The red-state governor introduced himself to the Southern audience on Sunday while boosting Harris’ candidacy and taking a number of swipes at Trump’s Vice Presidential pick, JD Vance.
“Are you ready to beat Donald Trump? Are you ready to beat JD Vance? Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris president of the United States of America” Beshear asked the crowd, adding, “Let’s win this race,”
“Let me tell you just a bit about myself,” Beshear said. “I’m a proud pro-union governor. I’m a proud pro-choice governor. I am a proud pro-public education governor. I am a proud pro-diversity governor and I’m a proud Harris for president governor,” he added.
Calling out Vance, Beshear said, “Just let me be clear. JD Vance ain’t from Kentucky. He ain’t from Appalachia. And he ain’t gonna be the vice president of the United States.”
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
2:18 PM EDT Former Vice President Al Gore endorses Kamala Harris
Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday.
“As a prosecutor, [Kamala Harris] took on Big Oil companies — and won. As [VP], she cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the most significant investment in climate solutions in history, the Inflation Reduction Act. That’s the kind of climate champion we need in the White House,” he wrote on X.
“With so much at stake in this year’s election — from strengthening democracy in the US and abroad, to expanding opportunity for the American people, to accelerating climate action — I’m proud to endorse Kamala Harris for President,” he added.
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
July 28, 2024, 10:42 AM EDT Vance says Trump ‘doesn’t care’ about his past criticism
During a quick stop at a diner in Minnesota on Sunday morning, Sen. JD Vance on Sunday spoke about his past criticisms of former President Donald Trump.
When asked by ABC News if he and Trump have talked about his past criticism of the former president, Vance said yes, adding that Trump “doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago.”
“I mean, look, President Trump and I have talked a lot about this,” Vance said. “In fact, I sometimes joke that I wish that he had the memory of Joe Biden, because he’s got a memory like a steel trap, and he certainly remembers criticisms that people have made.”
“But this is where the media, I think, really misses Trump — Donald Trump accepts that people can change their mind, and you ask, ‘Why did I change my mind on Donald Trump?’ Because his agenda made people’s lives better,” Vance said.
“This whole thing is not about red team versus blue team or winning an election for its own sake. It’s about getting a chance to govern so that you can bring down the cost of groceries, close that border and stop the fentanyl coming across our country for four years,” Vance continued, saying he was “wrong” about Trump.
“He did a better job of that than anybody that I’ve ever seen as president in my lifetime. So I changed my mind, because he did a good job. And that’s what you do when people do a good job and you’re wrong. I’ve talked to President Trump a lot about it, but look, he, I mean, he just, he doesn’t… He doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago. He cares about whether we together [and] can govern the country successful.”
When asked again if the two have talked about the subject, specifically in the last week since his comments have resurfaced, Vance admitted that they haven’t spoken about it and their conversations have focused on the race ahead.
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim and Hannah Demissie
(NEW YORK) — Former Trump administration official Kellyanne Conway has registered as a foreign agent representing Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk’s foundation, new foreign lobbying disclosure reports show.
In 2015, the Ukrainian steel magnate donated $150,000 to former President Donald Trump’s charitable organization to book the then-presidential candidate to speak at a conference in Kyiv.
The donation was later reportedly investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team in connection with their probe into Trump’s and his campaign’s alleged role in Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to The New York Times. Mueller’s final report did not specifically address this donation.
Conway is representing the U.K. office of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, which the disclosure filings describe as a “registered, private, nonpartisan, philanthropic company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom primarily focused on advancing artistic, scientific, charitable, benevolent, and philanthropic purposes in Ukraine or related to Ukraine.”
According to the disclosure, Conway has been hired to influence American “political leaders,” “lawmakers, experts and opinion makers” on a variety of issues related to Ukraine, including “making best efforts to convince” them to “attend the annual Yalta European Strategy meeting in Kiev on September 13 – 14,” the disclosure filing states.
Yalta European Strategy’s annual gathering, also known as YES, is the same conference that Trump virtually attended in 2015 allegedly in exchange for Pinchuk’s donation.
Conway’s role as an agent for Pinchuk’s foundation also includes engaging U.S. political leaders and experts to “explain the importance of Ukraine to the rules-based order and the protection of democratic principles,” and contributing to “raising awareness among US decision makers of Ukrainians’ fight for freedom and the Russian illegal war of aggression,” according to the disclosure filing.
She is also tasked with assisting with organizing meetings between U.S. political leaders and Ukrainian soldiers and veterans, and to keep Pinchuk informed of the process and achievements, per the disclosure filing.
Conway is set to be paid $50,000 a month for her services throughout the contract, which runs from July 25 through Nov. 14, 2024, with an option to extend it, according to their service agreement.
ABC News has reached out to Conway.
The $150,000 donation to Trump’s foundation was one of many foreign payments Trump and his associates had received in the years leading up to the 2016 election that had been scrutinized by the special counsel’s team, according to the New York Times.
In 2018, the Trump Organization turned over documents related to the $150,000 donation from Pinchuk, after investigators subpoenaed the Trump family business for an array of records about business with foreign nationals.
In 2019, Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee that the $150,000 donation was in lieu of Trump’s speaking engagement at the conference.
Trump ended up making a 20-minute virtual appearance at the YES gathering in Kyiv in September 2015, where the then-presidential candidate praised Pinchuk, saying, “Victor is a very, very special man. A special entrepreneur.”
During his virtual remarks at the 2015 YES gathering, Trump also attacked then-President Barack Obama for not doing enough to support Ukraine, saying, “Part of the problem we have with the Ukraine is that [Vladimir] Putin does not respect our president whatsoever. Putin does not respect our president.”
Pinchuk’s contribution to Trump’s charity group was disclosed in 2016 as a part of the charity group’s annual tax record. The Victor Pinchuk Foundation offices told ABC News at the time that the contribution was made to bolster its efforts to persuade Western governments to help protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the face of Russian incursions.
“The sole reason the Victor Pinchuk Foundation has reached out to President-elect Trump — as well as other world leaders — has been to promote strengthened and enduring ties between Ukraine and the West,” a spokeswoman for the Pinchuk foundation said in an emailed response to questions in November 2016.
“Mr Pinchuk had met Mr Trump some years ago in New York, this is how the invitation for Mr Trump to speak at the YES meeting came about,” the spokeswoman said at the time.
Pinchuk has also been a prolific donor to the Clinton Foundation, giving tens of millions of dollars to the group over the years, as well as reportedly lending his private plane to the Clintons.
