The Daily Fuckup

On Sept. 28, 2022, lawyers for three Georgia Republicans accused in the state’s 2020 election case told a federal judge their clients were not part of a fake-elector scheme. They said David Shafer, Shawn Still and Cathy Latham were serving as a “contingent” slate, ready only if a court later overturned Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia. ([pbs.org](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/lawyers-say-3-republicans-who-falsely-said-trump-won-georgia-were-contingent-electors-not-fake?utm_source=openai))

That argument ran straight into the language on the certificate itself. The document signed by the three Republicans said Trump had won Georgia, even though Biden carried the state. Prosecutors have treated that filing as part of an effort to keep Trump in power after the election, while the defense has insisted the slate was a backup option tied to pending legal challenges. ([pbs.org](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/lawyers-say-3-republicans-who-falsely-said-trump-won-georgia-were-contingent-electors-not-fake?utm_source=openai))

The hearing did not resolve that dispute. It showed the two sides fighting over intent and over how to describe the paper trail. The defense wanted the court to see the electors as a lawful fallback plan. Prosecutors said the paperwork was false and did not become legitimate simply because the people who signed it later tried to give it a narrower label. ([pbs.org](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/lawyers-say-3-republicans-who-falsely-said-trump-won-georgia-were-contingent-electors-not-fake?utm_source=openai))

The distinction matters because the Georgia case is not just about what the certificate said. It is about whether the defendants were preparing for a possible court ruling or trying to create an alternate record that claimed Trump had won when he had not. On that question, the Sept. 28 hearing mostly preserved the conflict rather than settling it. ([pbs.org](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/lawyers-say-3-republicans-who-falsely-said-trump-won-georgia-were-contingent-electors-not-fake?utm_source=openai))