Trump’s Former Chief of Staff Pleads Not Guilty in Arizona Election Case

Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, pleaded not guilty on Friday in an Arizona election interference case, the latest development in the criminal prosecutions playing out in five battleground states over efforts to keep former President Donald J. Trump in power in 2020.

Arizona is the second state, after Georgia, to charge Mr. Meadows in connection with his conduct after the 2020 election. He is accused of taking part in an effort to reverse Mr. Trump’s loss in Arizona, and, like other defendants, faces charges of conspiracy, fraud and forgery.

Another former Trump aide, Michael Roman, was also arraigned on Friday in Arizona and pleaded not guilty. Mr. Roman worked for the 2020 Trump campaign and played a major role in the effort to deploy fake electors in swing states lost by Mr. Trump. He was also charged this week in Wisconsin over a fake electors plot there, along with two other former Trump advisers.

Fifty-two people now face charges related to election interference in five states. They include Mr. Trump, who has been charged in Georgia, though that case is on hold after a ruling on Wednesday from the state Court of Appeals. None of the cases are expected to go to trial before the November election. Mr. Trump also faces federal charges over election interference.

The swing state cases are all led by Democratic prosecutors, though they have taken different approaches.

In Michigan, the attorney general, Dana Nessel, has charged a group of Republicans who signed a certificate that falsely presented them as the “duly elected and qualified electors” after President Biden won. But during pretrial hearings this week in Lansing, the judge appeared open to defense claims that at least some of the fake electors were misled by Trump advisers about what was taking place.