Giuliani among 18 indicted in Arizona election case

STORY: Former lawyer to Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, is among 18 people charged by a grand jury, with allegedly taking part in an Arizona scheme to install fake electors to re-elect then-U.S. President Trump in 2020.

The indictment, unsealed on Wednesday, stems from efforts to reverse Democrat Joe Biden's victory in several states that year, based on Trump's false claims that he had been re-elected.

Giuliani's spokesman confirmed the former New York mayor was among seven defendants whose names were initially redacted in the indictment.

Another is identified as chief of staff in 2020, who was Mark Meadows.

Arizona's Attorney General said the redacted names would be made public after serving the indictments to all defendants.

The court document lists Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator, under the description of "a former president of the United States who spread false claims of election fraud following the 2020 election".

The 11 defendants whose names were immediately made public in the indictment correspond to those who allegedly served as fake electors for Trump in Arizona.

They are charged with nine counts of crimes, including conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and forgery.

Electors are people chosen to formally cast a state's electoral votes in the U.S. Electoral College system used in presidential elections.

Arizona was one of seven states where Trump allies sought to award those state's electoral votes to Trump - even though those states were won by Biden.