GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

The legal fallout for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election continued in Arizona today.

Rudy Giuliani and 11 other allies of former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to charges that include conspiracy, fraud, and forgery.

It's connected to the plot to install fake electors to back Trump, despite President Biden winning the state in the 2020 election.

Following all of this closely is Ned Foley.

He's an election law expert at The Ohio State University.

Thanks so much for being with us.

NED FOLEY, The Ohio State University: Good to be with you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And it's worth noting that Arizona prosecutors spent weeks trying to find Rudy Giuliani.

They ultimately located him based on some of his podcasts.

And he was served as summons while he was leaving his 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Florida.

Other defendants in this case include former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis.

Remind us of how this scheme worked and what they were trying to accomplish.

NED FOLEY: Right.

Well I guess the good news is that it didn't work.

It was trying to undo the election based on claims that had no factual credibility whatsoever.

As many people may remember, there was a lot of litigation over the 2020 presidential election after the networks all declared that Biden had won.

And Trump went to court with Giuliani as his lawyer.

And these other defendants were part of that conspiracy really to try to subvert the outcome.

And for a while, they used an ordinary legal process to do it, even though they didn't have any legitimate claims and the courts all rejected it.

And then they went beyond normal legal means to concoct this scheme of alternative electors.

GEOFF BENNETT: Arizona is one of seven states that Trump lost in 2020 where his allies tried to put forward this slate of fake electors.

What stands out about the Arizona case?

NED FOLEY: Well, the Arizona prosecution, a little bit like Georgia, is not just focused on the fake electors.

That's part of it.

But it's an allegation of a broad conspiracy, which is similar to the federal case that the special prosecutor has brought against Trump.

And I think Arizona was wise to do that, because the heart of the criminality here is this plan that was concocted, not really in Arizona by itself, but within the Trump campaign or some of their advisers.

It was a multistate effort.

And Arizona was one of them.

And I think Arizona is right to identify the broader conspiracy as the heart of the problem.

GEOFF BENNETT: While Donald Trump is not among those charged in Arizona, the indictment, the details in the indictment suggest that he is unindicted Co-Conspirator No.

1.

What does that suggest about his role in this Arizona case in particular?

NED FOLEY: Yes.

I think that's exactly right.

I assume -- the prosecutor hasn't said why he wasn't indicted, along with Giuliani and the others.

I suspect it was because of the complicated issues involving presidential immunity that have taken up time in the federal case.

And so leaving him out of the indictment makes it easier, because none of those other defendants can claim presidential immunity.

GEOFF BENNETT: Was 2020 a dry run for the GOP effort to overturn the 2024 election should Donald Trump lose?

Do election deniers now have a blueprint for the future?

NED FOLEY: Boy, I hope not.

And, actually, the good news is that we have a new law in place that should make it very difficult to use the legal system the way Giuliani and Trump and others tried to do last time.

The new law is called the Electoral Count Reform Act.

And the reform was done in Congress.

It was a bipartisan effort led by Senators Manchin and Collins.

And it tightens up the rules for submitting electoral votes to Congress.

The problem on January 6, 2021, that was so tragic is that Trump and his team tried to exploit the old law that was from the 19th century.

They did it incorrectly and without any basis.

But at least now we have a better law that should prevent something similar.

GEOFF BENNETT: Ned Foley with The Ohio State University, thanks so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

NED FOLEY: Thanks for having me.