New Mexico Republican Party leader says he has ‘no regrets’ for signing Trump certificate

A New Mexico Republican Party official who signed a document that intended to deliver New Mexico’s five electoral votes to Donald Trump and Mike Pence in the 2020 election stated he has “no regrets, whatsoever,” and he questioned law enforcement’s continued involvement.

Jewll Powdrell, who was one of five signatories on the document, said in an interview that he put his name on the certificate as a member of the GOP’s executive committee in New Mexico. He said the group acted “at the insistence of the chairman of the Republican Party, who is Congressman Steve Pearce.”

Last week, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said his office was reviewing the case, and it had also referred the matter to federal law enforcement authorities.

State law makes it a fourth-degree felony for designated electors to cast their ballot for anyone other than the presidential candidate who received the majority of the votes cast in the state. President Joe Biden carried New Mexico by 11 percentage points.

“My assessment was, why are we doing this now when it was almost two years ago?” Powdrell said of the investigation.

American Oversight published certificates submitted by Republicans in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The certificates aimed to award the electoral votes in those states, which were won by Biden.

Powdrell declined to say what the group’s intentions were. “Based on what the attorneys are trying to do, since this was a couple years ago, I’ve been asked not to give any overt comments about what the intent was,” he said.