What criminal charges has Tyler Bowyer faced and what were the outcomes?
Executive summary
Tyler Bowyer, a former Turning Point USA/Turning Point Action executive and Arizona Republican operative, was named in state criminal indictments alleging participation in a 2020 “fake electors” scheme and was also included among persons later pardoned by former President Trump for federal exposure related to similar efforts; as of the available reporting his Arizona state charges — which include fraud, forgery and conspiracy — remained pending and unresolved in court [1] [2] [3].
1. The state criminal charges lodged against Bowyer
Arizona’s attorney general empaneled a state grand jury that indicted a slate of individuals identified as the “fake electors”; the public press release and contemporaneous reporting list Tyler Bowyer among those named and specify the charges in the indictments as fraud, forgery and conspiracy — classified in Arizona as class 2, 4, and 5 felonies — for allegedly participating in a scheme to submit false certificates claiming Donald Trump won Arizona’s 2020 election [1] [4] [5].
2. The federal pardon that affected Bowyer’s exposure at the national level
News outlets covering the November 2025 pardons report that Trump issued pardons for multiple actors tied to fake-elector schemes, explicitly including Bowyer among those pardoned for federal offenses; commentators in those articles noted the narrowness of the clemency — it applies only to federal charges and does not extinguish state prosecutions brought by Arizona’s attorney general [2] [3].
3. Court status and procedural posture in Arizona as of the records reported
Court filings and minute entries show Bowyer engaged in standard pretrial litigation: he and several co-defendants filed motions to remand and other procedural challenges that the trial court took under advisement after oral argument, and Bowyer filed a formal response in an Arizona Supreme Court matter defending procedural rights — but the sources do not report a final trial verdict, conviction, or plea disposition for Bowyer in the state case within the available record [6] [7].
4. What outcomes have been recorded publicly and what remains open
While some co-defendants reached plea deals or misdemeanor resolutions — and coverage notes one defendant received probation and a ban from office — the specific outcome for Bowyer in Arizona’s indictment was not reported in the documents provided; the only definitive outcome tied to Bowyer in these sources is the presidential pardon covering federal exposure, while the state felony charges were still active and subject to litigation [8] [4] [2].
5. Competing narratives, political context and limits of the public record
Reporting about Bowyer sits at the intersection of political advocacy, organizational ties and criminal accountability: outlets emphasize his role at Turning Point and connections to conservative networks as context for the indictments, while legal commentators highlighted that presidential clemency shifts political risk without stripping state prosecutors of authority to pursue charges [9] [2]. The provided sources contain no record of Bowyer admitting guilt, being convicted in state court, or completing a plea on the Arizona counts; therefore it is not possible from these documents to assert a state-court outcome in his case [7] [6].
6. Bottom line: charges and outcomes, in plain terms
Tyler Bowyer faced state felony indictments in Arizona for alleged fraud, forgery and conspiracy related to the 2020 fake-electors scheme [1] [5]; he was later included among individuals pardoned by President Trump for federal liabilities arising from similar schemes [2] [3]. As of the available reporting, the Arizona state prosecution remained active and unresolved in the public record — motions were pending and no final disposition for Bowyer’s state charges is documented in these sources [6] [7].