Electors from both parties in Hawaii sent their EV's to DC while the vote count was contested. The President of the Senate (VP Nixon) then opened the Democrats' envelope to count the Dims EV's instead of the Republicans' EV's because by then it was considered that the Dims won Hawaii. Had the Republicans won Hawaii he would have counted the Republians' EV's.
The “alternate” electors ended up being the legitimate ones after all the recounts and challenges were completed.
“The “fake electors” were part of the normal process if the vote count of a state is contested. In reality they’re called “alternate electors””
That’s what happened in Hawaii. That’s what happened with the Pennsylvania electors in 2020 which is why they aren’t being prosecuted.
What happened with AZ is that they had lost the legal case, it wasn’t legally contested, but they still knowingly and falsely claimed they were the duly elected electors. They did it as part of a plan to present multiple slates to Pence, who would either discard AZ votes, or delay the count and send it back to the AZ legislature.
It was a ill conceived, poorly run con job. If they had competent lawyers, they could have run the scam and at least covered themselves legally (not that they should have tried the scam).
They were morons and unfortunately are getting what they deserve.