Reuters reported on August 8 that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is accusing her Republican political opponent of engaging in a plan with a state legislator and others to break into Michigan voting machines illegally. The accused were allegedly were looking for evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election, in order to prove former president Donald Trump’s false voter-fraud claims.
Nessel says that her Republican opponent in the upcoming November election, Matt DePerno, was involved in a possible felony, and filed a petition requesting that a special prosecutor be assigned to conduct an investigation into DePerno. Nessel herself cannot take the investigation any further, due to a conflict of interest.
The Trump-backed DePerno allegedly led a team that was able to get access to voting machines in Richfield Township and other townships without official authorization, during the period of March to June 2021, according to Attorney General Nessel.
DePerson responded on Twitter that Nessel’s investigation was politically motivated and he asked followers to send donations so he could “fight back” against the accusations.
“My opponent called for me to be arrested for the ‘crime’ of investigating voter fraud in 2020,” DePerno said in a tweet.
A felony, if proven, of a candidate running for attorney general, could become big news and trigger even more surveillance of US elections, as stolen-election lies continue to influence voters and complicate election outcomes.
The petition filed by Nessel implicates not only DePerno, but also Republican State Representative Daire Rendon, and Stefanie Lambert, a pro-Trump lawyer. It also names Dar Leaf, the sheriff in Barry County, as helping in the scheme, saying that Leaf asked the Irving Township clerk to cooperate with “investigators” involved in seizing the voting machines. The sheriff denied involvement.
The three main characters in the petition “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators” in three township offices and a county office, the petition says. In one of the incidents, Rendon allegedly lied to a county clerk, saying the investigation was authorized by the state legislature. The seized machines were taken to hotels and AirBnB’s in Detroit, where they were broken into and tested. DePerno was said to be physically present at one of the hotels during the machine break-in.
The attorney general’s petition listed a number of crimes allegedly committed, including malicious destruction of property, fraudulent access to a computer, and conspiracy. A conspiracy charge could result in up to five years in prison under Michigan state law.
The technical team that examined the voting machines could also be in trouble. They all worked with DePerno on his lawsuit that alleged election fraud in Antrim County. They are all named in Nessel’s petition.
A Michigan lawyer, who allegedly coordinated printing of fake ballots, is also accused.
Nessel’s allegations were the result of an investigation begun by the attorney general at the request of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who had been informed about the breaches. In a statement to Reuters, Benson said, “There must be consequences for those who broke the law to undermine our elections in order to advance their own political agendas.”
