Special Prosecutor Will Investigate MI GOP Candidate In Voting Machine Case: Reports

MICHIGAN — A special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate nine individuals, including the Republican candidate for state attorney general after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said they gained unauthorized access to voting tabulators after the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, according to multiple reports.

Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson will lead the investigation and determine whether to file charges including conspiracy, using a computer system to commit a crime, willfully damaging a voting machine, malicious destruction of property, fraudulent access to a computer or computer system and false pretenses, reports said.

In a petition filed last month, Nessel said Republican candidate for state attorney general Matthew DePerno and others illegally obtained five voting tabulators from four Michigan counties and broke into them to perform "tests."

Nessel said the scheme took place between March 11, 2021, and late June 2021, as the group convinced local clerks in Lake City Township, Irving Township, Richfield Township and Roscommon County to turn over the machines as part of a statewide election investigation into election fraud.

The attorney's general office and Michigan State Police began investigating third party-access to the tabulators in Roscommon County on Feb. 10.

State Rep. Daire Rendon of Lake City, Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, Jeff Lenberg, Ben Cotton, James Penrose, Douglas Logan, Stefanie Lambert Juntilla and Ann Howard were also named in the petition Nessel filed.

DePerno, a lawyer from Kalamazoo, has denied the allegations put forth by Nessel and said the investigation is politically motivated.