Matthew DePerno, the Trump-endorsed candidate for Michigan attorney general, spearheaded a plot to seize multiple vote tabulators in pursuit of MAGA election fraud conspiracy theories, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) and records obtained by Reuters.
DePerno, who will likely face Nessel in November pending his official nomination by GOP convention delegates later this month, was the ringleader of a team of fellow election truthers known as the “Michigan Antrim County Election Lawsuit & Investigation Team.”
Reuters found that the team improperly got ahold of the vote tabulator in Richfield Township in Michigan’s Roscommon County, which is one of the election system security breaches Nessel has been investigating since February.
In an analysis of a report from DePerno’s team, Reuters matched a photo in the report to the serial number of a Richfield vote tabulator.
DePerno and his cronies’ breach of election equipment also allegedly extended to Barry County and Missaukee County, according to Nessel’s office.
The allegations were included in the office’s petition dated Friday requesting a special prosecutor to take Nessel’s place in investigating the breaches now that her likely election rival has been found at the center of the “coordinated plan” to carry out said breaches.
“When this investigation began there was not a conflict of interest,” the petition stated. “However, during the course of the investigation, facts were developed that DePerno was one of the prime instigators of the conspiracy.”
DePerno’s team took five tabulators to hotels and/or Airbnbs, where the so-called investigators “broke into the tabulators and performed ‘tests’ on the equipment,” according to the petition.
“It was determined during the investigation that DePerno was present at a hotel room during such ‘testing,'” Nessel’s office said.
Tyson Shepard, DePerno’s campaign manager, accused Nessel of “targeting and persecuting her political enemies” in a statement to the Detroit News on Sunday night.
“She is desperate to win this election at all costs and is now targeting DePerno, her political opponent,” he said. “Her actions are unethical and will further demonstrate to the voters that she is unfit for office.”
Read the petition below:
