WYOMING, Mich. — Wyoming Mayor Kent Vanderwood will not resign despite being charged with eight felonies in connection to the 2020 election.
Vanderwood and 15 others were charged by the Michigan Department of Attorney General last month for allegedly acting as false electors. They each face up to 85 years behind bars if found guilty of all charges.
READ MORE: Wyoming mayor among 16 charged with conspiracy to overturn 2020 election
Rep. John Fitzgerald called for Vanderwood’s resignation in the wake of those charges being filed, calling the charges “serious” and unfair to the Wyoming community.
Vanderwood was formally arraigned Friday morning.
In a statement released to FOX 17, Attorney Brian Lennon says Vanderwood will not step down or recuse himself.
Lennon says his client had no intention of defrauding anybody, further adding prosecutors can’t prove otherwise.
Lennon’s full statement reads:
“Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel alleges that our client, Kent Vanderwood, and 15 others, signed and filed an alternative Certificate of Votes ‘with the intent to defraud’ the National Archives, the President of the U.S. Senate and others after the tumultuous and then-contested 2020 Presidential election. Based on the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, the prosecution’s theory is completely off base.
“The prosecution cannot prove an ‘intent to defraud’ or conspiracy to do the same. Just because AG Nessel has charged eight different offenses does not make any of the charges, or the case as a whole, any better. In fact, Mr. Vanderwood had no intent to defraud anyone or any organization when he signed the Certificate of Votes of the 2020 Electors from Michigan during the time when lawsuits challenging the 2020 presidential election were pending in Michigan. After we have reviewed the government’s discovery, we fully expect that the weakness of the prosecution’s case will begin to be exposed at the preliminary hearing, and in the end, Mr. Vanderwood will be fully vindicated.
“Mr. Vanderwood is a lifelong community servant who has tirelessly dedicated himself to the various causes he supports in West Michigan and beyond. He has served various faith-based nonprofits and ministries in Michigan and throughout the country helping them to raise money to expand their impact and outreach. He is a man of integrity.
“Further, Mayor Vanderwood will not resign or voluntarily recuse himself from the important and completely unrelated work he is required to perform as the duly-elected Mayor of the City of Wyoming. He looks forward to his vindication in a court of law in Ingham County.”
READ MORE: State Rep. calls for Wyoming mayor to ‘recuse himself from official duties’
