LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A special prosecutor in Michigan has been appointed to investigate whether the Republican candidate for attorney general and others should be criminally charged for their attempts to gain access to voting machines after the 2020 election.
The office of Democratic attorney general Dana Nessel last month askedthe the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council, a state agency, to consider charges against nine people, including Republican Matthew DePerno, her opponent in the November election. Nessel's office cited a potential conflict of interest because of the upcoming election.
The executive director of the council on Thursday said D.J. Hilson, the prosecuting attorney in Muskegon County, would handle the case. Hilson, a Democrat, was first elected to office in 2012.
Hilson released the following statement Thursday morning:
"The Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office is in the process of gathering all the information and evidence already collected, including working on a time to meet with investigators to help determine if any further or follow-up investigation is necessary. Once all of that work has been done, we will begin the process of reviewing all the information as well as reviewing the best process to use in determining whether there is sufficient evidence to issue criminal charges. As with any criminal case, we are unable to predict a time frame for when all these steps in the process will be completed. Due to my ethical responsibilities, I am unable to discuss any specifics related to the investigation or provide any further information at this time."
A phone call to DePerno's campaign manager seeking comment was not immediately returned. He has previously said the claims were “purely based on political prosecution.”
DePerno built his political reputation — and snagged an early endorsement from former President Donald Trump — by pushing the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. Trump lost the election in Michigan by some 154,000 votes, an outcome that has been upheld by multiple investigations, including one by the GOP-led state Senate.
DePerno won state party members’ nomination for attorney general over a former Michigan House speaker who narrowly lost to Nessel in 2018.
Allegations made public last month named DePerno as one of the “prime instigators” of a plan to get improper access to voting machines and use them to dispute the 2020 presidential outcome.
"Prosecutor Hilson will review the investigation and information for possible charges. At this time, no charges have been filed against any of the possible defendants," said a statement from Cheri L. Bruinsma, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorney's Coordinating Council.
According to documents released by Nessel’s office, five vote tabulators were taken from Roscommon and Missaukee counties in northern Michigan, and Barry County in western Michigan. Investigators found others in the group broke into the tabulators and performed “tests” on the equipment.
“It was determined during the investigation that DePerno was present at a hotel room during such ‘testing,’” a petition to the prosecutors’ council said.
Obtaining undue possession of a voting machine used in an election is a felony punishable by five years in prison.
