Michigan

How a Michigan Clerk Got Embroiled in Trump’s Attempt to Overturn the Election | Mark -Bowden and Matthew Teague/Time

Antrim County, Michigan, seemed an unlikely setting for the attempted overthrow of an American election. In the mitten shape of the state’s lower peninsula, Antrim makes up a fingertip in the far north. It sits on the eastern side of Grand Traverse Bay, which took its name from French voyagers who in the eighteenth century paddled canoes across its lonesome width: la grand traverse, they called it. About twenty-three thousand people live in Antrim. Many work in fruit production, including the cherry farms that make the region the “cherry capital of the world.” They grow sweet cherries and sour: Montmorency cherries, Balaton tart cherries. Cavaliers, Sams, Emperor Francises, Golds, and a particular local favorite, Ulsters. In spring, those cherry trees cover the landscape with pink and white blossoms. And the county features what people here call the chain of lakes, a series of fourteen terraced lakes and rivers starting with Beals Lake at the top and finally flowing into the Grand Traverse. The largest and deepest body in the chain is Torch Lake, where long ago Native Americans fished by torchlight. Today Antrim’s residents sail their boats up and down its length on turquoise waters. So Antrim County sits on a peninsular outcrop, its people are few and scattered, and its landscape is sublime. All of which makes it seem outlandish as the stage for what followed: private jets arriving in the night, intrigue, threats of violence, and an effort to subvert the will of the American people.

Full Article: How a Michigan Clerk Got Embroiled in Trump’s Attempt to Overturn the Election | Time

Michigan: Proposed ban on use of donated space as polling places is questioned | David Eggert/Associated Press

Clerks and other opponents of a ballot initiative that would toughen Michigan’s voting rules raised concerns Wednesday about its proposed ban on using donated spaces as polling places, saying churches and religious organizations account for 20% of them. Progress Michigan, a liberal advocacy group that compiled the information, said 664 of 3,355 polling places in the 2020 election were churches, places of worship or similar religious spaces. “There’s a growing panic about the implications,” said Mary Clark, president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks and the clerk in Delta Township, located near Lansing. “Whether they’re intended or unintended consequences is irrelevant. They’re consequences to voters. … The ban on any in-kind contribution would be devastating.” She said the township of 33,000 residents has 16 precincts. Twelve are located in 10 places of worship. Paying “going market rate, for me, adds up to a lot of money,” Clark said. “It’s quite unsettling.” Republicans launched the ballot drive in late August to sidestep Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who vetoed similar legislation two months later. The GOP-controlled Legislature is expected to pass the Secure MI Vote initiative if enough voter signatures are collected.

Full Article: Ban on use of donated space as polling places is questioned

Michigan: Adams Township residents have mixed feelings on clerk issues | Corey Murray/Hillsdale Daily News

Adams Township residents expressed mixed feelings on the ongoing saga between Township Clerk Stephanie Scott and Michigan’s Secretary of State during their regularly scheduled business meeting Nov. 7.  The meeting was well attended and the first held since issues between the S.O.S. and Scott intensified throughout October culminating in a search warrant being executed by the Michigan State Police to recover a missing piece of election equipment days before the Nov. 2 special election where a school renewal operating millage was voted on.  Adams Township Supervisor introduced the topic almost an hour into the meeting and said Scott herself may or may not answer questions as she is currently consulting with an attorney she has hired to represent her in the matters. Scott was stripped of her official election duties in late October after expressing concerns with voting integrity Oct. 11 and calling into question the accuracy of voting equipment. The S.O.S. in a news release alleged that Scott failed to agree to comply with scheduling a public accuracy test prior to the Nov. 2 election. Nichols explained the timeline of events to over 30 members of the community in attendance, with about half living in Adams Township and others from Hillsdale County concerned with election integrity.

Full Article: Adams Township residents have mixed feelings on clerk issues

Michigan GOP’s latest vote-crushing scheme could eliminate 20% of polling sites | Igor Derysh/Salon

A controversial scheme by Michigan Republicans to circumvent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s veto of their proposed voting restrictions could eliminate one in every five polling sites in the state, according to a new study. The head of the Michigan Republican Party is funding the “Secure MI Vote” petition, which includes a ban on in-kind contributions to local election clerks. Organizers have acknowledged that this provision would in fact end the use of donated polling sites, such as churches. Some cities and townships could lose half their polling sites — or in some cases all of them — under the new restrictions, according to a new report from the liberal advocacy group Progress Michigan. “I hope people are able to see the danger and the impact of this proposal,” Mary Clark, president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks and Delta Township clerk, said in a statement. “This is the type of policy that causes me to lay awake at night because it will cause so much confusion amongst voters and put clerks in impossible situations. This would absolutely negatively impact legally registered voters in my jurisdiction and every jurisdiction in this state.” Michigan Republicans, who introduced a 39-bill package to change the state’s voting laws in the wake of Donald Trump’s defeat, in September launched an effort to pull an end-around on Whitmer’s veto of their proposed voting laws by introducing a ballot petition — one that voters will never get to see. An unusual quirk in the state’s constitution allows the Republican-dominated state legislature to adopt the initiative rather than put it on the ballot if they collect just 340,047 signatures, or 8% of the number of voters who participated in the last gubernatorial election. Whitmer has no power to veto such an initiative if it is passed by the legislature.

Full Article: Michigan GOP’s latest vote-crushing scheme could eliminate 20% of polling sites | Salon.com

Michigan GOP voting initiative would eliminate 20% of polling places, creating ‘panic’ among clerks, study says | Steve Neavling/Detroit Metro Times

A controversial, Republican-led petition drive to restrict voting access would eliminate 20% of all polling locations, a new report found. The Secure MI Vote petition would ban clerks from accepting donated spaces such as churches, schools, and senior centers for polling locations. In Michigan, one of every five polling locations is a church, according to Secure MI Vote: Creating Insecurity for Community Polling Places, a study by Progress Michigan, a progressive nonprofit that advocates for voting rights. “This ban on donated polling locations will cause confusion and disruption for voters, leading to voter disenfranchisement, create challenges for clerks, who would have to find new polling locations or reduce the number of polling locations available, and would increase costs for election administration,” Sam Inglot, deputy director of Progress Michigan, said Wednesday. The study found that nearly half of the counties in Michigan use at least one church or other place of worship as a polling location, and churches account for all of the polling places in 28 cities and townships. In 11 cities and townships, places of worship account for at least 50% of polling locations. In some rural townships, including Hazelton in Shiawassee County and Mussey Township in St. Clair County, the only polling location is a church. In Wayne County, 109 of the 471 polling locations are inside a church or other place of worship, the most in the state.

Full Article: Michigan GOP voting initiative would eliminate 20% of polling places, creating ‘panic’ among clerks, study says | News Hits

Michigan town deep in Trump country mistrusts all elections, except its own | Jonathan Oosting/Bridge Michigan

Julie Shaffer showed her ID, sat between privacy dividers, used an ink pen to fill out her ballot and fed it into a tabulator that responded with an electronic ding to indicate her vote had been counted. Then she stepped outside and declared elections are rigged. “They’re crooked — our government, our voting system — and I’m not really in favor of all the bullshit,” Shaffer said Tuesday outside Adams Township Hall, which is sandwiched between a cemetery and a privately-owned barn surrounded by high fences, Confederate flags and no trespassing signs. “A lot of it I got off YouTube,” Shaffer said, describing her online research into the 2020 election. “I was looking for Jeff Epstein, and then I hit on all this other stuff, and I’m going like, ‘Yeah, our government’s corrupt. Our country’s corrupt.’ ” Election conspiracy theories have gripped this small town in Hillsdale County that is home to about 2,450 people and no traffic lights. More than 76 percent of local voters backed former President Donald Trump in 2020, and one year later, many continue to believe the election was rigged against him.

Full Article: Deep in Trump country, a Michigan town mistrusts all elections, except its own | Bridge Michigan

Baseless fraud claims are hurting election security in this Michigan town | Joseph Marks/The Washington Post

Full Article: Baseless fraud claims are hurting election security in this Michigan town – The Washington Post

Michigan: Missing Hillsdale County voting equipment found, state checking whether tampering occurred | John Tunison/MLlive.com

Authorities have recovered voting equipment that went missing after a rural township clerk in Hillsdale County was barred from administering next week’s Nov. 2 election. Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott refused to allow legally-required maintenance and accuracy testing on voting machines, leading to the ruling about the upcoming election, state officials said. Hillsdale County Clerk Marney Kast has said she suspected Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott was in possession of a “tablet” that contained sensitive election information. Kast said Scott did not turn over the tablet, described as the “brains” of the voting machine, and that Scott said she was “consulting her attorney” when asked to relinquish it. On social media, Scott has promoted election conspiracy theories. In a release issued late in the day Friday, Oct. 29 by Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office, officials said state police recovered the missing election equipment from the Adams Township Hall earlier in the day. It wasn’t immediately clear if the equipment was at the township hall all along, or somewhere else. Tracy Wimmer, a Secretary of State spokesperson, said an investigation is ongoing as to whether the equipment shows any tampering. She sad the matter is “currently the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation” and she planned no further comment about specific details of the investigation.

Full Article: Missing Hillsdale County voting equipment found, state checking whether tampering occurred – mlive.com

Michigan voting machine missing after clerk stripped of election power | Jonathan Oosting/Bridge Michigan

Full Article: Voting machine missing after Michigan clerk stripped of election power | Bridge Michigan

Michigan clerk banned from running Nov. 2 election over tabulator concerns | Beth LeBlanc/The Detroit News

The Michigan Bureau of Elections has prohibited a local clerk in Hillsdale County from administering next week’s election after the bureau said the clerk failed to comply with state requirements regarding voting equipment in Adams Township. Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott denied the allegations and is exploring her options with outside counsel after the bureau’s notice said a violation of the prohibition could result in a misdemeanor. “As a supervisor, I don’t know that she does have the authority given that it’s an elected position,” Scott, the first-term clerk, said about Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Benson in a Monday statement said Adams Township voters deserve an election administered in accordance with state and federal laws. “I am confident that the Hillsdale County Clerk’s Office will administer the election in a manner that ensures that it is legal, transparent and secure,” she said. Scott refused to perform preventive maintenance or perform and sign off on public accuracy testing on township voting equipment, according to the Michigan Bureau of Elections. She also is alleged to have failed to confirm that she would use certified Hart Intercivic Inc. voting equipment, the township’s current vendor, for future elections.

Full Article: Elections bureau bans clerk from running Nov. 2 election over tabulator concerns

Michigan Republicans Replace Officials Who Certify Vote Totals | Matt Shuham/TPM

Like lots of other rank-and-file Republicans, Robert Boyd has his doubts about the integrity of the last election, particularly in his home state of Michigan — and particularly in Detroit’s TCF Center, where the city’s votes were counted last year despite a concerted effort from local Republicans to disrupt the counting process. “People saw ballots come in the back…

Michigan Republicans replace local election officials in ‘unprecedented’ trend | Craig Mauger/The Detroit News

Republican Party leaders across the battleground state of Michigan have quietly worked in recent weeks to replace incumbent county election officials with newcomers, some of whom have sought to undermine the public’s faith in the 2020 vote. The trend focuses on four-member county canvassing boards, the bipartisan panels in charge of verifying records and importantly, certifying results. It comes in the midst of an internal party struggle over whether to accept Democratic President Joe Biden’s win last year.  On Nov. 1, two members of each board — one Republican and one Democrat —  will begin new four-year terms. Out of Michigan’s 11 largest counties, Republicans have nominated new individuals for the positions in eight, according to a Detroit News investigation. In at least four of the counties — 36%— the incumbent GOP canvasser wanted to be renominated but wasn’t. Democrats are concerned that the new canvassers, spurred by former President Donald Trump, will refuse to approve future results or use their positions to interfere in the process. Mark Brewer, former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party and an elections attorney, labeled the unfolding situation in the state “unprecedented.”

Full Article: Michigan GOP removes election officials in ‘unprecedented’ trend

Michigan judge denies Secretary of State Benson’s motion in dismissed Antrim County election lawsuit | Mardi Link/Traverse City Record-Eagle

A judge denied a motion from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson seeking to lift a stay order in a dismissed Antrim County election-related lawsuit to assess whether court-protected images from Antrim County’s voting equipment were shared during a “cyber symposium” hosted by Donald Trump supporter and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell. A data security expert, Harri Hursti, said in a declaration included with Benson’s motion, he attended the August event where a link to download an image which appeared to have originated from Antrim County was shared on social media by one of the event’s speakers — CodeMonkeyZ — who has nearly 400,000 followers. A December court order signed by 13th Circuit Court Judge Kevin Elsenheimer allowed for a forensic examination of the county’s voting equipment after a local man, Bill Bailey, filed a lawsuit. But the judge’s decision to allow access to voting equipment also placed controls on what could be released to the public. Elsenheimer, responding to Benson’s motion, said that Bailey’s lawsuit — dismissed in May — had been referred to the Michigan Court of Appeals and until that court decided whether to hear the case, he was denying the motion.

Full Article: Judge denies Secretary of State Benson’s motion in dismissed Antrim election lawsuit | Local News | record-eagle.com

Michigan: Macomb County clerk pursues forensic audit of election server | Carol Thompson/The Detroit News

Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini said Tuesday he plans to hire a cyber security firm to conduct a forensic audit of the county’s election server to “restore the confidence of our election processes in Macomb County.” “I cannot say with certainty whether or not we will find something from the past, but I can say that Macomb will lead the state in election integrity in the future,” Forlini said in a statement. “We are in the process of establishing best election practices that we will continually look at and modify as laws and technology change.” Former President Donald Trump beat Democrat Joe Biden 53%-45% in Macomb County last year, the second consecutive time the Republican won the county. But Biden won the state by about 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points, and Trump has made unsubstantiated claims fraud cost him the election. Forlini said he has no reason to doubt the results in Macomb County. The audit will build public confidence in the local election system and assuage some residents’ fears about outsiders’ ability to interfere in the results, he said. “I’m trying to establish all the best practices for good, clean elections,” Forlini told The Detroit News. “Not to say they weren’t clean before; I’m not trying to allude to that. I’m trying to say that I want to be able to answer in the affirmative that, from a technology standpoint, we have clean elections.”

Full Article: Macomb County clerk pursues forensic audit of election server

Michigan Poll Challengers Are Suing Dominion With Dershowitz’s Help | Madison Hall/Business Insider

A group of eight Michigan poll challengers is suing Dominion Voting Systems after the company sent them cease and desist letters. First reported by The Daily Beast, the group is being led by a former “Stop the Steal” attorney, Kurt Olsen, who attempted to convince the US Department of Justice to file a lawsuit regarding the 2020 election to the Supreme Court as part of an effort to undermine President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Famed Democratic attorney and former lawyer for President Donald Trump, Alan Dershowitz, is also a part of the group’s counsel. He told The Daily Beast he’s an “adviser and consultant on the First Amendment issues of this case.” The state of Michigan allows for interest groups and political parties to appoint “election challengers” to challenge a voter’s eligibility or an election inspector’s actions.  Eight of the state’s challengers from the 2020 presidential election said they received cease and desist letters from Dominion after they inquired about potential irregularities in the election despite never mentioning Dominion in their formal challenges.

Full Article: Michigan Poll Challengers Are Suing Dominion With Dershowitz’s Help

Split Michigan Legislature Approves Election-Related Bills | Michigan News | David Eggert/Associated Press

The Michigan Legislature on Thursday passed election bills that would limit who can access the state voter file, keep voting equipment from being connected to the internet and require election challengers to receive training. The legislation sent to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was supported by majority Republicans and opposed by all but one Senate Democrat and many House Democrats. The bills blocking outside groups’ access to the voter database and prohibiting the connection of electronic pollbooks or voting systems to the internet would codify existing practice. “It’s a good idea to take this bill and take the best practices and put them into law so they can’t be changed,” Sen. Ruth Johnson, a Holly Republican and former secretary of state, said of the internet-connection legislation.

Full Article: Split Michigan Legislature Approves Election-Related Bills | Michigan News | US News

Michigan: GOP to massively step up 2022 poll watching, Mackinac conference told | Paul Egan/Detroit Free Press

The GOP will massively increase its poll watching and election litigation efforts in 2022 and beyond after so far failing to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election through a series of lawsuits and audits, a top Republican National Committee official said Friday. Josh Findlay, election integrity director for the RNC, said one problem with GOP operations in 2020 was that attorneys for former President Donald Trump and other conservative groups went to court too late. Going to court on Election Day is “not going to be effective,” Findlay told attendees at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, held every other year on the northern Michigan island that can only be reached by ferry or private plane, and where motorized vehicles are generally banned. Findlay acknowledged another problem — one that both nonpartisan judges and Democrats said in response to allegations of voter fraud and irregularities put forward by Republican poll watchers in Detroit. There, large numbers of volunteers were recruited by the GOP, in many cases at the last minute, to go to the TCF Center in Detroit while absentee ballots were being counted after the Nov. 3 vote.

Full Article: GOP to massively step up 2022 poll watching, Mackinac conference told

Michigan, Detroit seek $204K for fighting election lawsuit | Sara Powers/Assocaited Press

Attorneys are seeking $204,000 in fees for successfully defending Detroit and Michigan from a post-election lawsuit filed by lawyers aligned with former President Donald Trump. The tally filed Wednesday came two weeks after a judge said the lawyers, including Sidney Powell and L. Lin Wood, would pay a penalty for pursuing the case. The final figure will be determined later. Trump voters filed a lawsuit in November after Michigan’s vote in favor of Joe Biden was certified. They alleged fraud and wanted voting machines impounded. U.S. District Judge Linda Parker said the lawsuit was a sham. “Individuals may have a right — within certain bounds — to disseminate allegations of fraud unsupported by law or fact in the public sphere,” the judge said. “But attorneys cannot exploit their privilege and access to the judicial process to do the same.” Detroit was represented by lawyers in private practice. They’re seeking $182,000. The Michigan attorney general’s office is requesting about $22,000. Parker also ordered 12 hours of legal education, including six hours in election law, for each of the nine pro-Trump attorneys. Her decision will be sent to the states where the lawyers are licensed for possible disciplinary action there.

Full Article: Michigan, Detroit seek $204K for fighting election lawsuit | Hosted

Michigan: Judge Orders Sanctions Against Pro-Trump Lawyers Over Election Lawsuit | Alan Feuer/The New York Times

Full Article: Judge Orders Sanctions Against Pro-Trump Lawyers Over Election Lawsuit – The New York Times

Michigan: Federal judge sanctions Sidney Powell, Kraken team over election case | Dave Boucher/Detroit Free Press

Attorneys allied with former President Donald Trump who tried to use a conspiracy-laden lawsuit to overturn Michigan’s election results have received federal sanctions from a judge in Michigan and could face a host of other disciplinary measures. The attorneys must also pay legal fees for the city of Detroit and others that defended against the lawsuit and take 12 hours of training — including six hours focused on election law — in the next six months. The punishments foreshadow far more potentially devastating problems for Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and a cadre of other attorneys who used their so-called “Kraken” lawsuit to push a false claim that an international cabal worked to steal the election away from Trump in Michigan and several other states. In addition to harshly chastising the attorneys who filed the suit in her ruling, U.S. District Judge Linda Parker ordered her sanctions be sent to the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission and similar associations around the country. Other courts and state bar associations have the capacity to disbar or otherwise punish these attorneys. “The attorneys who filed the instant lawsuit abused the well-established rules applicable to the litigation process by proffering claims not backed by law; proffering claims not backed by evidence (but instead, speculation, conjecture, and unwarranted suspicion); proffering factual allegations and claims without engaging in the required prefiling inquiry; and dragging out these proceedings even after they acknowledged that it was too late to attain the relief sought,” wrote Parker in a 110-page opinion, issued Wednesday. “And this case was never about fraud — it was about undermining the people’s faith in our democracy and debasing the judicial process to do so.”

Full Article: Federal judge sanctions Sidney Powell, Kraken team over election case

Michigan: Hearing scheduled in dismissed Antrim County election lawsuit |Mardi Link/Traverse City Record-Eagle

A hearing is scheduled in an Antrim County election-related lawsuit in which Michigan’s Secretary of State intervened, despite a judge’s earlier decision dismissing the case. A local man, Bill Bailey, filed suit Nov. 23, accusing the county of voter fraud and of violating his constitutional rights, after initial results of the 2020 Presidential election showed about 2,000 votes cast for then-President Donald Trump had mistakenly been assigned to then-challenger Joe Biden. Antrim County Clerk Sheryl Guy acknowledged her office’s human error, an assertion backed by the state’s Senate Oversight Committee, which in June released a 55-page report rejecting claims of widespread election fraud in Antrim County and in Michigan. Bailey had also accused the county of diluting his vote, after a marijuana proposal, allowing a single dispensary in the Village of Central Lake, passed by a single vote. Records show Bailey is registered to vote in Central Lake Township, and only voters registered in the Village of Central Lake received ballots which included the marijuana proposal. Bailey — represented by Matthew DePerno of Portage — accused Antrim County of using what he called intentionally compromised Dominion voting equipment, that deliberately “switched” votes from Republican to Democratic candidates during the 2020 election. These claims have been repeatedly debunked by Dominion CEO John Poulos, and by national, state and county election officials including Chris Krebs, the former chief of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Ryan Macias, former acting director of U.S. Election Assistance Commission Voting Testing and Certification Program and Alex Halderman, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan.

Full Article: Hearing scheduled in dismissed Antrim County election lawsuit | Local News | record-eagle.com

Michigan Bill Would Protect Election Workers from Threats | Samuel J. Robinson/MLive.com

A bill introduced by a Democratic Michigan House member aims to protect election workers from threats and intimidation. House Bill 5282, introduced by state Rep. Kara Hope, D- Holt, would make it illegal for individuals to harass election workers, punishing those who threaten or prevent workers from performing their duties with a misdemeanor charge with up to 90 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both. Hope said a chaotic scene at Detroit’s TCF Center while election workers counted absentee ballots cast during the 2020 general election last November prompted her to craft the legislation. “Since the 2020 election, poll workers have been the targets of severe harassment and intimidation,” Hope said. “Republican and Democratic election officials alike are being terrorized by conspiracy theorists insisting that the election was stolen despite all evidence to the contrary. “It seems to me like that type of behavior — being disruptive, the bullying, the intimidation — is encouraged by a certain segment of the far-right. You saw it at the TCF Center, you see it now at school board meetings.” Hope said she sees some groups continue to encourage dangerous behavior over legitimate political activity, like organizing or voting.

Full Article: Michigan Bill Would Protect Election Workers from Threats

Michigan GOP panel to consider proposal againstelection report author | Craig Mauger/The Detroit News

A committee inside the Michigan Republican Party plans to consider Saturday a proposal that calls for the resignation of GOP state Sen. Ed McBroom, who led a probe finding no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. While Norm Shinkle, the chairman of the party’s Issues Committee, says he will oppose the resolution, its introduction points to the continued rift within the Michigan GOP over former President Donald Trump’s loss in November. The proposed resolution, obtained by The Detroit News, describes the Senate Oversight Committee’s eight-month investigation into the 2020 election as “the product of gross official misconduct.” The resolution primarily focuses on the Senate report’s suggestion that Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel consider investigating individuals who pushed false claims about the election “to raise money or publicity for their own ends.” “In the broader context of ongoing attacks against the American people’s right to free speech and the right to counsel, the report bolsters and encourages these attacks in a transparent attempt to intimidate and silence all citizens exposing the misconduct of election officials, challenging the results of the election and advocating for legal and policy remedies,” the proposed resolution says.

Source: Michigan GOP panel to consider proposal against election report author

Michigan: ‘I feel afraid’: Detroit clerk Winfrey testifies to U.S. House panel on death threats she received | Melissa Nann Burke George Hunter/The Detroit News

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey told a U.S. House panel on Wednesday that she and her election workers have received threats of violence as a result of false claims of a stolen election by former President Donald Trump, causing her to lose staff and to live in fear. Winfrey, in testimony before the House Administration Committee, compared her experience to what happened to members of Congress when pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. “Except they’re coming to our homes, and they’re making us very uncomfortable,” Winfrey said. “Some of my colleagues have been shot at, simply because of what we do. All of us have been threatened — and because we’re trying to represent our community,” she added. “If it weren’t for the work of local election officials, none of you would be here in this room. We just want to uphold democracy. We just want to ensure that every one votes. It is unfair. It’s unfair that we’re attacked for doing our job. I feel afraid.” The threats against Detroit elections workers led to five of Winfrey’s senior staff going on leave, and one who retired, she said. They didn’t come back until after the election was canvassed and certified, she added. “The overall climate at the Department of Elections is one of fear, almost,” Winfrey said, noting that several staffers were hospitalized with COVID-19 after the election. “People are wanting to retire.” The threats against Winfrey included a White man, whom she estimated at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, who approached her while she was walking in her neighborhood and accusing her of “cheating,” telling her, “You are going to pay dearly for your actions in this election!” Winfrey, who is Black, described the man’s manner as threatening, and that he was coming closer to her, telling her he had tracked her down at her home after waiting for her at her office.

Full Article: Winfrey testifies before House panel on threats to election workers

Michigan: Trump’s false election fraud claims fuel GOP meltdown | Nolan D. McCaskill/Politico

Full Article: Trump’s false election fraud claims fuel Michigan GOP meltdown – POLITICO

Michigan: Lawyers cite Trump’s election ‘suspicions’ in fight against sanctions | Craig Mauger/The Detroit News

Six lawyers facing sanctions in Michigan over their attempt to reverse the state’s 2020 presidential election say “suspicions” about the vote in “the highest levels” of government are among the reasons they should not be penalized. Southfield attorney Donald Campbell, who’s representing Sidney Powell and other lawyers in Detroit U.S. district court, filed a brief Monday, levying a variety of arguments for why Judge Linda Parker should deny motions for sanctions. The document came two weeks after the judge in Michigan’s Eastern District held a high-profile, six-hour hearing on the subject. “In this case, the attorneys didn’t just have suspicions based merely on their own beliefs,” Campbell wrote Monday. “They had evidence that those working at the highest levels of the United States government shared their suspicions. “That context makes this case exceptional — and it is a reason for the court to deny their defendants’ and intervenors’ requests for sanctions.” Much of the debate has focused on whether the legal team that sought to have Trump named Michigan’s winner properly vetted affidavits from individuals who claimed they witnessed wrongdoing in the election and other analyses they submitted to try to bolster their effort. Trump lost Michigan to Democrat Joe Biden by 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points. Despite unsubstantiated claims of fraud, a series of court rulings, dozens of audits by election officials and bipartisan boards of canvassers as well as an investigation by state Senate Republicans have reinforced the outcome.

Full Article: Lawyers cite Trump’s election ‘suspicions’ in fight against sanctions

Michigan sheriff enlists private eye to grill clerks in vote fraud probe | Jonathan Oosting/Bridge Michigan

A Michigan sheriff investigating the 2020 election is using a private investigator to question clerks, an unorthodox arrangement that baffles local officials in a region former President Donald Trump dominated last fall. Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, a Republican who plotted to seize voting machines after the November election and was in communication with allies to Trump at the time, is now working with a private investigator named Michael Lynch, a former security official for DTE Energy in Detroit. Leaf did not answer calls or respond to a text message from Bridge Michigan. The Hastings Banner newspaper reported that the sheriff said Lynch was recommended to him by Stefanie Lambert Junttila, a Detroit-area attorney facing potential sanctions related to the “Kraken” lawsuit that sought to overturn President Joe Biden’s election win. Lynch and a sheriff’s deputy have visited at least six township clerks, according to Barry County Clerk Pam Palmer, a Republican who criticized what she called a secretive investigation that has frightened local officials. “I was told by my clerks that they were told not to say anything to each other or to me,” Palmer recalled. “So I don’t know what (Leaf and his team) are trying to hide. I’m told by the investigator that they’re doing this under the element of surprise.”

Full Article: Michigan sheriff enlists private eye to grill clerks in vote fraud probe | Bridge Michigan

Michigan: Attorney appeals dismissal decision in Antrim County election lawsuit | Mardi Link/Traverse City Record-Eagle

An attorney for a local man who accused Antrim County of voter fraud is appealing a judge’s dismissal of an election-related lawsuit, records filed in 13th Circuit Court show. Matthew DePerno, who on Thursday announced his candidacy for Michigan Attorney General, filed the claim of appeal Wednesday on behalf of Bill Bailey, of Central Lake Township. Bailey filed suit Nov. 23, accusing the county of voter fraud and of violating his constitutional rights, after initial results of the 2020 Presidential election showed about 2,000 votes cast for then-President Donald Trump had mistakenly been assigned to then-challenger Joe Biden. Bailey acknowledged her office’s human error, an assertion backed by the state’s Senate Oversight Committee, which last month released a 55-page report rejecting claims of widespread election fraud in Antrim County and in Michigan. Bailey also accused the county of diluting his vote, after a marijuana proposal, allowing a single dispensary in the Village of Central Lake passed by a single vote. Records show Bailey is registered to vote in Central Lake Township, and only voters registered in the Village of Central Lake received ballots which included the marijuana proposal.

Source: Attorney appeals dismissal decision in Antrim election lawsuit | News | record-eagle.com

Michigan GOP official: Trump a ‘malignancy’ who spouts election ‘lies’ | Craig Mauger/The Detroit News

One of two Republican members of Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers blasted Donald Trump during a Tuesday meeting, calling the former president a “malignancy.” Tony Daunt, who’s also a member of the Michigan GOP’s state committee, made the comments after a presentation by state Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, whose Senate Oversight Committee led a seven-month investigation into the 2020 election and found no evidence of fraud. “I just want to thank you, the committee, for having the courage to do this report, to put the information out there without leaning on the scales, for having the courage to stand up against the malignancy that is Donald Trump and the people who have lacked the courage to stand up to him for the last six months,” Daunt said to McBroom. Norm Shinkle, the other GOP member of the Board of State Canvassers, adjourned the meeting soon after Daunt’s remark. The board is in charge of certifying election results in the state. After the meeting, Daunt, a longtime figure in GOP politics, said it’s unfortunate that Trump continues to “spout lies” that the election was rigged. Democrat Joe Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes, or 3 percentage points. The state Senate’s probe, dozens of court rulings and bipartisan boards of canvassers have reinforced the outcome despite unproven claims of fraud by the former president and his supporters.

Full Article: Michigan GOP official: Trump a ‘malignancy’ who spouts election ‘lies’

Michigan: Federal judge grills Sidney Powell’s legal team in elections sanctions case | Clara Hendrickson and Dave Boucher/Detroit Free Press

A Michigan federal judge grilled Sidney Powell and her team of lawyers for roughly six hours Monday in response to motions to sanction the attorneys in connection with their conspiracy-laden lawsuit claiming election fraud in the state.  U.S. District Judge Linda Parker heard arguments from lawyers for Detroit and Michigan for sanctioning Powell and her team, but spent most of the hearing scrutinizing the baseless allegations of fraud and misconduct leveled in the lawsuit, which involved several attorneys, including three from Michigan: Scott Hagerstrom, Stefanie Lambert Junttila and Greg Rohl. Parker repeatedly questioned whether the attorneys properly investigated the claims of fraud and misconduct presented in affidavits included in the lawsuit before submitting them to the court. “My concern is that counsel here has submitted affidavits to suggest and make the public believe that there was something wrong with the election. And that is what this is all about. That’s what these affidavits are designed to do, to show that there was something wrong in Michigan, there was something wrong in Wayne County,” Parker said.  The lawyers largely could not say they spoke with the people who provided the affidavits, something that appeared of concern to Parker, who used phrases such as “shocks me,” “a little surprising” and “problematic.” “I think it’s wrong for an affidavit to be submitted in support … if there’s been no kind of minimal vetting,” Parker said.

Full Article: Federal judge grills Sidney Powell’s legal team in elections sanctions case