Current:Home > MarketsTrump allies charged with felonies involving voting machines -Infinite Edge Capital
Trump allies charged with felonies involving voting machines
View
Date:2025-04-11 14:40:21
A former candidate for attorney general in Michigan pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges associated with his alleged efforts to obtain and damage voting machines in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, according to a court official.
Matthew DePerno, who ran an unsuccessful bid as the Republican candidate in 2020, was charged on four counts, including undue possession of a voting machine, conspiracy to commit unauthorized access to a computer system and willfully damaging a voting machine, according to Richard Lynch, an administrator at the Oakland County court in Michigan.
DePerno was arraigned Tuesday along with Daire Rendon, a former GOP state representative, who was charged with conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine and false pretenses.
"These allegations are incredibly serious and unprecedented," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement Tuesday. "The 2024 presidential election will soon be upon us. The lies espoused by attorneys involved in this matter, and those who worked in concert with them across the nation, wreaked havoc and sowed distrust within our democratic institutions and processes."
Both entered not-guilty pleas, Lynch said.
"We know the 2020 Presidential Election in Michigan was the most heavily scrutinized election in American history, and every audit and review found the election to be secure, fair, and accurate to the will of the voters," Nessel said. "The alleged actions by these defendants, and others, who worked to erode trust in our election system caused undeniable harm to our democracy."
Nessel in 2022 requested a special counsel to investigate DePerno, Rendon and others, who allegedly “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators” in three Michigan Counties under the pretense of an “investigation in election fraud,” DePerno said at the time.
The alleged scheme included taking the tabulators to hotel rooms where they were “broken into” and “tested” with fake ballots, Nessel said. The investigators alleged DePerno was present during one such instance of tabulator testing.
At the time, former President Donald Trump publicly praised DePerno as a “tough” candidate who would ensure “fair elections.”
"He's so tough, people are afraid to even be in the same room with him," Trump said in an Aug. 6, 2022, CPAC speech. "He's going to make sure that you're gonna have law and order and fair elections and so many other things. He is respected by everybody in that state."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
veryGood! (9749)
Related
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Flooding in Tanzania and Kenya kills hundreds as heavy rains continue in region
- Stock market today: Asian shares rise, cheered by last week’s tech rally on Wall Street
- Missing teen child of tech executives found safe in San Francisco, suspect in custody
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Stock market today: Asian shares rise, cheered by last week’s tech rally on Wall Street
- Demonstrations roil US campuses ahead of graduations as protesters spar over Gaza conflict
- Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's Daughters Sunday and Faith Make Their Red Carpet Debut
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Jennifer Aniston Shares Rare Glimpse Into Her Private World
Ranking
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Prosecutors reconvene after deadlocked jury in trial over Arizona border killing
- More than a dozen military families in Hawaii spark trial over 2021 jet fuel leak that tainted water
- Train carrying fuel derails at Arizona-New Mexico state line, causes interstate closure
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- Affluent Americans are driving US economy and likely delaying need for Fed rate cuts
- More than a dozen military families in Hawaii spark trial over 2021 jet fuel leak that tainted water
- Clayton MacRae: How The AI Era Shape the World
Recommendation
2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
Dan Rather, at 92, on a life in news
How Dance Moms Trauma Bonded JoJo Siwa, Chloé Lukasiak, Kalani Hilliker & More of the Cast
Interstate near Arizona-New Mexico line reopens after train derailment as lingering fuel burns off
This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
'Quite the rodeo': Milwaukee Brewers off to torrid start despite slew of injuries
Clayton MacRae: Fed Rates Cut at least 3 more Times
Why Kate Middleton and Prince William's Marriage Is More Relatable Than Ever