Lawyer arraigned in tabulator probe; Barry Co. sheriff won't be charged

Special prosecutor D.J. Hilson unveiled criminal charges against Stefanie Lambert, a Michigan lawyer who's worked on lawsuits challenging the 2020 election, Thursday as he revealed his first allegations about how a group of Donald Trump supporters wrongfully obtained voting equipment.

In a statement, Hilson said clerks in Michigan had been "deceived" into turning over their tabulators and experts who examined the technology had been "made to falsely believe" their "tampering" was lawful.

Lambert, who filed a lawsuit in December 2020 alleging "massive election fraud" without providing evidence of it, was arraigned Thursday afternoon before Oakland County Circuit Judge Jeffery Matis. In addition to undue possession of a voting machine, other charges Lambert faces are conspiracy to commit unauthorized access to a computer system, conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine and willfully damaging a voting machine. Each charge would bring a prison term of up to five years.

Lambert became the third and final individual to be named as a defendant by Hilson, who has been probing for nearly a year an alleged conspiracy by supporters of former President Donald Trump to obtain, examine and break into voting tabulators.

On Tuesday, former Republican attorney general candidate Matt DePerno and ex-state Rep. Daire Rendon, R-Lake City, were arraigned on their own felony charges.

"These charges were authorized by an independent citizens grand jury," Hilson said in a statement. "Protecting the election process is of the utmost importance for our state and county.

"This investigation and prosecution is an important step in that direction."

In August 2022, Attorney General Dana Nessel sought a special prosecutor to handle the case because, at the time, she was running against DePerno for a second term. Nessel won the race by 9 percentage points in November.

Nessel's office said DePerno, Rendon and Lambert were part of a larger group of nine people who engaged in a "conspiracy" to gain improper access to voting machines as they sought to undermine Trump's loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

The group's efforts involved convincing local clerks in Michigan to hand over tabulators, taking the tabulators to hotels or rental properties in Oakland County, breaking into the machines, printing "fake ballots" and performing "tests" on the equipment, according to the Attorney General's office.

But Hilson said Thursday that he would only be charging DePerno, Rendon and Lambert. Other suspects, including Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, who was involved in a push to examine voting equipment in his county, won't be charged.

Hilson said that outcome was based "on careful consideration of the totality of the evidence gathered by investigators, review of the witness statements, evaluation of the law related to viable defenses and decisions based on what is fair and just."

On Leaf, Hilson said, there was not sufficient evidence to prove the sheriff committed a crime.

DePerno, Rendon and Lambert "orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators," the Attorney General's office has said previously. A clerk in Roscommon County told investigators Rendon indicated the Michigan House was "conducting an investigation" into election fraud, which wasn't true.

On Thursday, Hilson said clerks who gave their equipment away and so-called experts who examined also won't be charged.

"It was determined that the county and municipal clerks that turned over the tabulators to the unauthorized third parties were deceived by some of the charged defendants," Hilson's statement said. "The clerks had no idea of the scope nature or duration of how their tabulators were going to be manipulated or that they would be out of their possession for an extended period of time."

Nessel's office had referred four so-called cybersecurity experts to the special prosecutor for potential charges, including Douglas Logan, who led an audit in Maricopa County, Arizona. But Hilson said those individuals had also been "deceived by some of the charged defendants" into believing their actions were lawful.

DePerno and Lambert, both lawyers, were two prominent figures in the push to spread false and unproven fraud claims after the 2020 election.

DePerno gained fame among Trump supporters by challenging election results in northern Michigan's Antrim County, where human errors caused the initial results to be incorrect. Lambert filed election-related lawsuits and pushed to audit equipment. On Dec. 6, 2020, she signed an unsuccessful lawsuit in Michigan, alleging "massive election fraud." Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf was one of the plaintiffs.

Patrick Byrne, former CEO of Overstock.com, tweeted recently that he had funded Lambert's efforts "to the tune of millions of dollars."

Lambert of South Lyon was one of nine lawyers involved in another past lawsuit that attempted to overturn Michigan's 2020 presidential election. The suit was let by Texas attorney Sidney Powell, who described her election-related legal efforts as releasing the "Kraken."

The suit represented "a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process," U.S. District Judge Linda Parker said.

In April 2021, Lambert offered to send a team to Cheboygan County to do a so-called "forensic analysis" of the election in that county.

Lambert has criticized Hilson's investigation and contended that her actions were legal because the clerks provided access to the voting equipment.

However, in July, Oakland County Circuit Judge Phyllis McMillen ruled it was illegal for someone to take possession of a voting tabulator without authorization from the Secretary of State's office or a court order. Hilson sought the decision in a lawsuit against Lambert.

Lambert's lawyer, Michael J. Smith, has said his client intends to sue Hilson for malicious prosecution.

Lambert and Smith want to change the venue for her case. A hearing on that possibility has been scheduled for Aug. 23. Her bond was set at $5,000.

cmauger@detroitnews.com