Trump allies in Michigan charged with felonies involving voting machines, illegal ‘testing’
LANSING, Mich. — Two Michigan allies of former President Donald Trump, including a former Republican state attorney general candidate, were charged in connection with an effort to illegally access and tamper with voting machines in the state after the 2020 election, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Attorney Matthew DePerno was charged with undue possession of a voting machine and conspiracy, while Daire Rendon, a former Republican state representative, was charged with conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine and false pretenses, special prosecutor D.J. Hilson announced in a news release. Both were arraigned Tuesday afternoon, according to Richard Lynch, the court administrator for Oakland County’s 6th Circuit.
Michigan is just one of at least three states where prosecutors say people breached election systems while embracing and spreading Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
DePerno, who was endorsed by Trump in an unsuccessful run for Michigan attorney general last year, acknowledged in a statement that he was arraigned Tuesday, but his lawyer said that he “categorically denies any wrongdoing” and “looks forward to the date when his innocence will be demonstrated in a court of law.”
A phone message was left Tuesday with a lawyer listed in court documents as representing Rendon.
DePerno and Rendon are among nine people in Michigan named thus far by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office as having been involved in the scheme. Asked whether the broader investigation continues, Hilson replied in an email, “Still more to come unrelated to the individuals currently charged.”
Hilson has been considering charges since September. He convened a grand jury in March to determine whether criminal indictments should be issued, according to court documents.
In his statement, Hilson said the charges against DePerno and Rendon were authorized by “an independent citizens grand jury,” and that his office did not make any recommendations.
The charges come the same day Trump was charged by the U.S. Justice Department with conspiracy to defraud the United States government and witness tampering.
