There might be a grand jury in Michigan probing plots to seize voting machines in 2020: report

On the heels of the announcement from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that indictments might be handed down between July and September of this year, it appears Michigan has its own case.

According to The Detroit News, a special prosecutor was appointed and a grand jury was already impaneled to probe the attempt to snag voting machines and software in the 2020 election. While special counsel Jack Smith at the Justice Department is exploring a number of issues related to the plot to overturn the election, it's not clear whether the multi-state effort to get the voting machines is one of them.

"The grand jury has sought testimony from individuals as recently as early March in Oakland County," the paper said, citing three sources familiar with the investigation. The case "centers on allegations of tampering with voting equipment. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss grand jury activity."

The alleged plot was an attempt to convince local clerks to hand over five vote tabulators, taking them to hotels or rental properties and breaking into them to print "fake ballots" and do their own "tests" on the machines, Chief Deputy Attorney General Christina Grossi said in an Aug 2022 letter.

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Text messages last week showed Trump operatives wanted to use voting data from breached machines to keep Republican control of the U.S. Senate, CNN reported. It was revealed Monday that Willis' probe in Georgia would also focus on Rudy Giuliani's efforts to get the voting machines "willingly" from Republican-run counties.

Previously, Trump had wanted agents and law enforcement to go in and get the machines. He went so far as to have an executive order drafted to that effect.

Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson made it clear that grand jury investigations are secret and if there were one convened, he would be prohibited from saying so.

What he did do, however, was cite a state law that makes it a misdemeanor for anyone to "publish or make known" the testimony at a proceeding connected with a grand jury. If there wasn't a grand jury, however, there wouldn't be anything to "publish or make known."

"Multiple sources told The News in recent days they were legally barred from discussing what was happening behind the scenes with the investigation," the paper explained.

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"The investigation involving allegations that voting tabulator machines were improperly possessed remains pending, and therefore, any comment is improper," Hilson said on Friday in a press conference, "Additionally, any comments about any investigators or potential witnesses are unreliable."

Last year, Attorney General Dana Nessel (D-MI) announced that she was appointing a special prosecutor to consider whether to charge nine people for being part of a "conspiracy" to gain access to voting machines. It included her former general election opponent, Republican Matt DePerno.

Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf was the other named. He's been faced with a number of legal issues since the 2020 election. The group American Oversight sued Leaf last year for "records related to a baseless 'investigation' that relies on debunked allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election." Last Aug., a judge dismissed a suit by Leaf against Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, in which he alleged the state interfered in his 2020 election probe.

Hilson was chosen to handle the investigation in Sept. 2022, and two sources told The Detroit News that he immediately sought a grand jury.

"My client, attorney Stefanie Lambert, is in possession of a statement from (Michigan State Police) Trooper David Geyer, the lead investigator assigned to the investigation of my client, and Geyer states that the entire voting investigation was dumped on him because AG Nessel had a known conflict of interest for six months, that he was being used to obstruct justice, and that he believes there was in fact voter fraud," claimed Michael J. Smith, the attorney for one of the nine individuals.

"There is no grand jury convened at this time because the prosecutor had to ask the court for clarification on the law," he continued. "My client has done nothing illegal but looks forward to any opportunity to compel AG Nessel and SOS (Secretary of State Jocelyn) Benson to testify."

Lambert was one of nine lawyers sanctioned by a federal judge in Aug. 2021 for her role in attempting to overturn the Michigan election in 2020. All of the lawyers have appealed.

The paper found that there were two trips to Oakland County in 2023 that employees were reimbursed for by Muskegon County. The records don't say what the trip was for, however.

Former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and his former deputy Ken Cuccinelli testified earlier this year about conversations they had with the Trump White House about their department seizing voting equipment, three sources familiar told CNN earlier this month.

Read more at The Detroit News.