Michigan’s Director of Elections, Jonathan Brater, is accused of lying under oath to a grand jury in the case against two brilliant and courageous election integrity lawyers and a respected patriot and former MI State Representative.
On August 3, 2023, Democrat Muskegon Prosecutor DJ Hilson announced criminal charges against Attorney Stefanie Lambert, then-MI State Rep. Daire Rendon (R), and Attorney Matthew DePerno, her Republican opponent, in the general election for MI AG in 2022, for their alleged role in the investigation of voting machines, reportedly given to them by clerks to be examined for potential fraud.
Nessel accused them of illegally gaining access to five tabulators across three Michigan counties, reportedly used in the state’s 2020 election.
One of the tabulators that was examined was reportedly given to Lambert and DePerno by the Barry County clerk in 2021. The vote tabulator was shared with them so it could undergo a forensic examination by a qualified team of experts.
According to a state police report reviewed by Reuters, the township clerk told state police she gave the tabulator to an outside investigator working with Sheriff Dar Leaf’s office so it could be “forensically” examined. The clerk said the sheriff’s office had asked her to give the machine to the investigator.
MI Attorney General Nessel alleges the tabulator was illegally removed on March 9, 2021, and taken to another county, where it was examined by computer technicians working with Lambert and DePerno.
Michigan’s highly partisan Democrat Attorney General Dana Nessel reportedly shopped for a special prosecutor who would be willing to take on another one of her witch hunt cases against a political enemy.
This time, in what could only happen in the state of Michigan, the MI Democrat AG was looking for someone to prosecute her political opponent in the upcoming AG race, Republican Attorney Matthew DePerno.
The Detroit News first reported in April that Hilson had used a grand jury to weigh charges. As those proceedings played out largely in secret, Hilson sought a ruling from Oakland County Circuit Judge Phyllis McMillen, a former 6th Circuit Judge appointed by the far-left Democrat Governor Jennifer Granholm, on who could access voting machines in Michigan.
On August 3, 2022, Bridge MI reported that Special Prosecutor D.J. Hilson announced grand jury indictments against Republican attorney Matthew DePerno, Attorney Stefanie Lambert, and former Michigan State Representative Daire Rendon. Each was charged with multiple felonies, punishable by between four and five years in prison.
In a statement, the Muskegon prosecutor said, “The charging decision was the result of a thorough decision-making process by an independent citizens’ grand jury.
This citizens’ grand jury carefully listened to the sworn testimony, analyzed the evidence as required by law, and returned a decision to indict each of the defendants.”
Lambert and DePerno have argued that because clerks granted them access to the voting machines, their use of the equipment was legal.
However, on July 12, McMillen sided with Hilson’s reading of the law, saying 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.
Attorney Dan Hartman’s Motion to Quash, citing “Prosecutorial Misconduct.” In his motion, Hartman reveals stunning statements that were part of a discussion between AG Nessel’s Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hageman-Clark, AG investigators, and MI SOS Attorney Erik Grill.
Below is a transcript of the prosecutors that was concealed from the defendants, according to Hartman’s motion to quash. According to DePerno, they were interviewing the witness, Michael Lynch (the investigator reportedly hired to inspect the tabulator), when they asked him to leave the room, but the recorder was still on.
“They literally say they are forum shopping, they don’t want to pick a jury in Roscommon County, they admit the witness is full of crap, and they need to find a crime, “even if it’s a conspiracy to you know, commit a legal act in a legal manner.” They were told to manufacture a crime,” DePerno explains.
Here is the excerpt of the conversation between AG Nessel’s Asst. AG Danielle Hagaman-Clark, AG investigators, and MI SOS Attorney Erik Grill:
Ms. Hagaman-Clark: Yeah, one, to me it seems like and I…you know, we can do whatever or how you guys want to do this, but, if we can prosecute anybody in Oakland County versus Roscommon County. Love you guys to death up there but not a grand jury up there.
Multiple voices: (laughter)
Ms. Hagaman-Clark: but I’m not down with trying to pick no Roscommon Jury. Better pick an Oakland County Jury. I’m not going that far I really like Mary BeeBe. I think she’s a great prosecutor. I don’t want to be picking a jury of her peers up there on this kind of crap.
Whereas, we can, you know, charge them all with some kind of conspiracy charge it down here because
down here is where, you know, diddling with the tabulators. I like that approach much better than trying to individually pick these guys off’ up in Roscommon.UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Yeah
Ms. Hagaman-Clark: You know, even if it’s conspiracy to, you know, commit a, a… legal act in an illegal manner. For you know or any of those other election fraud things we were looking for Daire, ultimately it takes place down here that at least a part of the crime arguably is committed in Oakland County. We can rope them all in to make them come down here to answer for rather than up there your guys’ neck of the woods.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Yeah
Ms. Hagaman-Clark: I think we have a better shot.
Another Excerpt:
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: that guy is awesome as far as the information giving but its its absolutely absurd that he is walking into these places getting these voting machines and he thinks he was doing this and and its legal. I mean Stefanie is not a police officer as far as I know… unintelligible
Ms. Hagaman-Clark: God she’s a twit, she’s such a twit.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: I can’t wait to book her— I’d have done it at this point…
And as if that isn’t bad enough—there’s more!
DePerno told us, “The AAG, AG investigators and MI SOS Attorney Eric Grill were all in the room. And this interview took place while the Antrim Co. case was pending, which means Dana Nessel and Eric Grill (who were my opposing counsel) started a criminal investigation against me (their opposing counsel), which is illegal.”
He added, “And they pulled in my witnesses and made them violate privilege, asking them about the Antrim case while it was pending. And then argued before the court without even disclosing to the court that they had interviewed my witnesses without telling me.”
On Sunday evening, Attorney Matt DePerno discovered exculpatory evidence that should put an end to the witch hunt against him, Stefanie Lambert, and former State Rep. Daire Rendon. He immediately filed a brief to dismiss his case.
From DePerno’s brief:
Perhaps the most damning piece of evidence in this case, which was not presented to the grand jury and which was not produced during discovery, is a letter dated May 20, 2021, and written by Jonathan Brater, director of the Michigan Bureau of Elections to the Cheboygan County Clerk, whose County Board wanted access to the tabulators to examine them.
The May 20, 2021, letter written by MI Director of Elections Jonathan Brater to the county clerk emphatically states:
You are receiving this letter because the Bureau of Elections has been informed that the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners may attempt to allow an unqualified third party to gain access to voting equipment in Cheboygan County, purportedly to conduct a “forensic audit.”
The Board has no authority to require you or any municipal clerk to provide external access to voting equipment maintained by your offices, and neither you nor municipal clerks in Cheboygan County should provide this access.
The Michigan Election Law entrusts clerks with choosing and maintaining their voting systems and does not provide any authority for county commissions to take control of this equipment.
MCL 168.37a states that “a county clerk, in consulting with each city and township clerk in the county” will ” determine which electronic voting system will be used in the county(.)” Custody, programming, and review and testing of election equipment is entrusted to qualified election officials, not county commissioners.
Here, Brater affirms it is the clerk’s prerogative or choice
If you or municipal clerks choose to conduct additional reviews of your voting systems, that is your prerogative.
In adition to confirming that it is the clerk’s “prerogative” to conduct any additional reviews to their vote tabulators, Brater tells the clerks: “only election officials, licensed vendors, or accredited voting system test laboratories should be granted access to voting equipment. If you are interested in having any type of physical review of your voting system, you should contact an EAC-accredited voting systems test laboratory (VSTL).”
The May 20, 2021, letter WAS NOT PROVIDED to Defendant Lambert or Deperno.
This letter was not provided by the People and was obtained literally on the EVE of trial.
At issue is Brater’s testimony in front of a grand jury, in which he testified under oath that the Barry County Clerk had no authority to provide her tabulator to DePerno and Lambert’s certified team of inspectors, which, is in direct conflict with the December 1, 2020, memorandum issued by his boss, SOS Benson, titled “Recounts, Release of Voting Equipment” which stated that security of voting equipment “will be released once all post-election audits are completed.”
From the transcript of Jonathan Brater’s testimony under oath in front of a grand jury, where he is accused of lying:
THE WITNESS (Brater):· February 2021 was when that update was released.I believe that additional language about where it said, remember, only licensed vendors, et cetera, can have access to that equipment, I don’t believe we had previously provided that instruction as part of the normal release of security, it wasn’t new information but I believe we provided that specific instruction because of concerns at the time that there would be requests to make unauthorized access to equipment.
JUROR:· And the memo and the various communications that were sent out were specific to this instance, they were not contained within other messaging or there was no other messaging included?
THE WITNESS:· That’s correct.
At this point in his testimony, DePerno claims Brater neglected to tell the jury about the May 20, 2021, letter to the Cheboygan County Clerk informing her it was the clerk’s prerogative to have their tabulators inspected by an approved vendor.
Had Mr. Brater been honest with the jury, would they still have agreed to charge the defendants? Would they have come to a different conclusion if they knew that the clerk did nothing wrong, according to Brater’s recent letter, by giving the tabulator to an approved inspector based on her best judgment?
We spoke with Constitutional Attorney Matt DePerno on the day after he discovered exculpatory evidence that had told us had been withheld in his case.
DePerno explained that he discovered the evidence on the day before Stefanie Lambert was to appear in court. His lawyer immediately sent the information to Lambert and Rendon’s lawyer.
Under normal circumstances, DePerno’s bombshell discovery should change the direction of this made-for-the-leftist media case, but we aren’t living in normal times.
The case against three outspoken election-integrity fighters is eerily similar to the eight felony charges against 15 MI GOP Electors for simply casting an alternate slate of electoral votes for President Trump in 2020.
Although two of the most high-profile electors declared publicly in a press conference after casting their alternate votes for Trump that they were only casting their votes as a “backup” in the event the election results were overturned, so President Trump would still get the 16 electoral votes.
As is the case with the MI GOP Electors, the real punishment is the process itself. Top Democrat officials use their positions to commit lawfare against their political enemies, and the media does their part to smear and destroy the reputations of the INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY defendants, whose lives have been turned upside down.
Matt DePerno told us that the charges against him “have literally destroyed my life”—“They’ve destroyed my career.” DePerno added, “My law practice is suffering. Nobody wants to hire a lawyer accused of committing felonies.” Unfortunately, this is precisely what those who commit lawfare against their political enemies want to hear.
On Monday, after receiving the exculpatory evidence in their case from DePerno’s lawyer, Stefanie Lambert’s lawyer, Dan Hartman, who is known for his fearless defense of election integrity in Michigan, filed a motion to dismiss his client’s case.
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Matis agreed to reschedule Lambert’s trial for December 2, 2024 but rejected Attorney Dan Hartman’s motion to dismiss. In his emergency motion to quash, Mr. Hartman accused the prosecution of a Brady violation over their alleged failure to turn over evidence.
From the Emergency Motion to Quash Lambert’s case by her attorney Dan Hartman:
Defendant, Stefanie Lambert, joined in the relief requested in the Depero Motion to Dismiss
In the motion to dismiss, Mr. Brater is accused of willfully misleading the grand jury to influence it. The state’s second most powerful election official is also accused of threatening to indict clerks, and knowingly perjuring himself, as a witness representing the Mi Sec. of State.
“Brater lied to the grand jury by representing that it was a prohibition, rather than a prerogative,” the motion to dismiss states. It continues, “This was a clear misrepresentation of law and tact.”
Interesting that when Brater was pressed by the grand juror asking questions he moved from an INSTRUCTION to admitting it was contained merely in a NEWSLETTER to clerks and then Deperno on the 11th hour claims to have discovered that neither is true.
On information and belief, Deperno’s Attorney brought this to the attention of the Special Prosecutor earlier this week or last week and this was not disclosed.
If this lack of disclosure does not warrant dismissal it must result in an adjournment.
This is BRADY material and it was never turned over by the Special Prosecutor instead it was
provided from a court filing by the CO-Defendant.This motion to dismiss will be heard in the District Court and will likely be reviewed of exculpatory evidence as a BRADY violation
Stefanie Lambert’s case has now been postponed until after the election in December.
The judge called a brief recess to review the motion.
Curiously, Hilson agreed to take the questionable case against Nessel’s political enemy, Matthew DePerno, election-integrity attorney Stefanie Lambert, and Republican State Rep. Daire Rendon.
However, the Muskegon County Prosecutor neglected to charge anyone with crimes in the massive Democrat-funded voter registration fraud that was first discovered in Muskegon, MI, in October 2020.
One year ago, the Gateway Pundit exclusively received a Michigan State Police report that revealed a stunning months-long investigation into GBI Strategies, a Joe Biden and Senator Gary Peters-funded “voter outreach” group.
The well-funded group, which has since disappeared, turned in between 8,000 and 10,000 voter registrations via mail and in person to Muskegon Clerk Ann Meisch only one month before the 2020 election.
According to MI SOS Investigator Corey Aimes, a large quantity of the voter registration applications GBI Strategies turned into the Muskegon clerk’s office were determined to be fraudulent.
Although the MI State Police report clearly shows MI SOS Benson’s investigator admitting that “a quantity of the voter application forms” they sampled were “clearly fraudulent,” Muskegon Prosecutor DJ Hilson never charged a single individual with any crimes related to the 2020 GBI Strategies case.
Several agencies, including the MI State Police, Muskegon Police, MI SOS office, and MI AG’s office, were involved in the investigation; yet, for some reason, Michigan clerks were never told to be on the lookout for boxes of fraudulent voter registrations being mailed to clerks across the state from a hotel in Auburn Hills, MI.
The statewide investigation began in Muskegon and was eventually taken over by the FBI, where it went to die.
MI AG Nessel and MI SOS Jocelyn Benson hid the investigation of the Democrat-funded operation from the public, including Michigan clerks. Eventually, the GBI Strategies investigation led to a raid on the voter registration operation’s headquarters, where police found bags of burner phones and pre-paid cards, semi-automatic rifles with suppressors, and modified pistols that were left behind by the GBI Strategies owner while he was out of state.
