Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Monday alleged that her Republican opponent Matt DePerno led a conspiracy to break into voting equipment in Richfield Township, MI. Nessel sent a request for a special prosecutor to step in to continue the investigation due to her conflict of interest. 

The request states that DePerno is being investigated for conspiracy, using a computer system to commit a crime, willfully damaging a voting machine, malicious destruction of property, fraudulent access to a computer or computer system and false pretenses. The request alleges that DePerno “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators that had been used in Roscommon County and Richfield Township” and other locations. The five tabulators in question were allegedly taken to hotel rooms and AirBnBs and were broken into for “testing.” DePerno was allegedly present at at least one hotel room when the machines were broken into.

In a letter to Jocelyn Benson of the Michigan Department of State, Chief Deputy Attorney General Christina Grossi detailed the alleged plot. The letter states that Richfield Township Supervisor Walter John Bawol spoke to a state representative who claimed she was “looking into the tampering of voting machines” and wanted Bawol to turn the tabulators over to “investigators.” An unnamed person then gathered several tabulators from Bawol and several county clerks claiming they were “conducting an audit.”

The person allegedly assured each clerk and Bawol that the equipment would be quickly returned. Bawol and the other clerks began to grow concerned the investigation was not legitimate.

A Sunday Reuter’s exclusive partially corroborated DePerno’s involvement. Reuter’s found a photograph, used in a lawsuit filed by DePerno alleging voter fraud, of a receipt from a tabulator. The receipt showed the registration number 0317350497, which Reuter’s cross-referenced with court documents and discovered was the registration number of one of the allegedly tampered with Richfield Township tabulators. The photograph was included as Figure 6 in the suit.

DePerno’s campaign dismissed the allegations and called the situation “complete absurdity.”

Statement from DePerno for Michigan Campaign on Dana Nessel’s Political Witch Hunt pic.twitter.com/XGuOZK7Rlt

— Matthew DePerno for Michigan AG (@deperno4mi) August 8, 2022

DePerno is endorsed by former President Donald Trump and has continuously made allegations of election fraud in 2020.