Matt DePerno, ex-GOP candidate for attorney general and Trump ally, charged in election machine tampering

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Former Michigan GOP attorney general candidate Matt DePerno has been charged with election machine tampering after the 2020 Presidential Election. DePerno was arraigned in Oakland County on Tuesday on four criminal charges in connection with accessing and tampering with voting machines after the election, according to court records.

DePerno, a Republican lawyer who gained the endorsement of former President Donald Trump during an unsuccessful run for Michigan attorney general last year, was arraigned remotely Tuesday afternoon, according to Richard Lynch, the court administrator for Oakland County's 6th Circuit. 

Former state representative Daire Rendon was also arraigned on Tuesday, according to Lynch. 

DePerno is not commenting on camera but sent FOX 2 a statement quoting his attorney, Paul Stablein, which says in part:

"The indictment arises from a court-ordered forensic investigation of the Antrim County election where Mr. DePerno uncovered significant security flaws. He maintains his innocence and firmly believes that these charges are not based upon any actual truth and are motivated primarily by politics rather than evidence."

Those charged in Michigan are the latest facing legal consequences for alleged crimes committed after embracing Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen.  

Hours earlier on Tuesday, Trump was indicted for a third time, charged by a federal grand jury in connection regarding his alleged efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The indictment focuses on schemes by Trump and his allies to subvert the transfer of power and keep him in office despite his loss to Joe Biden. It’s the third criminal case brought against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House. Trump was indicted on four counts including "conspiracy to defraud." 

DePerno denied the allegations in August 2022, saying he was not in possession of any tabulators or talked to any clerks. He also asserted that, if he had, it would not have been against the law.

DePerno, who has been named by investigators as a "prime instigator" in the case, has previously denied wrongdoing and has accused the state attorney general of "weaponizing her office." DePerno could not be reached immediately for comment by phone on Tuesday.

Five vote tabulators were taken from three counties in Michigan to a hotel room, according to documents released last year by Attorney General Dana Nessel's office. Investigators found that the tabulators were broken into and "tests" were performed on the equipment. They said that DePerno was there. 

Because Nessel ran against DePerno in 2022, she secured a special prosecutor who wouldn't have a conflict of interest in the case and could operate independently. 

That special prosecutor, D.J. Hilson, has been reviewing the investigation and considering charges since September. He convened a grand jury in March to determine whether criminal indictments should be issued, according to court documents.  

Charges were slow to come in the case, in part because prosecutors wanted clarification from a judge about what constitutes illegal possession of a voting machine. Some of the defendants argued that local clerks gave them permission to take the machines.

In July, a state judge ruled that it's a felony to take a machine without a court order or permission directly from the Secretary of State's office.

That felony is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Matthew DePerno