The Michigan Attorney General’s office announced Thursday it will investigate claims that people are profiting off of allegations that the November 2020 presidential election was stolen. Michigan AG Dana Nessel has agreed to investigate individuals who’ve raised money off of claims that Joe Biden won the election in Michigan due to rampant voter fraud. The crackdown could effectively criminalize fundraising efforts by Michiganders to get an independent election audit in the battleground state.
Nessel reportedly launched the investigation at the behest of the majority-Republican Senate Oversight Committee and chair Ed McBroom, and the Senate Oversight Committee he chairs.
The Michigan senate found no evidence to prove “significant acts of fraud” in its “Report on the November 2020 Election in Michigan,” but some GOP members of the statehouse believe it was a half-hearted effort.
In an explosive statement shortly after the Senate report was released last month, Rep. Daire Rendon revealed that she has evidence of “systemic election fraud.”
“The Michigan Senate Oversight Committee concluded their investigation without examining appropriate evidence, expert reports or requesting testimony from qualified experts,” Rendon wrote. “The report concludes that there was ‘no widespread or systematic fraud in Michigan’s execution of the 2020 election.’ And yet, the Oversight Committee Chair stated in his executive summary that ‘this investigation should not be considered exhaustive’ and that ‘every possible investigative avenue was not undertaken’.”
She added: “I am in receipt of evidence reflecting systematic election fraud in Michigan that occurred in the November 2020 election. “Many Michigan voters believe that the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee’s conclusion was formed without a proper investigation, and so I encourage attorneys in Michigan and beyond to pursue legal avenues that will reveal truth and transparency to the citizens of the United States.”
State lawmakers of both parties have been swamped with thousands of affidavits from people claiming to have witnessed election fraud.
State Sen. McBroom has asked Nessel, a Democrat, to investigate what he deems the spreading of false assertions.
Attorney General spokesperson Lynsey Mukomel said in a statement the AG office had accepted McBroom’s request to investigate fellow Republicans, and that the Michigan State Police will also be “assisting in the matter.”
Nessel, it should be remembered, is the state AG who wanted a lockdown-resistant restaurant owner arrested before she could go on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Marlena Hackney, the beleaguered purveyor of Marlena’s Bistro and Pizzeria in Holland, repeatedly defied orders to shutter her business and made frequent appearances on cable news programs and local media outlets to denounce Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) coronavirus orders.
Last March, Nessel emailed her communications director and several aides, and plotted to arrest Marlena Hackney, the purveyor of Marlena’s Bistro and Pizzeria in Holland, before she could give an interview to host Tucker Carlson that evening,
“Do we know her whereabouts? We should just have her picked up before she goes on. This is outrageous,” Nessel wrote.
“Should I be prepared to respond to this?” Nessel wrote to aides in another email. “I hope she gets the full 93 days for this. (Is that the max for civil contempt or just criminal contempt?)”
Hackney is an immigrant who fled communist Poland as a teenager. She had originally been charged with a misdemeanor for refusing to close her establishment, and was also cited for contempt of court.
“Does MSP (Michigan State Police) intend to go find her? Or are they planning to wait until next week?” Nessel asked in another communication.
Hackney was ultimately arrested on the morning of March 19 as she was driving to her restaurant.
The 55-year-old was held in Ingham County Jail for four nights following her arraignment and released March 23 after paying a $15,000 contempt fine and shuttering her restaurant.
Hackney is still fighting to have her restaurant reopened.