Tabulator Trial Delayed Again as Election Probe Reaches 10th Date

Trial Set for October 2026, After Judge Reschedules for Midterm Election

Oakland County, Mich. A criminal trial involving a lawyer accused of conspiring to obtain voting machines used in the 2020 presidential election will likely not begin until after the 2026 midterm election, according to court records.

The trial of Stefanie Lambert, who faces four felony charges, had been scheduled for Monday, the ninth date set for the proceeding. Judge Jeffery Matis delayed the trial again as the Court of Appeals considers Lambert's bid to challenge planned jury instructions.

The judge scheduled a conference to discuss the status for Oct. 14, 20 days before the November election, according to court records.

Lambert filed an appeal on March 11, arguing that the higher court should strike down jury instructions that said the question was whether a voting machine was obtained "without authorization by the secretary of state or valid court order."

Her legal team has contended that the instruction did not mirror state law, which says a "person shall not obtain undue possession of that ballot box or voting machine."

"The definition is clear that unjust, improper or illegal is the only meaning of undue contemplated by the Michigan Legislature," the appeal said. "There is no dictionary definition that will include 'without Secretary of State authorization' or 'valid court order' when the term 'undue' is researched."

Hilson's office countered that there are no model jury instructions for the crime of undue possession of a voting machine and the language planned by the lower court properly informs the jury of the applicable law.

Hilson is the prosecutor in Muskegon County and got the tabulator case after Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel, in August 2022, sought the appointment of a special prosecutor to handle the investigation and decision on charges involving DePerno and others.

At the time, Nessel was running against DePerno for a second term as attorney general.

Michigan will elect a new attorney general in November. Lambert is facing a separate set of charges in Hillsdale County.

Three-Year Investigation Into Vote Machine Access

In the summer of 2023, special prosecutor DJ Hilson first announced charges against Lambert and two prominent Republicans, lawyer Matt DePerno of Kalamazoo and former state Rep. Daire Rendon of Lake City.

The charges included conspiracy to commit undue possession of voting machines.

All three defendants have denied wrongdoing. But none of their trials have occurred yet, nearly three years after charges were first revealed.

The cases of DePerno and Rendon are still pending in district court.

Nessel requested the special prosecutor last month when her office said a state investigation revealed that DePerno, state Rep. Daire Rendon and seven others orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting machines in multiple jurisdictions following the 2020 presidential election.

The state probe focused on tampering with voting machines used in the 2020 presidential election. Nessel's office alleged potentially criminal attempts to access those machines to try and prove Trump's unsubstantiated claims that voter fraud cost him that year's contest.

DePerno and Rendon were part of a group that gained unauthorized access and compromised tabulators in Roscommon County, Richfield Township, Lake Township and Irving Township between March and June of 2021.

Other alleged conspirators include Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, attorney Stefanie Lambert Juntilla, Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, Ben Cotton, Jeff Lenberg, Ann Howard and James Penrose.

Political Fallout and Campaign Timing

The assignment of a special prosecutor comes just 61 days before the November general election.

DePerno will take on Nessel after the Michigan Republican Party formally nominated him as their attorney general candidate last month.

Hilson's office did not immediately respond to an interview request. The Muskegon County Democrat was first elected by local voters in 2012 after serving 13 years as an assistant prosecutor following graduation from Cooley Law School.

Campaign finance records show Hilson donated $100 to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's re-election campaign last year, but he has never contributed to an attorney general candidate, including Nessel.

DePerno's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson previously said DePerno categorically denies the allegations and called Nessel's request for a special prosecutor a liberal fever dream of lies based on political prosecution.

Rendon's office declined comment on Hilson's appointment and the ongoing tabulator tampering case.

The Antrim County lawsuit and a report prepared by a team DePerno allowed to examine a Dominion machine there spawned global conspiracy theories about voting tabulators and fueled Trump's efforts to overturn Michigan's 2020 election despite his 154,188-vote loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Those conspiracies spread to Muskegon County, where Hilson works. Trump loyalists falsely claimed 781 percent voter turnout in a North Muskegon precinct. Citywide turnout was actually 78.1 percent, with turnout of 74 percent in one precinct and 82 percent in another.

In Barry County, Sheriff Leaf has been investigating the election for nearly two years. He contemplated seizing voting machines in late 2020, a plan an attorney working for him discussed with key Trump allies, including attorney Sidney Powell and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

The Republican and self-described constitutional sheriff recently lost a lawsuit alleging the state had interfered in his probe. A local prosecutor last month declined to sign off on search warrants that Leaf had sought to seize voting equipment in three local jurisdictions.