Michigan Secretary of State asks judge to excuse her from deposition in election fraud lawsuit
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson last week asked a judge to excuse her from a May 24 deposition in an ongoing election fraud lawsuit.
The lawsuit stems from Nov. 3 Antrim County election results that were initially reported incorrectly to reflect President Joe Biden won in the Republican-leaning county. It was later discovered that tabulation machines reported incorrect numbers due to clerical errors and the results were quickly corrected to show former President Donald Trump actually won the county.
The initial complaint cited public statements made by Benson following the Antrim County election mishap, but it’s unusual for elected officials to be deposed in civil lawsuits.
William Bailey, a Central Lake Township resident and voter, sued Antrim County in November alleging election integrity concerns regarding the use of Dominion Voting Systems machines that produced the erroneous results.
State lawyers arguing on behalf of Benson said “high-ranking government officials” can’t be forced to testify unless the information they are capable of providing is related to “personal knowledge of the matter” and it’s impossible to obtain the same information from a subordinate or representative.
In discussions with the opposing attorney, Matthew DePerno, over deposition scheduling, Assistant Attorney General Erik Grill in an email said the request to depose Benson was “neither necessary nor appropriate.”
“She was not directly involved in any of the events or issues concerning the Antrim election, and has no information to provide that cannot be obtained through her election staff,” the April 19 email said.
When the request for deposition wasn’t withdrawn, state attorneys filed a motion for a protective order to block the deposition. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on May 18.
Benson wasn’t initially named in the lawsuit, but filed a request to intervene as an added defendant, in part because the lawsuit posed statewide election integrity questions.
Antrim County Circuit Judge Kevin Elsenheimer granted Bailey the opportunity to conduct a forensic audit of the Antrim County election results, voting machines and software.
He and DePerno hired Allied Security Operations Group, a Dallas-based cyber-security company with Republican ties, to conduct an audit in December. The eventual report was disputed due to a lack of evidence supporting its bold claims that Dominion Voting Systems machines and accompanying software that is used in numerous Michigan counties were “intentionally and purposefully designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud and influence election results.”
Benson’s staff solicited a report of its own that disputed the Allied Security Operations Group report.
The secretary of state hired J. Alex Halderman, a computer security and systems specialist and professor at the University of Michigan, to conduct his own election audit. He released his report titled “Analysis of the Antrim County, Michigan November 2020 Election Incident,” which outlined procedural and computer-related flaws.
Halderman blamed the election night debacle on the “mishandling of last-minute ballot design changes,” but said it’s “unlikely to have occurred widely in Michigan during the 2020 election.”
“Although vulnerabilities in election technology are well documented, the Antrim County incident was not caused by a security breach,” he said. “There is also no credible evidence that it was caused deliberately.”
Bailey and his attorney now claim they have evidence rebutting Halderman that’s revealed in a new report entered into the court record as an exhibit on Monday.
That report can be viewed here.
“We have the proof that voting machines used in the 2020 elections can be compromised and votes easily transferred from one candidate to another,” DePerno’s law firm website proclaims.
More on MLive:
‘Cyber Ninjas’ refute Michigan election audit
Judge reins in sprawling election lawsuit case
Clerks allege fishing expedition
Communications with Trump campaign are irrelevant, judge rules
Zuckerberg and wife donated millions to Michigan election clerks
SOS ordered to turn over communications with big tech
Plaintiff claims SOS is withholding records
Antrim County hand recount results in 12 new votes for Trump
Software isn’t good at detecting human error
Election recount, legal challenges unlikely to overturn Biden’s win in Michigan
