In Pa.’s Fulton County, GOP officials’ new Hail Mary is a call for a congressional probe

Officials in a Pennsylvania county have escalated their response to voter fraud claims already dismissed in court.

In a Dec. 28 letter to U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Fulton County commissioners called for a congressional probe of former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, the Election Assistance Commission, Dominion Voting Systems and Pro V&V, a voting system test laboratory. The letter is signed by Stefanie Lambert, a lawyer who has been linked to voting machine breaches in several states and to members of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

“Fulton County is demanding investigation of the Dominion brand equipment that its expert determined was communicating internationally with Canada, had a malicious python script installed, and failed to comply with federal standards,” Lambert said in an email to the USA TODAY Network. “Fulton County seeks transparency and accountability.”

Lambert’s letter to Jordan appears to be a parting shot from Republican Commissioners Stuart Ulsh and Randy Bunch, who put the county in contempt of court for allowing multiple third parties to access voting machines used in the 2020 election.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that Fulton County is liable for all legal expenses incurred by Dominion and the Pennsylvania Department of State in relation to the dispute. Justices wrote that the commissioners and their lawyers “have engaged in a sustained, deliberate pattern of dilatory, obdurate, and vexatious conduct and have acted in bad faith throughout these sanction proceedings.”

County commissioners’ separate bid to sue Dominion civilly for breach of contract was denied in 2023 when Sylvia Rambo, a judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, said “by all appearances, those actual (voting machine) errors which did occur were minuscule and had no material impact on the functioning of the devices.”

While Bunch was re-elected in November and now chairs the Fulton County commissioners’ board, Ulsh lost his seat after being ousted in the Republican primary by challenger Steven Wible. Bunch and Wible did not respond to requests for comment.

Hervey Hann — an independent whose election essentially bumped Paula Shives, the lone Democrat, from the three-person board — told the USA TODAY Network that while he’s “somewhat been following” the voter machine situation, he’s still gathering information.

“I’m just getting into things. I don’t think I’d make a comment right now until I have a lot better understanding of what’s what,” said Hann, a lifelong educator who has served as a local school superintendent for the past 16 years.

“I want a lot more knowledge than I have now before I make any decisions.”

Commissioners find-the-fraud crusade has already proven costly

It’s unclear whether Jordan will take the letter and its exhibits seriously. He did not return phone calls after messages were left at his two district locations and office in Washington, D.C., and Lambert acknowledged that she’s had no communication with him beyond the letter.

Either way, commissioners’ apparently ongoing find-the-fraud crusade has already come with a steep cost.

The Pennsylvania Department of State has already requested $448,039.53 in reimbursements from Fulton County. Department spokespeople declined to comment on Lambert’s letter, but confirmed that the commonwealth has not yet submitted its receipts for fees from a three-day proceeding this past summer regarding which firm would take custody of the county’s decommissioned voting machines from the 2020 election.

Dominion — which was given a $787 million settlement last year from Fox News over the media outlet’s unfounded fraud claims — issued a statement in relation to Lambert’s letter to Jordan.

“Efforts to delay or distract from the court-ordered transfer of Dominion’s voting equipment to a neutral third-party escrow agent by recycling false conspiracy theories and debunked claims, including those already rejected by the court, have no place in this process,” a Dominion spokesperson said.

He did not address a USA TODAY Network question about how much the company is billing Fulton County taxpayers for its associated legal fees.

Even as the next presidential election cycle kicks into full swing, none of the court losses or financial burdens have stopped Fulton County officials from re-litigating 2020. Lambert referenced 2023 clerical errors in Elections Systems & Software machines used in Pennsylvania and a recent complaint in Macomb County, Michigan, against Dominion CEO John Poulos.

Her letter to Jordan references a report on voting machines used in Williamson County, Tennessee, where state officials urged commissioners to find a different vendor after seven Dominion machines printed out tapes that rejected ballots from voters outside their assigned precincts.

TN voting concerns:Williamson County voting machine questions linger, some seek paper ballot return

“Fulton County is not alone. My office is aware that a criminal complaint for perjury has been made (last week) against John Poulos, CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, Inc.,” Lambert said. “Accurate elections are not political. PA just witnessed vote flipping live during an election in Northampton County during the November 2023 election. Dominion disclosed the inaccurate vote tally in Williamson, TN was due to ‘erroneous source code.’

“Enough is enough. The American People deserve transparency from election vendors.”

‘What will be gained by proceeding with any of this litigation?’

Others in the rural Pennsylvania county, however, have had enough of Lambert.

“It’s total folly,” said McConnellsburg lawyer Stanley Kerlin. “And I think it will end up costing the taxpayers of Fulton County.”

Kerlin, who worked as the county’s legal counsel from 1981 to 2019 and is Fulton’s current Republican state committee person, would like local officials to cut ties with Lambert and try to negotiate their way out from under the increasing financial burden of paying litigation fees for Dominion and the state.

“I do not pretend to speak for the county Republican Party because my viewpoint on this very well may be in direct opposite of what they think or what the majority of the members think,” Kerlin said. “But I look at it in part from a legal perspective. And at this point in time, what will be gained by proceeding with any of this litigation?

“What will the county get out of this?”

Lambert’s letter to Jordan cites and includes a 2022 report on Fulton County voting machines by a company called Speckin Forensics based out of Lansing, Michigan. Public records sourced by The Arizona Republic showed that Erich Speckin, the president of the company, communicated with Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan amid the widely dismissed Cyber Ninjas audit of Arizona election results.

Speckin was also called as an expert witness for Kari Lake’s election challenge after raising suspicion about “anomalies” found in as many as 23,000 Arizona ballots.

Asked by an attorney for the Arizona secretary of state whether any votes were illegally counted, Speckin replied: “I can’t say one way or the other. I’m not drawing an opinion that it was or was not.”

Reached by telephone Wednesday, Speckin told the USA TODAY Network he can’t discuss his findings without client approval and did not return the call by deadline.

Fulton County’s legal maneuver draws support of key Trump backer

On social media, prominent Trump supporter Patrick Byrne voiced his support for Fulton County’s latest maneuver. The former overstock.com CEO is well-known for urging Trump to seize voting machines during an infamous Dec. 18, 2020, Oval Office meeting alongside ex-Gen. Michael Flynn and lawyer Sidney Powell, who was recently convicted of election interference.

Though Byrne refers to Lambert as “my attorney” in his social media post, Lambert said her pro bono work in Fulton County is not being done on Byrne’s behalf.

Meanwhile, additional fallout from Trump’s unproven claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him via pervasive voter fraud continue to echo in 2024.

Senate clash:A Pa. senator plans to hit a colleague with an ethics complaint. Here’s why.

Last week, state Sen. Art Haywood (D-Montgomery) announced his intention to file an ethics complaint against state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin). Mastriano was present for the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, though he’s not been accused of violence or any crimes.

Trump himself is facing several legal challenges aimed at keeping him from returning to office for his role in organizing the events of Jan. 6.

‘Insurrection’ challenge:In the Supreme Court’s hands: How will the justices rule on Trump’s ballot appeal?

Citing the insurrection clause of the U.S. Constitution, a court and a secretary of state have barred him from the ballot in both Colorado and Maine, respectively. Colorado’s Republican Party and the Trump campaign have appealed these decisions to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bruce Siwy is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network’s Pennsylvania state capital bureau. He can be reached at bsiwy@gannett.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @BruceSiwy.