Another ally of former President Donald Trump is charged with voting machine tampering in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Michigan.
Attorney Stefanie Lambert Junttila is the third person charged by a special prosecutor in the alleged conspiracy to gain illegal access to voting machines.
The charges were authorized by a grand jury and filed in Oakland County by special prosecutorD.J. Hilson, who said the grand jury “was not influenced by politics, bias or prejudice.”
“Although our office made no recommendations to the grand jury as to whether an indictment should be issued or not, we support the grand jury’s decision and we will prosecute each of these cases as they have directed in the sole interests of justice,” he said.
Junttila was charged with four crimes: undue possession of a voting machine, conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine, conspiracy to commit unauthorized access to a computer or a computer system and willfully damaging a voting machine.
She was arraigned Thursday and released on a personal bond.
Former Republican state attorney general candidate Matt DePerno and former GOP state Representative Daire Rendon also face similar charges. Hilson said he does not expect to bring further charges. Hilson said local clerks who handed over ballot tabulators to the defendants had been misled.
“My team and I will be preparing for the next steps in the process,” he said.
Junttila was not reachable for comment. But in a statement released to news organizations, her attorney accused Hilson of acting improperly and said she plans to sue him for “malicious prosecution.”
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU todayto keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org