据一名法院官员称，密歇根州一名前司法部长候选人周二对与他涉嫌在2020年总统大选后试图获取和破坏投票机有关的指控不认罪。
据密歇根州奥克兰县法院(Oakland County court)的一名管理人员理查德·林奇称，马修·德佩尔诺(Matthew DePerno)在2020年作为共和党候选人竞选失败，他被控四项罪名，包括不当拥有投票机、阴谋对计算机系统进行未经授权的访问以及故意损坏投票机。
周二，德佩尔诺与前共和党州代表Daire Rendon一起被传讯，他被控阴谋非法占有投票机和虚假陈述。
2022年10月1日，密歇根州沃伦，前总统唐纳德·特朗普在拯救美国集会上发表讲话时，共和党司法部长候选人马修·德佩尔诺鼓掌。
Emily Elconin/Getty Images，文件
“这些指控是令人难以置信的严重和前所未有的，”密歇根州总检察长达纳·内塞尔在周二的一份声明中说。“2024年总统大选即将来临。参与此事的律师以及全国各地与他们合作的人所宣扬的谎言造成了严重破坏，并在我们的民主机构和程序中播下了不信任的种子。”
林奇说，两人都提出了无罪抗辩。
“我们知道密歇根州2020年的总统选举是美国历史上审查最严格的选举，每次审计和审查都发现选举是安全、公平和准确的，符合选民的意愿，”内塞尔说。“这些被告和其他人涉嫌破坏人们对我们选举制度的信任，对我们的民主造成了不可否认的伤害。”
2022年，Nessel要求一名特别律师调查DePerno，Rendon和其他人，据称他们在“调查选举欺诈”的借口下，在密歇根州的三个县“策划了一项协调一致的计划，以获得投票制表机的权限”，DePerno当时表示。
Nessel说，被指控的计划包括将制表人带到酒店房间，在那里他们被“闯入”并用假选票进行“测试”。调查人员声称，在一次制表机测试中，德佩尔诺在场。
当时，前总统唐纳德·特朗普公开称赞德佩尔诺是一位“强硬”的候选人，他将确保“公平选举”。
特朗普在2022年8月6日的CPAC演讲中说:“他太强硬了，人们甚至害怕和他共处一室。”。“他将确保你们会有法律、秩序、公平选举和其他许多东西。在那个国家，他受到每个人的尊敬。”
Trump allies charged with felonies involving voting machines in Michigan
A former candidate for attorney general in Michigan pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges associated with his alleged efforts to obtain and damage voting machines in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, according to a court official.
Matthew DePerno, who ran an unsuccessful bid as the Republican candidate in 2020, was charged on four counts, including undue possession of a voting machine, conspiracy to commit unauthorized access to a computer system and willfully damaging a voting machine, according to Richard Lynch, an administrator at the Oakland County court in Michigan.
DePerno was arraigned Tuesday along with Daire Rendon, a former GOP state representative, who was charged with conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine and false pretenses.
"These allegations are incredibly serious and unprecedented," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement Tuesday. "The 2024 presidential election will soon be upon us. The lies espoused by attorneys involved in this matter, and those who worked in concert with them across the nation, wreaked havoc and sowed distrust within our democratic institutions and processes."
Both entered not-guilty pleas, Lynch said.
"We know the 2020 Presidential Election in Michigan was the most heavily scrutinized election in American history, and every audit and review found the election to be secure, fair, and accurate to the will of the voters," Nessel said. "The alleged actions by these defendants, and others, who worked to erode trust in our election system caused undeniable harm to our democracy."
Nessel in 2022 requested a special counsel to investigate DePerno, Rendon and others, who allegedly “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators” in three Michigan Counties under the pretense of an “investigation in election fraud,” DePerno said at the time.
The alleged scheme included taking the tabulators to hotel rooms where they were “broken into” and “tested” with fake ballots, Nessel said. The investigators alleged DePerno was present during one such instance of tabulator testing.
At the time, former President Donald Trump publicly praised DePerno as a “tough” candidate who would ensure “fair elections.”
"He's so tough, people are afraid to even be in the same room with him," Trump said in an Aug. 6, 2022, CPAC speech. "He's going to make sure that you're gonna have law and order and fair elections and so many other things. He is respected by everybody in that state."
