Pro-Trump attorney, former clerk face Michigan election tampering charges

• Former Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott and pro-Trump attorney Stefanie Lambert face new felony charges
• Attorney General Dana Nessel claims Scott broke multiple laws when refusing to turn over voting equipment for maintenance and testing
• Lambert allegedly transmitted 2020 general election data from Adams Township under Scott’s direction, attorney general’s office claims

A former small-town election clerk who refused mandatory maintenance of her voting tabulator and her attorney were charged with multiple felonies Wednesday, the latest development in the state’s ongoing prosecution of those who sought to undermine Michigan’s 2020 presidential election results.

Attorney General Dana Nessel charged former Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott with four felony counts related to unauthorized computer access, misconduct in office and concealing or withholding a voting machine, as well as a misdemeanor charge for disobeying instructions from elections officials. 

Metro Detroit attorney Stefanie Lambert — already facing separate felony charges based on allegations that she "orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access” to Michigan voting machines in multiple jurisdictions — was also charged with three computer-related felony counts. 

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The new charges could result in up to 20 years of jail time for Scott and 15 years for Lambert.

In a statement, Nessel said the charges stem from Scott’s disregard of multiple requests by the state to allow maintenance and testing of township voting equipment, and her refusal to turn the equipment over until it was seized by police during an October 2021 raid. 

The attorney general’s office also claims Lambert illicitly transmitted 2020 general election data from the Adams Township electronic poll book under Scott’s direction. 

“When elected officials and their proxies use their positions to promote baseless conspiracies, show blatant disregard for voter privacy, and break the law in the process, it undermines the very essence of the democratic process,” Nessel said in a statement. “Those who engage in such reckless conduct must be held accountable for their actions.”

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Lambert responded to the new charges through her attorney, Dan Hartman, who said his client had not violated the law. 

"Her efforts to identify and bring powerful entities to account for the violations of election law has created an enterprise that has acted overtly to conceal their crimes,” Hartman alleged.“I have spoken to Stefanie who remains steadfast in her efforts to bring transparency to the people’s election data, processes and procedures.” 

Scott, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, previously claimed she’d “done nothing wrong” before Adams Township voters recalled and removed her from office in May 2023. 

In October 2021, Scott was stripped of her ability to conduct elections by the Department of State after refusing to turn over her voting machines, assigning her duties to the Hillsdale County Clerk. 

At the time, Scott told Bridge Michigan that she did not trust the machine and wanted to preserve any old data on it, echoing unfounded claims that tabulators may have been rigged against former President Donald Trump in 2020.

Lambert, her attorney, has worked on 2020 election cases across the country and has unsuccessfully claimed that fraud cost Trump the election. Numerous audits and investigations have found no such fraud, including a review by a Republican-led state Senate panel. 

Among her Michigan cases, Lambert worked on attorney Sidney Powell’s so-called Kraken case that sought to block certification of Michigan’s 2020 presidential election. 

Lambert also represented Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf in a failed lawsuit that alleged “massive” fraud in the election.

In March, Lambert was arrested on a bench warrant in Washington, D.C. while she was acting as a defense attorney for fellow 2020 election denier and businessman Patrick Byrne in a defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, a global manufacturer of voting machines and tabulators.

The warrant had been issued after Lambert failed to appear for a hearing before Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jeffery Matis. 

Lambert, along with former Republican Attorney General candidate Matthew DePerno and former state Rep. Daire Rendon, have pleaded not guilty to separate felony charges.

The attorney general alleges they took five ballot tabulators from Barry, Roscommon and Missaukee counties to Oakland County in a failed attempt to prove the machines were rigged against Trump. There, police contend the machines were "broken into" for "tests," according to court filings.