Nessel announces charges against lawyer and former clerk for alleged election data breach

Criminal charges related to the 2020 election continue to mount with the latest announced by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Wednesday against a pro-Trump lawyer and a former township clerk for allegedly allowing unauthorized access to voter data.

Former Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott allegedly ignored instructions from the Secretary of State's Office to submit a voting tabulator for maintenance. Under Scott's direction, attorney Stefanie Lambert allegedly shared 2020 election data from the township's poll book. And together the pair allegedly gave an unauthorized computer examiner access to 2020 election data, according to Nessel's office.

Almost a year after the 2020 presidential election, the state's Bureau of Elections ordered Scott to stop administering elections after the clerk prevented maintenance on voting equipment, according to a news release from the Secretary of State's Office. Shortly after the order, Michigan State Police recovered election equipment from Adams Township that went missing, prompting an investigation into possible tampering with the equipment.

Michigan State Police referred the matter to Nessel's office following its own investigation, according to the news release from the Attorney General's Office announcing the charges against Lambert and Scott.

Lambert also faces criminal charges brought by a special prosecutor for allegedly gaining illegal access to voting machines after the 2020 election. That case is set to go to trial in October.

Lambert first gained prominence as a pro-Trump lawyer in Michigan for her involvement in a lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election. A federal appeals court panel reversed the financial penalty imposed on her by a lower court while making others involved the legal challenge pay for their participation in the conspiracy-laden lawsuit.

The decision prompted the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission to voluntarily dismiss its allegations of misconduct leveled against Lambert and recommendations for disciplinary action against her.

"Nessel tried to sanction me. I won. She tried to take my bar license, I won. I'm ready for round three. Nessel will never silence me. I have the evidence. I am not intimidated. I will win this one too," Lambert wrote in a social media post following the latest charges against her announced by Nessel. Scott did not immediately respond to a voice message seeking comment.

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In announcing the charges against Lambert and Scott, Nessel accused the pair of undermining trust in the electoral process. "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.

Scott is charged with:

• One count of using a computer to commit a crime, a seven-year felony

• One count of computers — unauthorized access, a five-year felony

• One count of conspiracy to commit the offense of computers — unauthorized access, a five-year felony

• One count of misconduct in office, a five-year felony

• One count of concealing or withholding a voting machine, a five-year felony

• One count of disobeying a lawful instruction or order of the Secretary of State as chief election office, a 90-day misdemeanor

Lambert is charged with:

• One count of using a computer to commit a crime, a seven-year felony

• One count of computers — unauthorized access, a five-year felony

• One count of conspiracy to commit the offense of computers — unauthorized access, a five-year felony

Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan AG Dana Nessel charge 2 in alleged 2020 election data breach