The Sun and News, Saturday, March 16, 2024/ Page 3They face multiple felo-
ny charges that are punish-
able by up to four or five
years in prison. The charges
were authorized by a grand
jury.
In response to the sub-
poena, Leaf issued an affi-
davit, and echoed his stance
in an interview with the Sun
and News , that he is not
willing to turn over those
files.
In it, he also provided a
glimpse of the scope of his
investigation, specifically
highlighting Dominion
Voting Systems, a company
with headquarters in
Toronto and Denver that
provides voting software
and hardware for U.S. elec-
tions.
“My depart-
ment is in pos-
session of sen-
sitive docu-
ments that are
part of an
ongoing inves-
tigation involv-
ing Dominion
employees,”
Leaf wrote in his affidavit.
“These Dominion employ-
ees directed and tasked
Serbian foreign nationals to
remotely access the
Michigan election system. I
am not willing to compro-
mise my investigation by
providing my entire file. I
am attaching to this affida-
vit several emails to demon-
strate to this honorable
court that this is a very
serious ongoing investiga-
tion.”
Leaf also said that his
investigation has turned up
damning evidence against
an individual named J. Alex
Halderman, who is a com-
puter science professor at
the University of Michigan
who has also served as an
expert witness for Secretary
of State Jocelyn Benson.
The affidavit, Leaf claims
that Halderman offered to
help Dominion employees
by rebutting statements and
claims made by President
Trump on television fol-
lowing his election loss in
2020.
“I intend to file a motion
to quash the subpoena
attached as well as a civil
lawsuit against the Muskegon
County Prosecutor D.J.
Hilson for attempting to
usurp my investigation,”
Leaf wrote in the affidavit.
“Attorney Lambert has
been working for me and
my office since December
of 2020 and I believe the
subpoena is an attempt to
obstruct and delay my very
serious investigation,” Leaf
continued.
Leaf told the Sun and
News that, since issuing the
affidavit, he has not heard
anything back.
“I haven’t had any dia-
logue with them at all,”
Leaf said.
Leaf has been investigat-
ing voter fraud since on the
heels of the 2020 election
when then-President
Donald Trump lost to cur-
rent President Joe Biden
and pockets of concerned
voters — primarily Trump
supporters — around the
country cried foul play.
Leaf said he has investi-
gated the issue locally in
Barry County but also hasgathered information on a
nationwide – and even
international – scale. On
Tuesday, he said he
received yet another cache
of what he might consider
evidence.
“Today we got a bunch
more – you have to sort out
the good stuff and the bad
stuff,” he said.
When asked the origins
of the investigative materi-
al, Leaf said “it comes from
all around. Sometimes
cybersecurity experts,
sometimes like a clerk or
something like that. It var-
ies.”
Last month, Leaf was
scheduled to make a pre-
sentation to county com-
missioners, outlining some
of the findings of his inves-
tigation, which has, at
times, expended a signifi-
cant amount of his own
time and resources at the
sheriff’s office.
The presentation was
postponed in order to secure
a larger facility that could
accommodate more mem-
bers of the public.
The presentation has yet
to be re-scheduled, and in
light of the recent develop-
ments, Leaf was skeptical
whether or not it would
happen any time soon.
“I hate to do that to the
public but more and more
stuff coming in...we’re try-
ing to bring some really
high-powered people in
here so you get an under-
standing that we didn’twaste any money on this –
there is a lot going on here.”
In August 2022, the attor-
ney general’s office identi-
fied Leaf as one of nine
individuals suspected of
participating in a conspira-
cy to obtain and test voting
tabulators. At that time,
Attorney General Nessel
released a petition for the
appointment of a special
prosecutor to consider a
variety of criminal charges
against the group, including
conspiracy, using a comput-
er to commit a crime and
willfully damaging a voting
machine.
The petition said the
group conspired to unlaw-
fully obtain voting tabula-
tors to conduct
tests following
the 2020 elec-
tion.
According to
the petition,
the group was
able to get their
hands on five
different tabu-
lators and con-
ducted tests on them at
hotel rooms and short-term
rentals in the Detroit area.
The petition alleged that
DePerno was there for the
testing.
Those tabulators includ-
ed a machine from Irving
Township, which the attor-
ney general’s office said
Leaf convinced Olson to
turn over as part of an
investigation.
Leaf denies having
coerced Olson.
Nessel’s office was
tipped off to the alleged
activity in February 2022
when Secretary of State
Jocelyn Benson sent a
request to the AG’s office
and the Michigan State
Police to investigate
third-party access to voting
tabulators. In the month
after that, Michigan State
Police raided Irving
Township Hall as part of
the investigation.
Upon MSP’s raid, Leaf
worked through Lambert to
file a lawsuit against vari-
ous state officials, includ-
ing the Attorney General
and Secretary of State, say-
ing they were meddling in
his independent voter fraud
investigation.
However, a Michigan
Court of Claims judge dis-
missed the lawsuit, finding
that Leaf did not sign the
affidavit and that Leaf and
his legal team did not
respond to summary
motions for disposition
filed by state attorneys.est-growing communities
in West Michigan. Tillema
said fire services will be
enhanced in Cutlerville in
the future with the eventual
presence of two fire depart-
ments: one run by Gaines
Township and the other by
Byron Township.
Under the terms of the
operating agreement,
Gaines has the option of
buying off the remaining
equity portion of the
Cutlerville Fire Station at
11 68th St SW and continu-
ing to use the building to
provide fire services for the
Gaines Township side of
Cutlerville. The fire station
is on Byron Township prop-
erty, just west of Division
Avenue, which is the
Gaines/Byron boundary.
In October, the Gaines
Township Board created a
Cutlerville Fire Committee
to provide recommendations
on how the township should
handle the split with Byron
Township. In November, the
board voted to authorize
Weersing to negotiate the
financial aspects of the sepa-
ration between the two town-
ships. That included not only
the fire station building but
the major pieces of equip-
ment inside it.
In an interview after
Monday night’s meeting,
Weersing said Gaines
Charter Township will retain
ownership of the building.
“We’re going to buy out
(Byron Township’s) half of
the equity and operate from
there for the time being,”
he said. “The goal will be to
build a station in Gaines at
some point down the road.
I’d like that to be three to
five years, but who knows
what the future holds.”
Weersing said the
Cutlerville Fire Station
property was appraised at
$1.88 million. So, Gaines
Township would pay about
$940,000 to buy out ByronTownship’s equity share.
“It’s a five-year buyout.
So it would start at the end
of July of this year, and then
we would have five years.
We have to make at least
20-percent payments over
the five years,” he said.
Gaines Township may
offer fire service to Byron
Township after their part-
nership becomes official.
However, Byron may build
its owner fire station in
Cutlerville shortly.
Weersing said Gaines
Township needed a work-
ing name for the newly
named fire department,
which will include both the
Cutlerville and Dutton fire
stations under the Gaines
Charter Township Fire
Department moniker.
“All we did tonight was
pick our new name. There
are some hoops we have to
jump through with the dif-
ferent agencies. So, we need
a name to work with as we
start setting up just the
Gaines portion of that ser-
vice area,” Weersing said.
Township Treasurer
Laurie Lemke asked
Weersing if the names on
all the fire trucks in
Cutlerville and Dutton
would be changed. He
answered that the changes
will take place gradually.
“We’re not going to rush
to change everything, but as
needed. As uniforms come
up for renewal, we’ll start
changing things over. And at
some point, we’ll work in the
apparatus,” Weersing said.
Gaines Board allo-
cates $1.2M in ARPA
dollars for new plat-
form fire truck
In unrelated action, the
Gaines Township Board
voted 7-0 to allocate $1.
million in American Rescue
Plan Act (ARPA) funding
toward the $1.7 million
cost of a new platform fire
truck.The 100-foot aerial ladder
truck is scheduled to be
delivered to the township
from Appleton, Wisc.-based
Pierce Manufacturing Inc. in
August 2025. It will replace
a fire truck that is more than
two decades old. The new
truck will enable firefighters
to access the tops of larger
buildings in the township
from a platform.
Gaines Township was
allocated about $2.7 mil-
lion in ARPA funding from
the federal government in- Every municipality
in the United States was
allocated a specific amount
of pandemic-relief funding,
based on its respective pop-
ulation size. The funding
can only be used for certain
designated uses, such as
infrastructure upgrades.
Two retired
Cutlerville Fire
Department leaders
receive honor
At Monday’s township
board meeting, Cutlerville/
Dutton Fire Chief Ken Van
Hall announced Service
Recognition awards for two
firefighters who have
recently retired. The town-
ship board voted unani-
mously to approve resolu-
tions that were read aloud
in their honor.
Lt./Fire Inspector Brett
Holmes was recognized for
his 11 years of dedicated
fire and medical service as
a member of the Dutton
Fire Department. Captain
William (Randy) Foreman
was recognized for eight
years of distinguished ser-
vice with the Cutlerville
Fire Department.
“When I think of dedica-
tion, I think of Brett,” Van
Hall said. “He always put
the department above him-
self and above his family.”
Foreman was not in atten-
dance at the meeting. In 2022,
he received a Cutlerville Fire
Life Saving award.
LEAF, continued from page 1
FIRE DEPARTMENT, continued from page 1
Attorney Lambert has been working for me
and my office since December of 2020 and I
believe the subpoena is an attempt to obstruct
and delay my very serious investigation.
— Dar Leaf, Barry County Sheriff,
via an affidavitEaster egg hunt set
in Caledonia
The village of Caledonia
will host a community Easter
egg hunt next Saturday.
The hunt will take place at
11 a.m. at Holy Family
Catholic Parish, 9669 Kraft
Ave. SE. Kids age 10 and
under are invited. The event
will take place rain or shine.
The Easter bunny will be
there for kids to have their
pictures taken with.