SN 7.10.2021

Page 2/The Sun and News, Saturday, July 10, 2021

Sheriff discussed seizing voting machines

Bridge Magazine
Barry County Sheriff Dar
Leaf last year tried to enlist
fellow “constitutional sher-
iffs” to seize Dominion vot-
ing machines at the heart of
an election conspiracy theo-
ry promoted by then-Presi-
dent Donald Trump, Bridge
Michigan has learned.
Emails obtained by Bridge
through the Freedom of
Information Act indicate
Trump had at least some law
enforcement support in his
bid to overturn the 2020
election won by Democratic
President Joe Biden.
The emails from Leaf
detail his unsuccessful efforts
to obtain voting machines
and inspect them. The
records indicate that Leaf’s
attorney provided updates on
the effort to Trump allies,
including attorney Sidney
Powell and a contact for for-
mer National Security
Advisor Michael Flynn.
Leaf told Bridge in a brief
interview that he worked
with other Michigan sheriffs
on what he called an “ongo-
ing” matter after the election,
but would not divulge specif-
ics.
“It is our job to investigate
all acts of voter fraud,” said
Leaf, a Republican who

made national headlines last

year for joining armed mili-

tia members on stage at a

protest against Democratic

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s

COVID-19 pandemic orders.

The emails, which are

coming to light as conserva-

tive activists continue to call

for a forensic audit of

Michigan’s election, describe

a plot more befitting a

“banana republic” than a sta-

ble democracy, said David

Becker, executive director of

the Center for Election

Innovation and Research.

Talk of seizing voting

machines is “tinpot dictator

stuff,” said Becker, whose

nonprofit aims to improve

voter confidence, participa-

tion and election administra-

tion.

“It’s obviously extremely

concerning, especially given

the fact that the ballots in

Michigan, which are all

hand-marked paper ballots,

were audited extensively.”

The Trump

Administration’s Department

of Justice said there was no

evidence of widespread voter

fraud. Even so, the former

president has continued his

claims. Recently, he lambast-

ed Michigan Republican sen-

ators for an exhaustive

report that debunked linger-

ing conspiracy theories about

last year’s election.

Barry County records

obtained by Bridge show

Carson Tucker — an Ann

Arbor attorney who repre-

sented Leaf and included

him on numerous elec-

tion-related emails — asked

Trump allies for information

that might justify voting

machine seizures by his cli-

ent and other sheriffs

“expressing an interest” in

St. Joseph, Shiawassee, Lake

and Jackson counties.

Tucker sent an email Dec.

15, 2020, to Carissa Keshel

at the Fight Back Foundation,

a nonprofit chaired by pro-

Trump attorney L. Lin Wood,

and asked for information

about “counties that have

been potentially compro-

mised” in the Nov. 3 elec-

tion.

“My client Barry County

Sheriff and several other

county sheriffs in Michigan

would like to consider issu-

ing probable cause warrants

to sequester Dominion vot-

ing machines if there is evi-

dence of criminal manipula-

tion,” Tucker wrote.

In an earlier, Nov. 20

email to Powell — who later

filed failed lawsuits seeking

to overturn Trump losses in

Michigan and other swing

states — Tucker claimed

Leaf had already seized vot-

ing machines and ballots in

Barry County.

But that did not happen,

according to local election

officials and Leaf, who told

Bridge he did not recall why

his attorney told Powell it

had.

Constitutional sheriffs

Lake County Sheriff Rich

Martin confirmed Leaf con-

tacted him last year as he

tried to get other sheriffs to

investigate potential “impro-

priety with those machines.”

But Martin said he never

signed on, telling Bridge he

“didn’t want any part of it.”

“He does kind of his own

thing,” Martin said of Leaf.

“I’m friends with him, so he

usually calls me first on

some of these things, but I

don’t have anything to do

with that.”

St. Joseph County Sheriff

Mark Lillywhite and

Shiawassee County Sheriff

Brian BeGole did not return

multiple voicemails from

Bridge Michigan. The fourth

sheriff mentioned in the

emails, Steven Rand of

Jackson County, did not seek

re-election and is no longer

in office.

Leaf is among a handful of

self-described “constitution-

al sheriffs” in Michigan who

contend they are the highest

level of governmental

authority and have the power

or duty to defy or disregard

laws they find unconstitu-

tional.

“Constitutional Sheriffs

have a legal obligation and

duty to ferret out criminal

activity in the county on

behalf of the citizenry,”

Tucker wrote in the Dec. 15

email to the Fight Back

Foundation. “And they are

the chief law enforcement

officers.”

Leaf described Tucker as

his personal attorney and

confirmed they also have

worked together on legal the-

ories that informed his deci-

sion to not enforce COVID-

19 orders issued by Whitmer

and her administration.

In a brief phone interview,

Tucker said the emails

obtained by Bridge through

the Freedom of Information

Act were protected by attor-

ney-client privilege and

shouldn’t have been dis-

closed by the Barry County

Sheriff’s Office.

Asked his view on the role

of a “constitutional sheriff,”

Leaf told Bridge it’s import-

ant for elected county law

enforcement leaders to

“exercise their authority” so

that it does not get “diluted.”

“It’s just a matter of us

harnessing it and getting the

office of sheriff back on track

and where it’s supposed to

be,” he said.

Martin, the Lake County

sheriff, said he had been part

of the national Constitutional

Sheriff and Peace Officers

Association but has “kind of

backed out of it because it’s

become so controversial.”

While he took an oath of

office to uphold the federal

and state constitutions, “I’m

not, by far, a fanatic like a lot

of people in that organization

are,” Martin said.

From Antrim to Gen.

Flynn

The emails obtained by

Bridge show Leaf and Trump

allies were focused on

Dominion voting machines.

Keshel from the Fight

Back Foundation, responded

Dec. 15 to Tucker and Leaf

with a document she said

came from Flynn, the former

national security adviser who

twice pleaded guilty to lying

about Russia but was par-

doned by Trump following

the 2020 election.

“Hi Carson and Dar,

General Flynn wanted ya’ll

to see the Antrim Forensics

analysis, and we believe all

48 counties are affected the

same,” Keshel wrote, refer-

encing a factually chal-

lenged report on Dominion

voting machines used in

Antrim and dozens of other

Michigan counties.

“I am in contact with the

team to be able to coordinate

our next steps with these

Dominion machines,” she

added.

Antrim County, about 200

miles north of Barry County,

emerged as an unlikely focal

point in Trump’s fraud claims

after a programming error by

the Republican clerk led to

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Mystery figure questions local

clerks in sheriff’s investigation

Taylor Owens and Rebecca Pierce

Staff Writers

Eight months after the 2020 presidential

election, Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf is

not saying whether his office has found any

evidence of voter fraud.

But he is continuing the investigation,

Leaf said.

The sheriff would not comment as to

when or why that probe began, other than to

say they received a complaint.

Barry County Prosecutor Julie Nakfoor

Pratt said she has not received any informa-

tion from the sheriff relating to this investi-

gation.

Her office typically doesn’t receive infor-

mation about an investigation until it’s com-

plete, Pratt noted. “But if it’s an investiga-

tion of this magnitude, normally we would

be involved.”

In this case, however, she said she heard

about it from the public.

“I was concerned because I heard there

was somebody doing the investigation

alongside [the deputy] who is not a police

officer,” Pratt said.

Several local officials, including Pratt,

confirmed that the sheriff’s office is working

with a man named Michael Lynch to inves-

tigate the case – which is prompting a num-

ber of concerns ranging from accountability

to credibility to cost.

“Apparently, he holds himself up as some

kind of forensic auditor – and those are very

expensive,” Pratt said. “So, I don’t know

what he was auditing, or if he was in his

capacity as an auditor. But, if he was, the

question that popped into my mind was,

‘Well, who’s paying him?’ Is he doing this

for free?’

“My understanding is that he was doing a

tremendous amount of questioning. So, I’d

like to know, if this is a law enforcement

investigation, who is he?”

The sheriff himself is unclear regarding

Lynch.

“I don’t know too much about him,” Leaf

said, adding that he does not know who is

paying Lynch or if he has an official title or

special training.

Lynch is not an attorney, Leaf added, but

he is helping the department with election

issues because the sheriff’s officers are not

trained in how to investigate election fraud.

“This is pretty new stuff for us,” the sher-

iff said, noting that his office frequently goes

to outside parties for help.

Leaf said he’s not sure how Lynch fits into

the investigation and would have to ask the

deputy involved to find out.

The Hastings Banner was unable to reach

Lynch for comment.

For more of this story, see Thursday’s

Banner.

Continued next page