Rep. Daire Rendon, R-Lake City.
House Democratic lawmakers are calling for Rep. Daire Rendon to be censured after she was named as part of a Department of Attorney General request for a special prosecutor.
Rendon, R-Lake City, is one of nine individuals named within the request who allegedly worked together to steal and illegally analyze voting machines in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
RELATED: What to know about probe into alleged election machine tampering by Michigan AG candidate, others
House Minority Leader Donna Lasinski, D-Scio Township, said in a statement last week that Rendon misused her office and position of power when “badgering local election officials to comply with a phony investigation spurred by Donald Trump’s Big Lie conspiracies.”
“It’s beyond the pale, it’s criminal, and it is disgracefully below the standard of public service the people of Michigan should expect from their representatives,” Lasinski said. “This offends the very founding ideal we share as Americans — this was an assault on our democracy. She played a crucial role in a coordinated conspiracy to gain illegal access to ballot tabulators and other election equipment to undermine our free and fair elections.”
The call for censure, which comes by way of a House resolution, accuses Rendon of having “disrespected the peaceful democratic transition of power in the weeks following the November 2020 election” long before her involvement in the events outlined in the special prosecutor request.
Rendon was one of the handful of individuals, including Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, who attempted to gain access to the Michigan Capitol while Democratic electors attempted to cast the state’s 16 electoral votes for President Joe Biden in December 2020. She was also named alongside several Michigan lawmakers as part of the failed Texas v. Pennsylvania lawsuit which sought to overturn the election results in several states, including Michigan.
The Department of Attorney General named Rendon, along with Republican Attorney General candidate Matt DePerno and seven others, in a request for a special prosecutor which was made public earlier this month.
Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office had been investigating allegations of a group which had stolen and illegally analyzed voting machines last year, however given DePerno’s alleged involvement in the matter – given that he is her opponent at the ballot box this November – the request for special prosecutor was needed in order for any forward momentum on the investigation to remain impartial.
RELATED: Michigan House Rep. Daire Rendon will keep committee roles amid voting machine probe
The request alleges that DePerno, Rendon and lawyer Stefanie Lambert Juntilla “orchestrated a coordinated plan” in early 2021 to access vote tabulators, components and technology in Roscommon, Missaukee and Barry counties.
The five tabulators they got “were taken to hotels and/or Airbnb’s in Oakland County,” where four others – Jeff Lenberg, Ben Cotton, James Penrose and Douglas Logan – “broke into the tabulators and performed ‘tests’ on the equipment.”
Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit, said he believes censuring Rendon was “absolutely appropriate” given the circumstances.
“Representative Rendon betrayed her oath of office, abandoned her duty to uphold the constitution, broke Michigan Election Law, and violated the public trust in this desperate and corrupt scheme to keep the former president in power against the will of the people,” he said. “Representative Rendon allegedly told at least one county clerk ‘representatives’ were performing an investigation in order to get her hands on this machinery, and that’s a lie against this legislature that can’t be allowed to stand.”
Rendon was not immediately available for comment in time for publication.
More from MLive
Experience, history: How Tudor Dixon’s pick for lieutenant governor could make or break her campaign
FBI pushed ‘hapless’ client into Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot, attorney says
Michigan counties profited off foreclosed homes. Now they may owe millions.
Betsy DeVos says 2019 Biden encounter would fit admin’s proposed Title IX sexual harassment definition
The GOP splintered in 2 Michigan counties. Will infighting impact the state convention?
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022).
Cookie Settings
© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us).
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.
Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.
Ad Choices