Matt DePerno is a Kalamazoo tax attorney who became a national figure by challenging Michigan’s 2020 presidential results in Antrim County, lost the 2022 race for Michigan Attorney General to Dana Nessel, and now faces four unresolved felony counts tied to an alleged scheme to seize and tamper with voting machines. He also faces a surviving professional misconduct charge before the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board, and his second campaign for attorney general was passed over by Republican delegates at the party’s March 2026 endorsement convention.
From Tax Lawyer to Election Litigator
DePerno earned his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University School of Law.1DePerno Law. Matthew S. DePerno Attorney at Law His Kalamazoo practice centered on tax controversy, tax assessment litigation, and business law, and he had no significant public profile in politics or election law before 2020.
That changed with a clerical error. In November 2020, Antrim County, a reliably Republican area in northern Michigan, briefly posted unofficial results showing Joe Biden ahead of Donald Trump. A local clerk’s programming mistake caused the glitch, and a full hand recount confirmed Trump had won the county.2Bridge Michigan. Michigan Supreme Court Ends Suit Over 2020 Election Results in Antrim County DePerno still sued, demanding a “full forensic audit” of all voting equipment and absentee ballot signatures.
A circuit court judge allowed DePerno’s team to examine voting equipment at the Antrim County Clerk’s office on December 6, 2020. The resulting report claimed Dominion Voting Systems tabulators were “intentionally and purposefully designed” to create “systemic fraud.”2Bridge Michigan. Michigan Supreme Court Ends Suit Over 2020 Election Results in Antrim County An independent investigation by University of Michigan computer scientist J. Alex Halderman, conducted at the request of the Michigan Secretary of State and Attorney General, found “no credible evidence” the errors were deliberate and attributed them to human mistakes tied to last-minute ballot design changes.3USENIX. Security Analysis of the Antrim County, Michigan November 2020 Election Incident Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson called the lawsuit and related claims “misguided, and meritless attempts to undermine the integrity of elections.”
Every level of the Michigan court system rejected the case. The 13th Circuit Court dismissed it in May 2021. The Michigan Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the dismissal in April 2022, ruling that DePerno had failed to support his allegations and that state law does not allow private citizens to conduct independent audits.4Michigan Advance. Appeals Court Throws Out DePerno Lawsuit Failing to Prove 2020 Election Fraud The Michigan Supreme Court rejected his final appeal on December 9, 2022. Justice David Viviano wrote that “it surely cannot be that each qualified elector can undertake his or her own separate audit of an election.”2Bridge Michigan. Michigan Supreme Court Ends Suit Over 2020 Election Results in Antrim County
The Felony Voting Machine Case
While the Antrim County lawsuit worked through the courts, a separate investigation was building. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office began looking into allegations that DePerno and others had persuaded local clerks to surrender voting tabulators, then broke into the machines and performed unauthorized tests. Because DePerno was Nessel’s likely 2022 opponent, she recused her office and asked the Michigan Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council to appoint a special prosecutor.5CBS News. Dana Nessel, Michigan Attorney General, Special Prosecutor Probe Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson took on the case in September 2022.6WKAR. Special Prosecutor Charges Michigan Politicians in 2020 Election Case
A grand jury convened in March 2023, and on August 1, 2023, DePerno was arraigned in Oakland County on four felony counts: undue possession of a voting machine, which carries up to five years in prison; willful damage to a voting machine; conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine; and conspiracy to commit unauthorized access to a computer system. Prosecutors allege he orchestrated a plan to take five tabulators from Roscommon, Missaukee, and Barry counties to hotel rooms in Oakland County, where the machines were opened and tested with fake ballots.7PBS NewsHour. Michigan Prosecutors Charge Trump Allies With Felonies Involving Voting Machine Tampering DePerno pleaded not guilty and was released on bond. His attorney said he “categorically denies any wrongdoing” and called the charges “unfounded and lack merit.”8Axios. Trump Allies Michigan Matthew DePerno Daire Rendon Charged
Two others were charged alongside him. Former Republican state Representative Daire Rendon faces conspiracy and false pretenses counts.9ABC News. Trump Allies Charged With Felonies Involving Voting Machines in Michigan Attorney Stefanie Lambert Junttila faces the same four felonies as DePerno.10Votebeat. DePerno, Rendon, Lambert Charges Voting Machine Breaches
Where the Case Stands
The three defendants have taken different paths. Lambert Junttila is heading directly to trial in Oakland County Circuit Court, with her trial date most recently rescheduled to March 2, 2026.11Michigan Advance. Lambert Trial in Michigan Tabulator Case Rescheduled for 2026 DePerno and Rendon were sent back by Oakland County Circuit Judge Jeffery S. Matis to Royal Oak’s 44th District Court for preliminary examinations to determine whether sufficient evidence exists for trial.12Michigan Advance. Michigan Election Tampering Case Stalls as DePerno Seeks to Block Texts
Those preliminary exams have repeatedly stalled. Proceedings that began in October 2025 bogged down over whether text messages between DePerno and cybersecurity specialists were privileged attorney work product.12Michigan Advance. Michigan Election Tampering Case Stalls as DePerno Seeks to Block Texts In November 2025, Judge Derek Meinecke ruled that Nessel and her staff did not have to testify at the preliminary exam, at least for the time being, and quashed a subpoena for a voting equipment company executive.13MIRS News. Judge Says AG Staff Doesn’t Have to Testify Yet at DePerno Hearing In January 2026, the judge paused proceedings again to wait for a ruling from Judge Matis on a similar witness-admissibility question in the Lambert Junttila case.14Michigan Advance. Delays in DePerno Voting Machine Case Continue as Judge Awaits Ruling From Another Court On March 23, 2026, Judge Meinecke applied a “crime-fraud exemption” to partially deny a defense privilege motion over the testimony of two witnesses but stopped short of a final ruling, saying he needed to review grand jury testimony first.15Michigan Advance. Judge Leaves Privilege Question Open on Key Testimony in DePerno Case No bindover to circuit court for trial has occurred.
DePerno’s Political-Vendetta Claim
DePerno has consistently argued the prosecution is political. On March 4, 2026, he testified before the Michigan House Oversight Subcommittee on Weaponization of State Government, calling the case a “vendetta” and alleging that Nessel’s office kept improper influence over the investigation after Hilson’s appointment. Attorney General spokesperson Kimberly Bush rejected the claim, saying the office has had “no influence, special insights, or control over this prosecution” since the special prosecutor took over.16Michigan Advance. DePerno Alleges Conflict of Interest by AGs Office in Investigating His 2020 Election Denial Role
Attorney Discipline Proceeding
DePerno also faces professional misconduct charges, filed by the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission before the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board. These do not stem from the voting machine case. They arise from his earlier representation of former state Representative Todd Courser in litigation against The Detroit News over a 2015 sex scandal involving Courser and fellow legislator Cindy Gamrat.17The Detroit News. Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, Former AG Candidate Matt DePerno Misconduct The 2023 complaint alleged three counts: filing a frivolous lawsuit, engaging in deceitful conduct, and knowingly making false statements.18Detroit Free Press. Attorney Discipline Board Dismisses Two Misconduct Counts Against Matthew DePerno
On May 11, 2026, a Kalamazoo County panel of the Discipline Board granted a directed verdict dismissing two of the three counts. The surviving count concerns a federal action DePerno filed, and he was scheduled to present evidence on that charge at a hearing on May 18, 2026.18Detroit Free Press. Attorney Discipline Board Dismisses Two Misconduct Counts Against Matthew DePerno Potential outcomes range from reprimand to disbarment.
The 2022 Loss and the 2026 Attempt
DePerno’s criminal and disciplinary troubles sit alongside two attempts at Michigan Attorney General. In 2022, Trump’s endorsement helped him win the Republican nomination at the party’s April convention at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, where he defeated former House Speaker Tom Leonard in a runoff with 54% of the delegate vote.19The Detroit News. Michigan GOP Convention in Grand Rapids He then lost the general election to Nessel by nearly ten percentage points.20Michigan Advance. DePerno Forms Committee to Run for Attorney General Again
On August 13, 2025, he filed campaign finance paperwork to run again.21Votebeat. Matt DePerno Attorney General Election Misinformation Felony The campaign gained little traction with party delegates. At the Republican endorsement convention in Novi on March 28, 2026, delegates backed Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd with 63% of the vote in a two-way race against attorney Kevin Kijewski. DePerno was not among the candidates on the ballot.22Lansing State Journal. Doug Lloyd Picked as Michigan Republican Attorney General Candidate Delegates and party leadership described Lloyd’s selection as a deliberate turn toward electable candidates, contrasting it with 2022, when nominees like DePerno and secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo lost by wide margins.23Michigan Advance. Doug Lloyd, Anthony Forlini Endorsed by Michigan GOP for 2026 Attorney General, Secretary of State