AG will probe people making money off false election claims

Michigan’s attorney general has opened an investigation after a Republican-led state legislative panel said people are making baseless allegations about 2020 presidential election results in a northern Michigan county to raise money or publicity for their own ends.

Lynsey Mukomel, spokeswoman for Democrat Dana Nessel, said Thursday that the department accepted the request from GOP state Sen. Ed McBroom, of Vulcan, and the Senate Oversight Committee he chairs. State police are assisting.

Election night results in rural Antrim County, which has roughly 23,000 residents, initially erroneously showed a local victory for Joe Biden over then-President Donald Trump. But it was attributed to human errors, not any problems with machines, and corrected. A hand recount validated the results as accurate.

In a report that also determined there was no widespread or systemic fraud despite Trump’s claims, the committee said “those promoting Antrim County as the prime evidence of a nationwide conspiracy to steal the election place all other statements and actions they make in a position of zero credibility.”