Until late last fall, few people outside of Michigan had heard of Matthew DePerno. The Michigan lawyer remains a secondary figure in the national conversation, but in the delusional swamp of fever inhabited by people who believe completely debunked lies about widespread voter fraud and demand the reinstatement of former President Donald Trump, the name DePerno is pronounced with reverence.

DePerno is the lawyer behind one of the first and longest trials to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. In May, a court ruled against his request for a “forensic audit”. On June 25, the court dismissed his request for reconsideration of the case.

Although he disputes the outcome in just one rural Michigan county – a county in which Trump won hands down – and continues to lose in court, in some circles DePerno is held in high regard. His status as an electoral crusader is on par with that of equally chimerical lawyers Sidney Powell, L. Lin Wood, Jenna Ellis and Rudy Giuliani. Like the others, he showed himself ready to Carry on repeat baseless allegations of widespread fraud, delighting electoral conspiracy theorists. And he capitalizes on it.

DePerno declined to tell the Daily Dot if he intends to appeal the loss in court that was recently served on him. But his money-making machine is still very much alive.

A Fundraising linked to DePerno website says he hopes to raise $ 1 million for his “campaign fraud fund.” People were more than happy to give to the cause. At the beginning of July, he is approaching $ 400,000 just for this fundraiser. It raises funds through other means as well, such as events. The fundraiser notes that he is also happy to take a check.

The Daily Dot sent DePerno a detailed list of questions about the funds he is raising, how he plans to use them, and if he will share them with his client. We also asked him if he receives money from interest groups, as some believe; whether he intends to appeal the County Antrim case; who he thinks is behind the plot he is touting and why they would tip the election in favor of Biden; why he refuses to accept conclusions and statements, including from Republicans, that contradict his claims of electoral fraud; and whether Dominion Voting Systems threatened to sue him for libel. DePerno declined to respond.

“Your email is extremely biased and filled with inaccurate information,” he wrote. “I don’t think you really wanted to write an article when the majority of your premises are so clearly wrong that it is obvious that you haven’t done much to [no] research.”

Suggested sources for statements of fact in questions – of Detroit News, Business intern, the Detroit Free Press, a Michigan State Department report and an election affidavit he allegedly wrote – DePerno insisted they were all “left.” He declined to provide links to sources that back up his claims.

Until the election made him famous (or infamous, according to opinion), DePerno was best known for representing a Michigan lawmaker involved in one of the biggest sex scandals in state history, both in a perjury case and in an unsuccessful libel suit against the Detroit News, which broke history. The libel case ended in a judgment of $ 80,000 for penalties against DePerno and his client. In May, the paper accepted settle for $ 20,000.

Last November, DePerno was thrown into the national spotlight when he filed a lawsuit against County Antrim on behalf of William Bailey.

The case has become the launching pad for allegations of widespread electoral fraud that persist to this day, despite multiple audits, reports and expert analysis debunking them.

The cause of action began with human error which resulted in preliminary results showing President Joe Biden inexplicably winning the heavily Republican county. The results were reported and the problem was identified and promptly corrected. Traverse City Record Eagle reported that when adding a late-filed candidate in a polling constituency in October, County Antrim Clerk Sheryl Guy didn’t realize she needed to update the software for all 16 constituencies, resulting in incorrect vote compilation for Biden. The error was corrected a few hours after the polling stations closed; updated results showed Trump easily won the county, as expected.

It could have been the end of the story. But DePerno filed a complaint on Bailey’s behalf; Meanwhile, Trump and his cronies scoured the country for evidence of voter fraud. Within days, they had set their sights on Michigan. Much to the surprise of Guy, the Republican Clerk for County Antrim, they swore to prove that the Dominion Voting Systems machines in the county were programmed to reverse the votes in favor of Biden.

This confluence of events has placed DePerno in the midst of efforts to overturn the election in favor of Trump.

It made him a right-wing star.

Gateway Pundit repeats DePerno’s allegations breathlessly. His demands go around Telegram, which has become a refuge for the far right. QAnon’s conspiracy theorists have circulated an affidavit he allegedly wrote that calls for another election audit. His company website shows him alongside Mike Lindell, appearing on the podcast of Tracy “Beanz” Diaz, an early promoter of QAnon, and as a guest on Hannity Radio. Even his tweets can provoke fervor.

It doesn’t seem important that his trial continues get dope in court, a manual count confirmed County Antrim’s results, and that it has not produced credible evidence of electoral fraud. Neither does it matter that the report he touts, which showed an incredible 68% error rate in County Dominion machines, was exhaustively refuted in a 54-page analysis published by the Michigan State Department. Analysis indicates that DePerno’s report “contains an extraordinary number of false, inaccurate or unsubstantiated statements.”

It does not hamper his approach either that his allegations are constantly being refuted. (He insists he’s right.) On June 23, the Republican-led Michigan Senate Oversight Committee released a report in which he spent the better part of three pages meticulously processing and gutting his claims.

“The Committee has closely followed Mr. DePerno’s efforts and can confidently conclude that they are patently false and based on misleading information and illogical conclusions,” the report said.

At the end of this section, the committee suggests that repercussions might be justified.

“The committee recommends that the Attorney General consider investigating those who have used misleading and false information about County Antrim to raise money or advertise for their own purposes. The Committee considers that those who promote County Antrim as the main evidence of a national plot to steal the elections place all other statements and actions they make in a position of zero credibility.

Unlike other attorneys involved in election lawsuits, the Michigan attorney general’s office has not filed a grievance against DePerno. A spokesperson suggested he was considering it, however.

“Right now, we are reviewing the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee report and its recommendation to get involved. It would be inappropriate to comment until this review process is complete, ”the office told The Daily Dot via email.

DePerno remains defiant. “With this report, the Michigan Senate is attempting to cover up evidence of voter fraud in the November 2020 general election,” he said in a statement. Press release the day after the committee released its lashing report. He went on to accuse the State Senate of attempting to criminalize political speech. He has not been charged with a felony, and the report does not recommend him either.

Election attorney Mark Brewer, former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, told the Daily Dot that the court should not have let DePerno’s trial drag on for so long, and that it was fueling electoral plots and lies. “It should have been dismissed from the start, like all of Michigan’s other frivolous lawsuits,” Brewer said.

Brewer believes the case was among the factors that led to the Capitol Riot. “It contributed to the atmosphere that made it possible. There’s no question about it, ”Brewer said.

It doesn’t matter who says DePerno is wrong, be it experts, journalists, other Republicans or even Trump’s former election officials. For those who firmly believe that the 2020 election was rigged, DePerno’s word is worth gold. From June 28 to 30, her online fundraiser raised an additional $ 5,000.

Neither DePerno nor his supporters are giving up. Last Wednesday DePerno tweeted about the error in the tabulation of the New York municipal election results. “Is this the first time in history that Democrats have left ‘ballots’ in the count?” He asked.

His detractors are chained in the comments. But his fans ate him. “Why does any election require 135,000 test ballots?” wreaks havoc [sic] of fraud “, commented a.