It has been five years since the disastrous 2020 election, and despite President Trump’s return to power, Michigan Republicans are still fighting to expose the full extent of Biden’s stolen victory. The Michigan Legislature remains deeply divided, with Republicans holding a 58-52 majority in the House, while Democrats control the Senate by a razor-thin 19-18 margin, following the resignation of Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Midland).
Far-left Governor Gretchen Whitmer has so far refused to call a special election to fill the seat, concerned that her party will lose a special election and thereby lose Democrat control of the State Senate, leaving the Senate with 37 active members and potential legislative gridlock on major issues—including election integrity.
But Republicans in control of the Michigan House have been committed to investigating election integrity and past examples of voter fraud.
The fight over 2020 fraud is heating up again as Michigan House Speaker Pro Tempore Rachelle Smit (R) took the battle directly to the House Oversight Committee today, demanding a rare legislative subpoena against Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson—who oversaw Michigan’s deeply compromised 2020 election.
Benson announced in January that she’s running for Michigan’s Governor in the 2026 election.
Smit, testifying before the House Oversight Committee led by Chair Jay DeBoyer, who is a former County Clerk himself, she outlined the ways in which her office had been stonewalled and sandbagged by the Democrat Secretary of State.
Testy exchanges and recriminations during the hearing reflect the atmosphere in Lansing, where Democrats lost unified control of both chambers of the legislature and the Governor’s office. Democrats suggested that, instead of a subpoena, the department simply be allowed to come testify on their own in 4-6 weeks.
Republicans said no more delays.
Democrats, in the minority, then suggested that instead of a subpoena, the department simply be given more time to comply.
Rep. Dylan Wegela (D), then asked rhetorically if the Republicans honestly and genuinely thought that any member of the legislature could simply ask for documents from the Executive branch and be given them. Rep. Wegela’s comment was dismissive in tone, and meant to suggest that legislators should not expect the Executive to comply with its document requests.
All Republicans loudly answered Rep. Wegela saying that yes, the Executive branch should comply with reasonable Legislative document requests.
Smit, herself a former clerk, had previously pledged to her voters to thoroughly investigate and document voter fraud.
In the end, the Committee decided to send a strongly-worded demand letter to the Department with a deadline of March 22, 2025 to comply. This is instead of issuing a formal subpoena, which has more enforcement power if it is defied.
The new Republican majority has touted its legislative power to issue subpoenas to the far-left Democrats in power with the Michigan Governor. This is the first major test of that legislative subpoena power.
Oversight Chair Jay DeBoyer has told colleagues that if the Department refuses to honor the demand letter, that the subpoena will follow.
Benson’s Bureau of Elections has refused to turn over key records related to election training materials, clerks’ guidance memos, and internal instructions on election procedures, stonewalling Republican lawmakers with bureaucratic red tape. Instead of complying with legislative oversight, Benson’s office tried to force the Michigan House to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request—as if they were mere members of the public.
Even worse, the department then demanded two months, 140 manhours, and a staggering $8,700 fee to produce public records that should have been readily available. These kind of tactics, delays and charging high fees, are typical of government bodies that are trying to hide documents and hide evidence of their misdeeds.
Caught in a Lie—Benson’s Office Sandbags Election Investigation
Smit initially requested 12 categories of documents, including:
- A full index of election training materials provided to clerks.
- All regulatory and statutory guidance memos sent by Benson and her predecessor dating back to 2016.
- A website map of all public-facing election-related sites.
- Contact information for all clerks across Michigan.
In response, Benson’s office released selective information, including an index of materials, Brater’s guidance memos to clerks, and links to training materials—but refused to grant login access to the e-learning platform used to train clerks, claiming it was “sensitive.”
When Smit pushed for a privilege log to document what was being withheld and why, the department dodged the request, falsely claiming they “did not understand” what was being asked. This blatant stonewalling raises serious questions: What is Benson hiding? What exactly are election clerks being told about election law?
Election Officials Caught Deleting Crucial 2020 Data
We already know from whistleblowers that former Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater sent memos to Michigan clerks instructing them to destroy poll book data. We know he also advised clerks not to respond to FOIA requests for Qualified Voter File (QVF) data.
In the wake of the contested and compromised 2020 election, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson engaged in an ongoing cover-up and suppression of public documents.
Now, Michigan Republicans want to officially verify whether these orders were part of the formal training and regulatory guidance provided to election officials. Smit confirmed that a local clerk possesses destruction memos related to poll book data and will be handing them over in the next two days.
The resistance from Benson’s office suggests there is far more damning information buried within the e-learning system—so much so that they are willing to lie, obstruct, and delay for months rather than let the truth come out.
Secret Facebook Group Exposed by Gateway Pundit Showed Clerks Knew About Fraud
This isn’t the first time Michigan’s election officials have been caught hiding the truth about election law violations behind private digital groups. It was exposed by the Gateway Pundit that the state’s election clerks were operating a secret Facebook group where they discussed witnessing fraud during the 2020 election. Describing boxes of suspicious ballots from the notorious GBI Strategies group, clerks called them “care packages.”
Despite this track record of documented voter fraud, Benson’s office continues to deny access to election training manuals, pretending they are protecting “sensitive” information.
The Michigan House is investigating whether secret election guidance to clerks allowed, enabled, and facilitated the 2020 election fraud.
Follow the Evidence—Warner Norcross Law Firm Files Hold Key to 2020 Fraud
Michigan’s former law firm for legislative election challenges, Warner Norcross, still possesses evidence clusters of systemic voter fraud from 2020. Yet, Democrats are doing everything they can to keep these records buried.
With the 2026 elections looming, Michigan Republicans are escalating their fight to force full disclosure of election records and ensure this never happens again. But with Benson, Nessel, and Whitmer still working to cover their tracks, the question remains:
What are they hiding? And how much longer will they be allowed to get away with systemic voter fraud in the 2020 election?
Just yesterday the Gateway Pundit exclusively reported additional, credible, suspicions that similar absentee ballot fraud was going on in Michigan’s notorious Muskegon County in the recent 2024 election as well.