Dominion tells Mellissa Carone to stop spreading misinformation about the fraudulent elections
BY DAVE BOUCHER
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:
The company that designed election equipment used in Detroit, Antrim County and many other jurisdictions across the country wants a former contract employee and others with ties to Michigan to stop spreading election misinformation.
Last week, attorneys representing Dominion Voting Systems sent cease-and-desist letters to a litany of people tied to the campaign of President Donald Trump, including several with ties to Michigan:
- Mellissa Carone, a former contract employee who worked for Dominion in Detroit. She has made a series of debunked and refuted fraud allegations involving Dominion and Detroit.
- Russell James Ramsland Jr., a self-proclaimed cybersecurity analyst who has worked with the Trump campaign to create several deeply flawed analyses about the election in Michigan and other states.
- Matthew DePerno, an attorney representing a man who sued Antrim County over a marijuana-related election issue. Through the lawsuit, a judge allowed a team affiliated with Ramsland to review Dominion machines used in Antrim County.
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The legal requests are part of a broader strategy aimed at combating misinformation spread by Trump allies that the voting systems company played a role in a conspiracy to steal the election from Trump.
All three letters indicate litigation is "imminent," but that's no guarantee anyone will be sued. Dominion asks everyone to hold on to a wide array of documents and evidence of communications with, among others, members of President Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the media. The broad requests state they need to preserve this information, even if it wasn't published.
"Without a shred of corroborating evidence, you have claimed that you witnessed several different versions of voter fraud — ranging from one story involving a van, to other accusations that votes were counted multiple times. You published these statements even though you knew all along that your attacks on Dominion have no basis in reality," reads the letter to Carone, from attorneys Thomas A. Clare and Megan L. Meier of Clark Locke LLP.
The allegations from Carone, Ramsland and others are far-fetched and have been repeatedly debunked. President-elect Joe Biden received 154,000 more votes in Michigan than Trump, and more than enough Electoral College votes to earn the presidency.
Sidney Powell, an attorney favored by Trump even after she was disavowed by his campaign, has alleged in lawsuits that Dominion is tied to confederates of late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and is a key part of the international scheme to steal the election.
Dominion CEO John Poulos recently testified under oath at a Michigan Senate hearing, where he rebutted claims made by Powell and others.
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Carone, who worked on a one-day contract for Dominion in Detroit at the TCF Center, gained international attention after she joined Trump campaign attorney Rudy Giuliani at a Michigan legislative hearing in November. That includes a skit on Saturday Night Live and some national television interviews.
During the hearing, Carone alleged as many as 100,000 absentee ballots were counted twice and seemed to imply Dominion was involved in some sort of conspiracy. Her accusations have repeatedly been refuted by courts, elections experts and by lawmakers.
Carone did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls from the Free Press Monday seeking comment. She told the Detroit News she is not concerned about the letter and stated Dominion is "scared of me."
In numerous reports offered by Ramsland as purported proof of fraud, he and his associates have made basic and blatant errors. In one report, he made wildly inaccurate claims about voter turnout in several Michigan precincts. In another, he confused voting precincts in Minnesota with Michigan towns.
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He also issued a report wrongly indicating there was an "error rate" of more than 68% with the Dominion machines used to count ballots in Antrim County. A hand recount of every ballot cast in Antrim County led to only 12 additional votes for Trump.
"You issued a report last month falsely claiming that Dominion machines are 'intentionally and purposefully designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud and influence election results.' This is patently false," the letter to Ramsland states.
Ramsland did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
DePerno and several other attorneys around the country also received a letter from Dominion, accusing them of being "architects and drivers of the ongoing misinformation campaign against Dominion." DePerno represents William Bailey, an Antrim County man who sued over the vote count in a local marijuana proposal.
Through the lawsuit, DePerno successfully argued a team should be allowed to inspect the Dominion voting machines used in the county. DePerno has said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is lying about the situation in Antrim County and the results of the review of the Dominion machines was enough to warrant overturning all election results in the state.
DePerno did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Michigan's 16 delegates to the Electoral College already cast their ballots for Biden. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sent the certified slate to Congress. Biden will be sworn in on Jan. 20.