What sworn testimony reveals about unlawful orders, erased elections, and a clerk punished for doing her duty.

A Courtroom Revelation

In a Hillsdale County courtroom this August, what was supposed to be a routine prosecution turned into a stunning admission of government misconduct, malfeasance and tyranny.

On trial was Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott, charged with felonies in May 2024 by Attorney General Dana Nessel. Prosecutors accused her of illegally granting access to election equipment and refusing lawful orders.

But under cross-examination on August 11–12, 2025, two of Michigan’s election officials — Jonathan Brater, Director of the Michigan Bureau of Elections, and Abraham Dane, now Hillsdale County Clerk — admitted under oath that they themselves had acted outside the law.

What followed was a revelation: the 2020 election was deleted from Michigan’s history not by rogue clerks, but by state and county officials who knew they lacked authority.

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The Five Points of Betrayal

1. The Deletion Order With No Legal Basis

Brater conceded his directive to erase 2020 election data from voting machine V-drives was “administrative policy”, not law2025.08.11 P v. Scott Lambert T….
Yet clerks statewide were ordered to comply, even though Michigan law — MCL 168.811 — requires preservation of all election records for at least 22 months.

“They also are required to follow the Michigan Election Law,” Brater testified — even as his own orders violated it2025.08.11 P v. Scott Lambert T….

2. Erasing the 2020 Election

Dane testified that the V-drives contained “cast vote records — a record of each ballot and the votes that were marked”2025.08.12 P. v. Scott Lambert ….
By ordering those drives wiped, the Bureau of Elections effectively erased the 2020 election across every township in Michigan.

3. Seizing Machines Without Authority

Dane admitted he had “no lawful authority” to seize Adams Township’s tabulator and ballots2025.08.12 P. v. Scott Lambert …. Yet he did it anyway. Worse, he pressured other clerks not to loan equipment to Adams, directly obstructing a lawful 2021 school millage election.

4. Ten Dollar Flash Drives

When asked why records weren’t preserved, Dane blamed cost: about ten dollars per flash drive.
The defense pounced: “So for ten dollars, you broke election law?” The courtroom fell silent as the absurdity of the excuse was laid bare.

5. Excessive Force Against a Local Clerk

These were not errors. They were deliberate acts. Brater issued unlawful orders. Dane enforced them with intimidation and seizure. What officials called “election security” was in reality an abuse of authority, enforced through fear.

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6. The Sheriff Who Looked Away

Perhaps most damning was the role of Hillsdale’s Sheriff. When the Township Supervisor sought his protection to secure the township election records, he refused.

Under MCL 51.68, the sheriff is sworn to “preserve the peace… and preserve to all persons their rights.” That includes defending township clerks and safeguarding election materials from unlawful seizure.

But instead of standing with the law, the sheriff stood aside. His inaction raises a chilling question: did the Sheriff and the Clerk conspire?

At best, this was willful neglect of duty. At worst, it was complicity in an unlawful act that erased part of Michigan’s electoral history.

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The Real Crime

Scott’s “crime” was following her constitutional duty to preserve election records. For that, she has endured:

• Felony charges
• Years of harassment
• Reputational destruction
• Financial and emotional toll

Meanwhile, the men who admitted under oath to violating the law walk free, their authority intact.

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Timeline of Events

• November 2020: Adams Township conducts its election using Hart InterCivic tabulators.
• 2021: Bureau of Elections orders clerks to delete 2020 election data from V-drives.
• September 2021: Scott resists, citing record retention laws.
• November 2021: Adams Township school millage election sabotaged after Dane blocks use of spare tabulator.
• May 2024: AG Nessel charges Scott and her attorney Stefanie Lambert with multiple felonies.
• August 11–12, 2025: Brater and Dane testify under oath, admitting their actions were not grounded in law.

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A Statewide Tyranny

Hillsdale is not an isolated case. The same directives were carried out in every township, in every county across Michigan.

• The Attorney General prosecuted clerks who resisted.
• The Governor sanctioned the Bureau’s directives.
• The Legislature — both Democrats and Republicans — sat by in silence.

This was not a partisan act. It was bipartisan tyranny. Both parties weaponized government power to protect unlawful orders and crush dissent.

The message to township clerks was clear: obey illegal directives, or face ruin.

Quotes + Crimes: What They Admitted Under Oath

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Jonathan Brater — Director, Michigan Bureau of Elections

The Quote

“Of course [clerks] are required to follow the lawful instructions given by the Secretary of State and the Bureau of Elections, and of course they’re required to follow the Michigan Election Law.”2025.08.11 P v. Scott Lambert T…

The Crime
Brater admitted his deletion directive was “administrative policy, not statute.” By ordering clerks to erase 2020 election records without legal authority, he violated MCL 168.811, which requires record preservation. This unlawfully destroyed federal election records.

How Olsen Exposed It
Trump attorney Kurt Olsen pressed Brater on whether his orders had statutory backing. Cornered, Brater conceded they didn’t — a devastating admission that his statewide deletion orders were illegal.

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Abraham Dane — Hillsdale County Clerk (then Deputy Clerk)

The Quote

“The V-drives contain cast vote records — a record of each ballot and the votes that were marked.”2025.08.12 P. v. Scott Lambert …

The Crime
Dane confirmed V-drives held official ballot records. Erasing them violated both state and federal election record-retention laws.

How Olsen Exposed It
By getting Dane to define exactly what was on the drives, Olsen made clear that what was deleted were not “spare files,” but the ballots themselves.

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The Quote

“I had no lawful authority to seize Adams Township’s tabulator or ballots.”2025.08.12 P. v. Scott Lambert …

The Crime
Despite admitting he had no authority, Dane used his county position to seize township election property. This amounted to unlawful seizure and abuse of office.

How Olsen Exposed It
Olsen forced Dane to answer directly: Did you have lawful authority? Dane’s one-word answer — “No” — laid bare the illegality.

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The Quote

“Preserving the data would have required purchasing flash drives — at roughly ten dollars each.”2025.08.12 P. v. Scott Lambert …

The Crime
Dane admitted the destruction of election records came down to avoiding a trivial cost. Breaking retention law over ten dollars underscored negligence and willful disregard for statute.

How Olsen Exposed It
Olsen cut through the excuse with a single line: “So for ten dollars, you broke election law?” The absurdity was undeniable.

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The Quote

“We entered the clerk’s office with the township treasurer and one of the trustees to acquire the voting equipment, ballots, and applications.”2025.08.12 P. v. Scott Lambert …

The Crime
Dane admitted to orchestrating a forced entry into Adams Township offices to seize election materials — without lawful authority. This wasn’t routine procedure; it was an illegal raid on a local clerk’s office.

How Olsen Exposed It
By introducing Dane’s own emails into evidence, Olsen showed the act was deliberate and premeditated, not accidental or authorized.

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What’s at Stake

If election records can be erased by “policy memo,” then statutes mean nothing. If sheriffs refuse to defend clerks, then no local official is safe. If legislators from both parties stand by, then the people are left defenseless against their own government.

The real trial is not of Stephanie Scott. It is of Michigan’s election system itself.

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A Wake-Up Call

Michigan’s elections are neither safe, nor secure, nor honest when:

• Records are erased outside the law,
• Machines are seized without authority,
• Clerks are criminally charged for doing their duty, and
• Sheriffs abandon their oaths.

This was not the failure of one office or one party. It was the coordinated betrayal of an entire system — Democrats and Republicans alike.

The story of Adams Township is the story of Michigan. A government that deletes history, punishes its guardians, and calls it “security” has already crossed into tyranny.

The question now is not whether Stephanie Scott will be convicted. It is whether Michigan citizens will awaken to the truth: that the real lawbreakers are not township clerks, but the state officials who used their offices to destroy both law and liberty and anyone that stood in their way.

in Liberty,
Vice Chair: Lance Lashaway