Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf
Republican Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf is scaring some folks who believe in democracy and transparency in government. Not long ago it was reported that Leaf had plotted to seize voting machines after the November election.
Now, Bridge Magazine reports that the sheriff is investigating the 2020 election and using a private investigator to question clerks. The publication describes an "unorthodox arrangement that baffles local officials in a region former President Donald Trump dominated last fall."
The investigator is identified as Michael Lynch, a former security official for DTE Energy in Detroit who's a board member at Compas Detroit, a youth performing arts education nonprofit on the Southwest side, and also is a director at the Southwest Detroit Business Association.
Jonathan Oosting of Bridge reports:
Lynch and a sheriff’s deputy have visited at least six township clerks, according to Barry County Clerk Pam Palmer, a Republican who criticized what she called a secretive investigation that has frightened local officials.
“I was told by my clerks that they were told not to say anything to each other or to me,” Palmer recalled. “So I don’t know what (Leaf and his team) are trying to hide. I’m told by the investigator that they’re doing this under the element of surprise.”
