Threats Against Michigan Officials Lead To Charges: Nessel

LANSING, MI — Two men have been charged with misdemeanors after the office of Attorney General Dana Nessel said they threatened state officials leading up to and following the November general election.

Daniel Thompson, 62, of Harrison, and 43-year-old Clinton Stewart of Douglas, Georgia, have been charged following an attorney general investigation into threats made against Democrats U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, as well as Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens.

“It is unacceptable and illegal to intimidate or threaten public officials,” Nessel said. “To those who think they can do so by hiding behind a keyboard or phone, we will find you and we will prosecute you, to the fullest extent of the law. No elected official should have to choose between doing their job and staying safe.”

Thompson is charged with three counts of malicious use of service provided by a telecommunications service provider, a six-month misdemeanor and/or a $1,000 fine, charging documents show.

The attorney general's office in its formal complaint against Thompson said he left threatening messages for Stabenow on Jan. 5 from Livingston County and made vulgar and threatening remarks in a phone conversation with a member of Slotkin’s office on Jan. 19 from Clare County.

A third charge submits that Thompson made another threatening call to Rep. Slotkin from Livingston County on April 30, 2020, documents show.

The voicemail message for Stabenow left by Thompson, who identified himself as a Republican, contained vulgar language and threatened violence meant to intimidate the public officials, Nessel's office said Tuesday. Thompson said he was angry about the results of the November election, that he joined a Michigan militia, and that there would be violence if the election results were not changed, according to the attorney general's office.

In an email to Stabenow’s office, he reiterated the threatening remarks and used vulgar language, Nessel's office said.

Thompson also spoke with a staff member from Slotkin’s office for more than an hour in which he claimed people will die and used violent references, while also noting events that took place at the Capitol building, according to the Michigan Attorney General's office.

Stewart is charged in Wayne County's 36th District Court with one count of malicious use of service provided by a telecommunications service provider, a six-month misdemeanor and/or a $1,000 fine.

According to charging documents provided by the Michigan Attorney General's Office, Stewart on Sept. 18 left a threatening voicemail message for Stephens in which he accused “activist judges” of making rulings that favored then-president-elect Joe Biden to win the election through mail-in ballots.

The message was discovered by an employee of Stephens’ office on Oct. 2, shortly after she ruled in favor of plaintiffs in Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans v Secretary of State, granting a request for declaratory and injunctive relief with respect to the receipt deadline for absentee ballots and ballot-handing restrictions that limit who can lawfully possess another voter’s absentee ballot, officials said. That ruling was eventually overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals, Nessel's office said.