The United States flag stands at half mast on top of the Capitol Building in Lansing on Wednesday, April 15, 2020.Neil Blake | MLive.com

LANSING, MI – A black van adorned with video screens broke through the steady rain on an otherwise calm Wednesday outside the Michigan Capitol, blaring disproven claims of election fraud from 2020 and catching the attention of Michigan House leadership inside.

Parked on South Capitol Avenue after driving around Lansing, the van played a trailer promoting an upcoming book – “The 2020 Coup” – written by former Republican state Sen. Patrick Colbeck that alleges a conspiracy to overthrow President Donald Trump. The video also ties comments by state Reps. Cynthia A. Johnson, D-Detroit, and Abraham Aiyash, D-Hamtramck, from around the 2020 election to that meritless claim.

Johnson is shown in a self-taken video that went viral in December 2020 where she gave a “warning to you Trumpers” after facing violent and racist threats. Her comments were condemned by both Michigan Democratic and Republican officials at the time.

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“Targeting any state official for attention or political gain is obviously wrong,” Michigan House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, said in a statement. “Attacking Reps. Johnson and Aiyash as enemies of democracy or accusing them of stealing an election puts them at risk and threatens our entire institution. We won’t stand for it.”

Aiyash, as well as Wayne State University vice president Ned Staebler, were shown briefly in the video, as it brought up old claims of them threatening and “doxing” Wayne County Board of Canvassers Chair Monica Palmer.

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“It is reckless and dangerous to frame members of our caucus, representatives of the people in the state House, as insidious figures behind debunked election conspiracies” Democratic Leader Donna Lasinski, D-Scio Township, said in the joint statement with Wentworth.

“Unfounded and incendiary accusations jeopardize the safety of all members in the House, but especially puts those targeted – Reps. C.A. Johnson and Aiyash – at personal risk,” Lasinski said. “Such claims, even those so often disproven, have the power to incite terrible and violent responses. We condemn these attacks in the strongest terms.”

Colbeck associate Robert Cushman wrote on Twitter that every Michigan legislator received a copy of the book on Wednesday, as well as a copy of “2,000 Mules,” a new movie that unsuccessfully claims a ring of people nefariously dropped off mail ballot in key states in 2020.

The van-mounted video in Lansing Wednesday promoted allegations of mail-in ballot stuffing and other disproven claims from the 2020 election that Trump, his allies and a number of Republican officials nationwide continue to push.

In fact, government agencies, investigations, audits and court cases nationwide concluded that Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump, despite slim victories in some swing states like Michigan.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Agency said after the election, “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”

Colbeck was a state senator from the Detroit area from 2011 to 2019, losing the GOP primary for governor in 2018. He was a certified poll challenger at the TCF Center in Detroit during the 2020 presidential election, and spoke at Wayne County and state canvassers meetings afterward.

He claimed that computers used by election officials were connected to the internet and used to mess with votes, but a judge found no evidence for that claim. He also assisted MyPillow CEO and close Trump ally Mike Lindell in pushing election conspiracy theories.

Colbeck participated in an election fraud protest outside the Michigan Capitol in February.

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