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- Mellissa Carone, who gained notoriety as a witness for Rudy Giuliani during a Michigan election-fraud hearing early this month, has been hit with a cease-and-desist letter from Dominion Voting Systems over her comments.<\/li>\n
- Carone’s testimony, which at times drew laughter from hearing attendees, accused the company of engaging in election fraud.<\/li>\n
- Video of Carone’s testimony went viral and prompted a parody skit on “Saturday Night Live.”<\/li>\n
- Carone is among nearly two dozen people and companies \u2014 including Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN \u2014 who have received cease-and-desist notifications from Dominion’s lawyers over election-fraud claims.<\/li>\n
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In early December, Mellissa Carone became the subject of fascination \u2014 and a “Saturday Night Live<\/a>” skit \u2014 after she appeared as a witness for Rudy Giuliani at a Michigan hearing over claims that Dominion Voting Systems’ technology was used to perpetrate election fraud.<\/p>\n
Now she’s the recipient of a cease-and-desist order from the company.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for Dominion sent\u00a0Carone a strongly worded letter<\/a>\u00a0last week accusing the Grosse Pointe Woods mother of two of spreading lies about the company.<\/p>\n
“You gained international infamy earlier this month as Rudy Giuliani’s so-called ‘star witness’ who could supposedly corroborate outlandish accusations that Dominion has somehow rigged or otherwise improperly influenced the outcome of the Nov. 2020 US presidential election,” the letter,\u00a0which was first published by Law and Crime<\/a>, said.<\/p>\n
It continued: “We write to you now because you have positioned yourself as a prominent leader of the ongoing misinformation campaign by pretending to have some sort of ‘insider’s knowledge’ regarding Dominion’s business activities, when in reality you were hired through a staffing agency for one day to clean glass on machines and complete other menial tasks.”<\/p>\n
The letter warned that “litigation regarding these issues is imminent.”<\/p>\n
Carone did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the cease-and-desist letter.<\/p>\n
Carone’s testimony included a litany of unfounded claims and accusations that at times bordered on the absurd. She repeatedly told state representatives running the hearing, “I know what I saw.”<\/p>\n
Carone drew laughter at times during her testimony, especially when she attempted to confront state Rep. Steven Johnson about an alleged discrepancy on the voter rolls.<\/p>\n
“What’d you guys do, take it and do something crazy to it?” she said. “I know what I saw. I know what I saw! And I signed something that said that if I’m wrong I can go to prison. Did you?”<\/p>\n
At one point during the hearing,\u00a0Giuliani could be heard “shushing” her<\/a>\u00a0as she told the oversight panel that she’d seen poll workers run the same ballots through voting machines “thousands of times.”<\/p>\n
The clip of her testimony went viral online and was\u00a0viewed nearly 10 million times<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Dominion Voting Systems, which designed voting machines used in\u00a0at least 24 states<\/a>\u00a0during this year’s US presidential election, sent out a slew of cease-and-desist letters in recent weeks, threatening legal action against anchors at Fox, OANN, and Newsmax, among others, for making baseless claims about election fraud involving the company. Pro-Trump lawyers, including Sydney Powell and Lin Wood were also sent letters.<\/p>\n
Anchors at Newsmax\u00a0walked back some of the network’s claims<\/a>\u00a0on the air after receiving letters from Dominion.<\/p>\n
In the days following her testimony, it was revealed that Carone\u00a0harassed her fianc\u00e9’s ex-wife<\/a>\u00a0by sending her sex tapes. She was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct as part of a plea deal. Carone also apparently refused to quarantine after being in close contact with Giuliani directly after he tested positive for the coronavirus.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/5fcca48c037cbd00186141d9.jpeg\")
Mellissa Carone, who was working for Dominion Voting Services, in front of the Michigan House Oversight Committee in Lansing, Michigan, on December 2.\u00a0
JEFF KOWALSKY\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n