The attorney for one of the defendants accused of submitting false signatures for election candidates and other crimes for the 2022 election tried to shift the blame to the collectors of the signatures. Noel Erinjeri, attorney for Shawn Wilmoth, conceded during opening statements to a Macomb County jury Wednesday that signature fraud took place in early 2022 for that year’s elections. “I’m not denying that there was large-scale fraud in that election,” Erinjeri said. But none of the circulators were even interviewed by state investigators, Erinjeri said“These circulators are not direct employees,” Erinjeri said. A lot of people were from out of state.”Reed’s attorney, Wright Blake, added that unlike some other states, Michigan does not require petition circulators to be state residents.