Stephen Cliffgard Lee is an American
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
and former law enforcement officer allegedly involved in efforts to overturn the
2020 United States presidential election results in Georgia.
Career
Lee worked as a police officer in California in the 1980s before becoming a chaplain and leading a crisis response team for law enforcement.
From 1980 to 1987, he was a sergeant in the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office. He also worked as a special agent for the
Naval Criminal Investigative Service. In 1996, he founded Peace Officer Ministries Inc., and was its executive director until 2010. From 2016 to 2018, Lee led a Lutheran church's Quick Response Team providing chaplain services to law enforcement.
Lee graduated from
Concordia Theological Seminary in
Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1992, and is an ordained pastor of the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...
(LCMS). As of 2023, he was retired (referred to within LCMS as being on "emeritus status").
In 2020, Lee was vacancy pastor for the Living Word Lutheran Church in
Orland Park, Illinois.
2020 presidential election indictment
After the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Lee visited the home of Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman. Freeman had been falsely accused of election fraud by allies of former President
Donald Trump. Lee claimed he could help Freeman, but she declined his offer. Lee then contacted Trump campaign worker
Harrison Floyd to arrange another meeting with Freeman, which resulted in Freeman being pressured to confess to false assertions of election fraud by
Trevian Kutti
Trevian C. Kutti is an American publicist and lobbyist who worked for celebrities including R. Kelly, Kanye West, and Regina King. Starting in 2020, she also worked as a cannabis lobbyist in Illinois. In 2023, Trevian Kutti was charged with thre ...
.
In 2022, Lee became the second witness to avoid testifying before a Fulton County special grand jury investigating election interference. An Illinois judge denied the summons for Lee to appear before the grand jury, saying prosecutors had not provided enough evidence that Lee was a necessary witness. Prosecutors were given 30 days to file an amended
court summons with additional information.
On August 14, 2023, Lee was indicted in
Fulton County, Georgia, on
charges of violating the Georgia state RICO act, two counts of criminal attempt to commit influencing of a witness, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses related to this incident.
On November 13, 2023, Lee said he would not take a
plea deal. "I am not going to plead out to a lie, I'm not going to cooperate with evil. This is bigger than me."
[“Donald Trump Gets Good News as Dominoes in Georgia Case Fall”, Newsweek, November 13, 2023](_blank)
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Personal life
Lee has been married to his wife Elaine since 1978.
See also
* Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election
*2020 Georgia election investigation
In February 2021, Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis launched a criminal investigation into alleged efforts by then-president Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the certified 2020 election victory of Democratic candida ...
* List of alleged Georgia election racketeers
References
External links
Mendocino County Sheriff's OfficePeace Officer Ministries, Inc.Living Word Lutheran Church, Orland Park, Illinois
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Stephen Cliffgard
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
West Valley College alumni
Azusa Pacific University alumni
Concordia Theological Seminary alumni
American chaplains
American police officers
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod people
Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents
20th-century American Lutheran clergy
21st-century American Lutheran clergy
The State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al. defendants