Person of interest in Dallas voter fraud case claims no wrongdoing

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The man who is a person of interest in a large-scale voter fraud investigation in Dallas County denied to FOX4 he was involved in any wrongdoing.

Jose Barrientos is the person who was recently secretly recorded talking about cheating the system.

Complaints from voters in neighborhoods like Westmoreland Heights led to the massive voter fraud investigation. Voters saying they received mail in ballots that they never requested, with 700 of them signed by Jose Rodriguez.

Prosecutors say Barrientos is a person of interest in their investigation involving these six boxes of suspicious ballots. He admits he's the voice on secretly recorded audio describing how voter fraud works.

“I say in the tape, I'm the master of stuff that goes on in politics. I have the ear for listening and putting things together. But I don't do anything illegal,” Barrientos said.

Sidney Williams, the political activist who made the recording, allowed FOX4 to listen to the hours of audio.

Barrientos makes a shocking claim in the tape -- that someone inside the Dallas County Elections office provided tips about deliveries of mail-in ballots in exchange for cash.

“I said your homeboy at the elections office. You know who I'm talking about. That takes a couple 200 dollars to give you the zip codes when they're dropping,” Barrientos said on the tape.

But Barrientos said he wasn't involved in any fraud, rather he was only describing someone that Williams also knew in an effort to expose a problem.       

“If you're trying to clean something up, you can't go in and say, I'm the maid,” Barrientos said.

In response, Williams told FOX4 he had no idea about any alleged illegal activity at the elections office. He is not accused of any wrongdoing.

As for Barrientos, he plans to continue volunteering in politics but believes there will be consequences for someone.

“We're talking about someone here is going to lose their freedom over this thing. Someone is going to go to jail over this. I'm just glad it's not me. I may get a slap on the wrist. Get a little bit of you should have come to us sooner,” Barrientos said. “When is it right for a citizen to step up and say hey there is a problem here?”

Barrientos wore a Omar Navarez campaign shirt while sitting for the interview with FOX4. Naverez is presently in a runoff for Dallas City Council District No. 6. The Navarez campaign said in a statement that Barrientos has no involvement with them:

"Jose Barrientos showed up uninvited to a fundraiser in 2015. He left before being asked to leave but made off with several school board campaign shirts meant for supporters that he took without permission. He appeared on your program wearing one of these stolen shirts from an old campaign. Mr. Barrientos has never been a volunteer or employee of any Omar Narvaez campaign, past or present."