Judge Rules Wisconsin 2020 Election Investigator Must Foot $163,000 Bill in Legal Fees Over Public Records Lawsuit

The investigator hired by Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to probe the 2020 election in Wisconsin was ordered by a federal judge on Monday to pay $163,000 in fees to attorneys for the watchdog group American Oversight.

Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington ordered that Wisconsin’s Office of Special Counsel, which is headed by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, must foot the bill in lawyers’ fees as well as other costs to the watchdog group, according to Madison.com.

American Oversight has filed a string of lawsuits over the past year against Vos, Gableman, and the state assembly, seeking records tied to the Office of Special Counsel’s review of the presidential election in 2020.

The watchdog describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit that “uses public records requests backed by litigation to fight corruption, drive accountability, and defend democracy” but it appears to largely target former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

According to multiple reports, the latest fees will be paid by Wisconsin taxpayers and will add to the cost of the investigation, which is now over $1 million.

“The office responsible for Wisconsin’s partisan election review has deleted records that don’t suit the false election-fraud narrative. Access to these records is essential for accountability. We’re fighting to stop any more records from being destroyed,” the watchdog group wrote on Twitter on Aug. 1.

The Epoch Times has contacted Wisconsin’s Office of Special Counsel for comment.

Remington’s ruling came just months after he found that Gableman and Vos violated state public records laws by denying or delaying access to documents that had been requested by the watchdog group.

Ongoing Lawsuits

The ruling also comes after a separate one by Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn last week in a different lawsuit bought by the watchdog.

Bailey-Rihn found Assembly Speaker Robin Vos had violated the state’s transparency laws by failing to properly respond to open records requests related to the