{"id":2341691,"date":"2024-09-16T08:13:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T12:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wi-attorney-generals-fraudulent-fake-electors-case-exposed\/"},"modified":"2024-09-16T08:21:11","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T12:21:11","slug":"wi-attorney-generals-fraudulent-fake-electors-case-exposed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wi-attorney-generals-fraudulent-fake-electors-case-exposed\/","title":{"rendered":"WI Attorney General&#8217;s Fraudulent &#8216;Fake Electors&#8217; Case Exposed"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwi-attorney-generals-fraudulent-fake-electors-case-exposed%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2341691&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>It seems you&#8217;ve shared\u200c a detailed article\u200c discussing the legal proceedings involving attorney\u200d Jim Troupis and others relating to accusations stemming from the 2020 election and the matter \u2063of \u200d\u201cfake electors.\u201d\u2062 The\u2064 article outlines the arguments made by Troupis\u2019s defense, the\u200d response from the attorney general&#8217;s office, and the context surrounding the case in Wisconsin. Key points include:<\/p>\n<p>1. **Motion to Quash**:\u200c Troupis&#8217;s attorney filed a motion to dismiss a subpoena \u2062related to sealing\u2064 of files, emphasizing that the AG&#8217;s \u200coffice did not provide adequate legal justification.<\/p>\n<p>2. **Charges Against Troupis**: Troupis and\u200b his co-defendants are facing forgery charges related to\u2063 the submission of an alternate slate of electors for Trump, which the AG \u2062claims was a fraudulent act.<\/p>\n<p>3. **Historical Context of Alternate Electors**: The defense\u200d argues that the use of alternate \u200celectors is not a new concept and has been utilized \u2062in previous elections without issue.<\/p>\n<p>4. **Political Allegations**: Accusations are made regarding the motivations behind the prosecution, suggesting that it \u200dis politically motivated rather\u200c than based on solid legal grounds.<\/p>\n<p>5. **Judicial Processes**: The article discusses previous court rulings and the history of investigations into related matters in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<p>6. **Comparison to Past \u200dProsecutions**: The \u2062author draws parallels between the \u200bcurrent case and previous\u2064 high-profile investigations in Wisconsin, particularly the John Doe investigations that were criticized for their methods and implications.<\/p>\n<p>This is a summary \u2062of complex legal proceedings, and if you \u2063need a detailed breakdown of any specific section or concept\u200c from the article, feel free to \u200dask!  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>When Wisconsin Attorney General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doj.state.wi.us\/exec-profile\/josh-kaul\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Josh Kaul<\/a> held a state capitol-steps <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/05\/wisconsin-ag-files-phony-fake-elector-charges-anyway-after-admitting-gop-plan-was-legal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press conference<\/a> in early June to announce &ldquo;forgery&rdquo; charges against two former attorneys and an aide to former President Donald Trump for an alleged crime that took place nearly four years ago, it felt like the fix was in.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>New unsealed documents in Dane County Circuit Court suggest the real forgery is Kaul&rsquo;s politically weaponized investigation into Trump allies involved in the 2020 alternative electors contingency plan &mdash; what Kaul and corporate media have falsely billed as a &ldquo;fake electors&nbsp;scheme.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The filing, <a href=\"https:\/\/newstalk1130.iheart.com\/featured\/vicki-mckenna\/content\/2024-09-12-bombshell-document-unsealed-prove-wisconsin-ag-falsely-charged-trump-lawyer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first reported<\/a> on Thursday by Wisconsin conservative talk show host Vicki McKenna and conservative activist <a href=\"https:\/\/privatecitizen.org\/board-of-directors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eric O&rsquo;Keefe<\/a>, sheds light on another dark prosecution that looks a lot like Wisconsin&rsquo;s infamous <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/04\/07\/nancy-pelosis-jan-6-committee-is-following-the-same-pattern-as-the-evil-john-doe-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John Doe investigation<\/a>. That leftist prosecutor-led star chamber of more than a decade ago was declared a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2016\/aug\/28\/how-deb-jordahl-was-targeted-and-fought-back\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;perfect storm of wrongs&rdquo;<\/a> by the state&rsquo;s supreme court and used as a national blueprint for the left&rsquo;s penchant for weaponized justice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While Kaul&rsquo;s early June press conference &mdash; covered by news outlets across the country &mdash; was orchestrated for maximum exposure, his move to seal the subpoenas and silence the defendants was designed to keep the full story in the dark. More than three months after the attorney general&rsquo;s office sought and received the secret subpoenas, the key documents have finally been unsealed. The raised curtain exposes a prosecutor going against his own justice department to pursue a political prosecution.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;Gag Order&rsquo;&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<p>A motion to quash the subpoena, filed by Madison attorney Joseph Bugni on behalf of defendant Jim Troupis, concludes that while the AG&rsquo;s office offers statements in support of its request to seal the file and keep Troupis silenced, &ldquo;it cites no case law.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Indeed, no information was offered to show why, <em>in this case<\/em>, almost four years after the fact and following <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-fake-electors-trump-2020-062c7b6638b945f816185bdf1f231195\">civil litigation<\/a> of the same issues, it&rsquo;s reasonable for the Court to determine that Troupis might act in a way that could imperil the investigation,&rdquo; the motion asserts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The order forbidding the disclosure of information related to the subpoena is a content-based gag order because it effectively precludes speech on an entire topic: the subpoena and records it seeks. Such a &lsquo;naked prohibition against disclosure is fairly characterized as a regulation of pure speech,&rsquo;&rdquo; the motion argues, citing a <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/532\/514\/\">2001 U.S. Supreme ruling<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The attorney general&rsquo;s office finally conceded that the documents should be unsealed and the gag order on the subpoena lifted. Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell agreed to do so last week.&nbsp;The court filings<strong> <\/strong>show how legally stretched Kaul&rsquo;s charges are and how the phony &ldquo;fake electors&rdquo; case is built on a quivering house of cards. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Troupis, a well-respected former Dane County judge and attorney for decades, and his co-defendants, fellow attorney Kenneth Chesebro and political operative Michael Roman, are facing massaged charges under a state <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.legis.wisconsin.gov\/statutes\/statutes\/943\/iii\/38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">forgery-uttering law<\/a>. Chesebro and Roman were among the 19 people, including Trump, indicted in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis&rsquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wavy.com\/hill-politics\/georgia-judge-drops-two-more-trump-charges-in-election-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disintegrating &ldquo;racketeering&rdquo; case<\/a> that alleged the defendants attempted to illegally overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. A Georgia judge last week <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/09\/12\/politics\/trump-georgia-election-subversion-charges\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threw out counts<\/a> in the indictment alleging the filing of false documents related to the alternate electors&rsquo; ballot there.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kaul, at his June 4 capitol press conference, announced the charges, accusing the defendants of knowingly promoting a false slate of electors as authentic, or at least uttering as much.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Leftist Gov. Tony Evers applauded Kaul&rsquo;s announcement with a snide one-word response: &ldquo;Good.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here&rsquo;s my full statement regarding media reports today indicating charges are being filed against individuals involved in Wisconsin&rsquo;s 2020 fake elector scheme. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TUSRS42KEV\">pic.twitter.com\/TUSRS42KEV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GovEvers\/status\/1798003138848502228?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Media reports, sources say, are how Troupis and his co-defendants found out about the charges against them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;Ensure That Their Votes Will Count&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>Troupis and Chesebro served as attorneys for Trump&rsquo;s campaign following the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-hauls-in-over-50-million-at-palm-beach-fundraiser\/\" title=\"Trump raises more than  million at Palm Beach event\">hotly contested 2020 presidential election<\/a> in which Democrat Joe Biden claimed victory in critical swing state Wisconsin by less than 21,000 votes. The attorneys earned the ire of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yes-foreign-nationals-have-voted-in-u-s-elections\/\" title=\"Yes, Foreign Nationals Have Voted In U.S. Elections\">leftist election integrity deniers<\/a> for having the audacity to represent their client and challenge some of the battleground state&rsquo;s myriad <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maciverinstitute.com\/news\/explosive-revelations-in-wisconsins-2020-election-audit-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">election irregularities<\/a> and cases of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/01\/17\/wisconsin-judge-bans-ballot-drop-boxes-says-election-officials-broke-the-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fractured election law<\/a> in court.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>They also rolled out a plan for an alternate slate of electors, Republicans who met at the state capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, to cast their ballots for Trump. While Biden was declared the winner in Wisconsin, the court challenges had yet to be exhausted. As Troupis, alternate electors, and Kaul&rsquo;s DOJ noted at the time and since, there was nothing secret or untoward about the process. Troupis and others publicly announced their plans. State elections officials and the DOJ were well aware. They voiced no red flags at the time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Troupis had even notified the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where one of the legal challenges was ongoing, that the slate of Republican electors would vote on Dec. 14 and send the document to Congress to &ldquo;ensure that their votes will count on January 6 if there is a later determination that they are duly appointed electors for Wisconsin.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;If Roles Were Reversed &hellip;&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>There was no concern because, as Troupis noted, consideration and use of alternate electors was simply &ldquo;following the recommended approach to situations involving court challenges in Presidential elections&rdquo; for more than 150 years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/05\/15\/the-lefts-2020-fake-electors-narrative-is-fake-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has reported<\/a>, Democrats used the exact same approach to protect John F. Kennedy&rsquo;s electors and claim to victory in Hawaii in the 1960 presidential election. As the court filing points out, Democrat Vice President Al Gore lost the disputed 2000 election because he failed to do the same. Chesebro was an attorney for the Gore campaign then, and he clearly learned the painful lesson. (Leftist lawyers still are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/aug\/19\/kenneth-chesebro-trump-georgia-indictment-fake-electors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shocked<\/a> that former liberal lawyer Chesebro represented Trump.)<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[I]f roles were reversed, the Biden-Harris campaign would have done the same &mdash; the Gore team&rsquo;s blunder would never be repeated,&rdquo; the motion contends.<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;That Isn&rsquo;t Forgery&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>In announcing the charges, Kaul <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmj4.com\/news\/state-capitol\/three-charged-with-felonies-over-2020-fake-elector-scheme-in-wisconsin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declared,<\/a> &ldquo;Our approach has been focused on following the facts where they lead.&rdquo; But the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-throws-out-leftist-nevada-ags-phony-fake-electors-case\/\" title=\"Judge Throws Out Leftist Nevada AG&#039;s Phony &#039;Fake Electors&#039; Case\">highly partisan attorney general<\/a> who cut his legal teeth at Democrat &ldquo;fixer&rdquo; and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/03\/republicans-appeal-wisconsin-leftist-judges-order-changing-absentee-ballot-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Russian dossier peddler Marc Elias&rsquo;<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2017\/04\/10\/josh-kaul-son-former-ag-peg-lautenschlager-challeenge-brad-schimel-next-election\/100301794\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">old firm<\/a>, has left out some very important facts in his political prosecution.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He brought the charges three and a half years after the &ldquo;alleged&rdquo; crime was committed and long after the Wisconsin Elections Commission had&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-fake-electors-trump-2020-062c7b6638b945f816185bdf1f231195\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">twice rejected complaints<\/a> from a leftist lawfare group about the Republican alternate electors &mdash; with Kaul&rsquo;s agency&rsquo;s guidance. As the motion to quash shows, a Wisconsin DOJ memo to WEC explained, &ldquo;Nothing &hellip; prohibits or otherwise limits a party from meeting to cast electoral votes during a challenge to an election tabulation. [The statutes] say nothing about an alternative set of electors casting votes and do not expressly prohibit a slate of electors [from] casting votes to preserve their votes in case pending legal challenges prove successful.&rdquo; The memo notes the same legal tactics used by the Kennedy campaign.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But Kaul persists. He claims that the defendants committed felony forgery &mdash; via utterance &mdash; of public records or legal documents. Convictions come with up to six years in prison and fines up to $10,000.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The attorney general either doesn&rsquo;t understand the statutes on forgery or has massaged the reading of the law to fit his political charges &mdash; similar to what Trump-hating Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did in the specious &ldquo;hush money&rdquo; case. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[T]here is not probable cause to believe that the alternate electors&rsquo; ballot was a forgery, nor is there probable cause to believe Troupis engaged in a conspiracy to utter a forged document,&rdquo; Troupis&rsquo; attorney argues. &ldquo;For one, Wisconsin law is clear: a forged document is one that has been altered to appear as something other than it is. Here, there can be no dispute that the document (an electoral ballot) appears to be precisely what it purports to be. And under Wisconsin law, that isn&rsquo;t forgery. Likewise, you can only &lsquo;utter&rsquo; a forged document, you cannot utter a document that is what it purports to be.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kaul&rsquo;s political prosecution is among a spate of faulty &ldquo;false electors&rdquo; cases filed by leftist prosecutors. Cases in Arizona and Michigan are still live. Not long after Kaul announced his charges, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/06\/21\/g-s1-5717\/fake-electors-nevada-charges-dismissed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nevada judge tossed<\/a> a leftist-led indictment against six Republicans accused of submitting a false slate of electors for Trump. The Democrat attorney general there has <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nevada-republicans-fake-electors-indictment-trump-9792a1c3acacb5ee0c2756abafafe145\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appealed<\/a>. Georgia&rsquo;s trumped-up case appears off the table too. Democrat AGs in New Mexico and Pennsylvania found the electors allegations did not warrant charges.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>How long will Kaul carry on his political charade? <a href=\"https:\/\/wcca.wicourts.gov\/caseDetail.html?caseNo=2024CF001295&amp;countyNo=13&amp;index=0&amp;mode=details\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Court documents<\/a> show the attorney general moved to reschedule the defendants&rsquo; initial appearance, originally slotted for next week, to Dec. 12 &mdash; more than a month after the election.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kaul&rsquo;s communications team did not respond to The Federalist&rsquo;s request for comment. Bugni, Troupis&rsquo; attorney, declined to comment.<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;Reminiscent of John Doe&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>Kaul&rsquo;s political prosecution and the dark veil of secrecy surrounding it brings to mind Wisconsin&rsquo;s infamous <a href=\"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/23005\/wisconsins-john-doe-prosecutions-come-to-an-ignominious-end\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John Doe investigations.<\/a> The secret probes targeting then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker and conservative activists included <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/05\/the-ghost-of-wisconsins-unconstitutional-john-doe-investigation-haunts-trump-trials\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pre-dawn raids<\/a> on the homes of the wrongly accused. Families were forced to silently watch law enforcement officials root through their possessions. In one case the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2015\/07\/17\/scott-walker-john-doe-saga-over\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">16-year-old son<\/a> of one of the targets was home alone and was told to remain silent while the family home was raided.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrat district attorneys and leftist agents from the state&rsquo;s campaign finance and elections regulator employed a long-term spying operation on the targets, who were subjected to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/SB10001424052702304799404579155953286552832\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gag orders<\/a> that came with hefty fines and jail time for violators. While the John Doe investigations were supposed to be secret, leakers from within and around the agencies anonymously fed accomplice media &ldquo;tips&rdquo; to shape the narrative.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>O&rsquo;Keefe, a conservative activist who was targeted in the John Doe probe that was eventually ruled unconstitutional, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/podcast\/426-the-vicki-mckenna-show-27246267\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">McKenna<\/a> that Kaul&rsquo;s silencing prosecution is &ldquo;reminiscent of the John Doe.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Troupis and his co-defendants have had their names dragged through the mud, have faced costly legal fees to defend themselves, and have lived under a cloak of suspicion for months. The leftist-led Wisconsin Supreme Court temporarily <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2024\/06\/11\/court-suspends-jim-troupis-from-judicial-advisory-panel\/74062275007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suspended<\/a> Troupis from the state Judicial Conduct Advisory Committee a week after Kaul lowered the boom. He&rsquo;s been convicted of nothing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Wisconsin Department of Justice &ldquo;violated the First Amendment and the open records laws in Wisconsin,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Keefe, who operates the website <a href=\"http:\/\/PrivateCitizen.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">PrivateCitizen.org<\/a>. &ldquo;What the Department of Justice was able to do here was put out a smear on these attorneys that was covered coast to coast and tell them you can&rsquo;t talk about it. &hellip; That is a draconian punishment in itself.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., took aim at the accomplice media on his X account. He said the attorney general&rsquo;s &ldquo;bogus&rdquo; case is &ldquo;grounds for impeachment.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Will Wisconsin media report on the outrageous actions of AG Kaul?&rdquo; Wisconsin&rsquo;s senior senator   posted. &ldquo;Hard to think of a greater abuse of public office than him hiding proof that he knew his &lsquo;forgery&rsquo; case is bogus.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Will Wisconsin media report on the outrageous actions of AG Josh Kaul?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hard to think of a greater abuse of public office than him hiding proof that he knew his &ldquo;forgery&rdquo; case is bogus.<\/p>\n<p>Sure looks like grounds for impeachment to me. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zgPWd2gOHt\">https:\/\/t.co\/zgPWd2gOHt<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenRonJohnson\/status\/1834327137744289979?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<hr>\n<p>      Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In early June, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul held a press conference at the state capitol to announce &#8220;forgery&#8221; charges against two former attorneys and an aide to former President Donald Trump for an alleged crime from nearly four years prior. This announcement raised suspicions that the investigation was politically motivated. Recently unsealed documents from Dane County Circuit Court suggest that Kaul&#8217;s inquiry into Trump allies involved in the 2020 alternative electors plan\u2014mischaracterized by Kaul and mainstream media as a &#8220;fake electors scheme&#8221;\u2014is itself questionable. <\/p>\n<p>The filing, first reported by conservative talk show host Vicki McKenna and activist Eric O\u2019Keefe, reveals troubling parallels to Wisconsin\u2019s notorious John Doe investigations, which were criticized by the state\u2019s supreme court as a \u201cperfect storm of wrongs\u201d due to their partisan nature. While Kaul&#8217;s press conference received widespread media coverage, his decision to seal subpoenas aimed at silencing defendants obscured crucial details of the case. After more than three months of secrecy surrounding these subpoenas, key documents have now been made public.<\/p>\n<p>A motion filed by Madison attorney Joseph Bugni on behalf of defendant Jim Troupis argues that while the AG&#8217;s office claims sealing information is necessary for its investigation, it fails to cite relevant legal precedents or justify why Troupis might jeopardize it after so much time has passed since the alleged offense. The motion describes the gag order as a violation of free speech rights because it effectively prohibits discussion about an entire topic\u2014the subpoena and related records.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Judge Everett Mitchell agreed with this assessment and ordered that both the documents be unsealed and the gag order lifted. The filings reveal how tenuous Kaul\u2019s charges are regarding what he labels a \u201cfake electors\u201d case.<\/p>\n<p>Troupis\u2014a respected former judge\u2014and his co-defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Michael Roman face charges under Wisconsin&#8217;s forgery law related to their involvement in submitting an alternate slate of electors following Trump&#8217;s campaign in 2020 when Joe Biden won Wisconsin by fewer than 21,000 votes amid numerous election irregularities being challenged in court.<\/p>\n<p>Kaul accused them during his June press conference of knowingly promoting false elector slates as legitimate; however, reports indicate Troupis learned about these charges through media coverage rather than official communication.<\/p>\n<p>Troupis had previously informed state officials about plans for alternate electors who met publicly on December 14, 2020\u2014a process he argued was transparent and legally sound given ongoing election challenges at that time. He noted this approach had historical precedent dating back over 150 years.<\/p>\n<p>Despite claiming adherence to factual evidence guiding his actions during prosecution announcements\u2014while having ties with partisan figures like Marc Elias\u2014Kaul has overlooked significant facts relevant to this case: complaints against Republican alternate electors were dismissed twice before any criminal action was taken against them.<\/p>\n<p>The AG alleges felony forgery based on utterances regarding public records or legal documents but faces criticism for potentially misinterpreting statutory definitions around forgery itself; according to defense arguments presented in court filings there is no probable cause supporting such claims since all documentation appears authentic under existing laws governing electoral processes.<\/p>\n<p>This political prosecution mirrors other flawed cases pursued across various states targeting similar allegations against Republicans involved with alternative elector strategies post-2020 elections\u2014with some cases already dismissed outright due lack sufficient evidence warranting further action while others remain pending appeal processes initiated primarily along party lines driven motives rather than substantive legal grounds alone.<\/p>\n<p>As scrutiny mounts over whether these prosecutions serve genuine justice or merely reflect political vendettas within increasingly polarized environments surrounding electoral integrity debates nationwide\u2014including calls from figures like U.S Senator Ron Johnson questioning legitimacy behind AG actions\u2014it remains uncertain how long such proceedings will persist without resolution amidst growing concerns regarding fairness accountability within judicial systems themselves moving forward into future elections cycles ahead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2341692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-13-at-3.32.55-PM-1024x456.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32116,32493,6909,32285,4124],"class_list":["post-2341691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-attorney-general","tag-fake-electors","tag-fraud","tag-legal-case","tag-wisconsin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-13-at-3.32.55-PM-1024x456.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2341691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2341692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2341691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2341691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2341691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}