Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks with reporters outside the Wisconsin Supreme Court in February 2023. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul filed felony forgery charges against three people involved in the scheme to cast false Electoral College votes for former President Donald Trump after the 2020 election.
The charges filed on Tuesday are the first time anyone involved in the plan in Wisconsin has faced criminal consequences. In other states where false electoral votes have been cast, many of the figures involved have been charged with crimes. In Wisconsin, Kaul had so far held off filing charges against the attorneys and state Republicans involved in developing the plan.
The 10 Republicans who cast the votes and the attorneys involved in making the plan have previously settled civil lawsuits against them.
In December of 2020, the 10 Republicans followed the plan created by former Trump attorneys Kenneth Cheseboro and Jim Troupis to meet in the state Capitol to secretly cast votes for Trump even though the former president had lost the state. After the fact, those involved said they were just trying to keep Trump’s chances alive in the hopes that the state Supreme Court would overturn the results. However earlier on the same day they cast their fraudulent electoral ballots the Wisconsin Supreme Court had voted against taking that drastic step.
The false votes from Wisconsin and other states played a major role in the series of events that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On Tuesday, Kaul filed charges against Cheseboro, a Wisconsin native who was the architect of the plan, Troupis, a former Dane County judge who represented Trump in court following the election, and Mike Roman, a former Trump aide who is alleged to have delivered Wisconsin’s false Electoral College paperwork to a Pennsylvania congressman in order to get them to former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6.
The 10 Republicans who cast the false votes included then-Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Andrew Hitt and Wisconsin Elections Commissioner Robert Spindell.
Following the announcement of the charges, Gov. Tony Evers said, in a one word statement, “Good.”
In Wisconsin, forgery is a class H felony, which is the least serious felony classification in state law. The charge carries a maximum sentence of six years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
Court records show Cheseboro, Troupis and Roman are set to make their first appearance in court on Sept. 19.
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