Wisconsin

Wisconsin GOP Group Condemned for ‘Prepare for War’ Website Message | Brendan Cole/Newsweek

With the U.S. reeling from the aftermath of the insurrection in the U.S. Capitol by some supporters of President Donald Trump, a GOP group in Wisconsin is under fire for a message on its website that urges conservatives to "prepare for war." At the top of the website of the St. Croix Republican Party is the Latin phrase "Si vis pacem, para bellum." The GOP group from the northwest of the Badger State says the message, which means "If you want peace, prepare for war," had been online before the protests last Wednesday. On the front of the group's website, which it describes as a "digital battlefield" and whose banner reads "Patriots: God, guns freedom, liberty," the St. Croix Republicans say that "never before has the mission of the Conservative patriot been so clear." It claims that over the last four years, the Democrats had worked with the "Marxist left and a complicit mass media" to overturn the 2016 election and accused the party of "changing the rules of the game" in the 2020 election cycle.

Full Article: Wisconsin GOP Group Condemned for 'Prepare for War' Website Message

Wisconsin: After holdup, Republicans agree to reimburse Milwaukee and Dane counties for recount costs | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Republican state lawmakers agreed Friday to reimburse two counties that went to President-elect Joe Biden nearly $2.5 million for their recount costs after blocking the payments for a month. The move will allow Dane and Milwaukee counties, along with the state Elections Commission, to recover their costs for the recount President Donald Trump sought after narrowly losing the state. It will also allow Trump's campaign to get a refund of more than $500,000 for expenses that weren't incurred. Under state law, Trump's campaign had to pay $3 million before the recount could begin. But after the recount, Republicans on the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee prevented the Elections Commission from reimbursing the counties because they wanted to review receipts. Now that that's happened, they announced Friday they were freeing up the money so the counties could be reimbursed. They made the decision two days after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol and Congress confirmed Biden's win. “Although the receipts from Dane and Milwaukee counties have raised concerns, we now have the information we need to approve their request," said a statement from Rep. Mark Born of Beaver Dam, a co-chairman of the committee.

Full Article: After holdup, Republicans agree to reimburse Milwaukee and Dane counties for recount costs

Editorial: Ron Johnson’s dangerous shilling for Donald Trump makes him unfit to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The arrogance of Ron Johnson is breathtaking. Johnson and 12 other Republican senators say they will challenge the tabulation of Electoral College votes in Congress on Wednesday in a dangerous political stunt that will accomplish nothing but may burnish their image with those who would choose outgoing President Donald Trump over democracy. Johnson and his shameful friends are planning to support Trump as he directly opposes the will of the people. Their challenge will lead to a long debate in Congress but nothing more, given Democratic control of the House of Representatives. In the end, the results of the presidential election will not change: Joe Biden will still have beaten Trump by 7 million votes and won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. But Johnson's stunt will do harm to our democracy. What precedent is being set here? What happens the next time a party — either party — loses the presidency narrowly while controlling both houses of Congress? Will those politicians do what Johnson and his hyperpartisan mob are doing? Will they make up lies about the election, cry voter fraud, complain about voting machines, election officials and any other ghost they can conjure? The playbook for turmoil is simple: Create suspicion. Fuel the fears of the side that lost. Don’t bother with facts or truth. Keep repeating and spreading lies until people forget their source and start to believe them or become so confused they can no longer determine the truth.

Full Article: Ron Johnson's dangerous shilling for Trump makes him unfit for Senate

Wisconsin: Federal judge scoffs at election lawsuit brought by state Republicans | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A federal judge on Monday rejected the underpinning of a lawsuit seeking to undo election results brought by two Wisconsin Republicans and others, writing that it was riddled with errors, unserious and brought in bad faith. The lawsuit by state Reps. David Steffen of Howard and Jeffrey Mursau of Crivitz, among others, is rife with so many problems that their lawyers may need to be sanctioned professionally, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of Washington, D.C., wrote. He noted the attorneys had not served the lawsuit on its numerous defendants, even after Boasberg reminded them they needed to do that. "Courts are not instruments through which parties engage in such gamesmanship or symbolic political gestures," he wrote. "As a result, at the conclusion of this litigation, the Court will determine whether to issue an order to show cause why this matter should not be referred to its Committee on Grievances for potential discipline of Plaintiffs’ counsel." His ruling denied a preliminary injunction that sought to undo the certifications of elections in Wisconsin and other battleground states that went to Democrat Joe Biden over President Donald Trump.

Full Article: Judge scoffs at election lawsuit brought by Wisconsin Republicans

Wisconsin: Trump Campaign Asks US Supreme Court To Take Case On Overturning Election Results | Danielle Kaeding/Wisconsin Public Radio

The Trump campaign wants the U.S. Supreme Court to consider its lawsuit seeking to overturn Wisconsin's U.S. presidential election results after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled against them this month. The Trump campaign's lead attorney Rudy Giuliani announced the filing on Tuesday. The state Supreme Court rejected the campaign's lawsuit in a 4-3 vote, ruling that President Donald Trump should have challenged Wisconsin's rules prior to the November election if he had problems with them. "Regrettably, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in their 4-3 decision, refused to address the merits of our claim," said Jim Troupis, Trump's lead Wisconsin attorney. "This 'Cert Petition' asks them to address our claims, which, if allowed, would change the outcome of the election in Wisconsin.” Troupis highlighted that three conservative members of the state Supreme Court, including Chief Justice Pat Roggensack, dissented from the majority. In doing so, they voiced criticism of fellow conservative Brian Hagedorn, who sided with liberal justices in the 4-3 decision. The ruling came hours before the state's electors were set to cast their votes for President-elect Joe Biden. The Trump campaign wants the nation's highest court to provide an expedited decision before Congress counts Electoral College votes on Jan. 6.

Full Article: Trump Campaign Asks US Supreme Court To Take Case On Overturning Wisconsin Election Results | Wisconsin Public Radio

Wisconsin: Federal appeals court rejects Trump bid to overturn election results | Bill Glauber/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump's latest effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Wisconsin. The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld a decision reached nearly two weeks ago by U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig in Milwaukee. In his suit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission and others, Trump had sought to have the Republican-led Legislature, rather than voters, decide how to allocate Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes. Ludwig — a Trump nominee — concluded Wisconsin officials had followed state laws when they conducted the Nov. 3 election. In a unanimous ruling, the three-judge panel in Chicago "affirmed" Ludwig's decision. "On the merits, the district court was right to enter judgment for the defendants," the 7th Circuit said. "We reach this conclusion in no small part because of the President’s delay in bringing the challenges to Wisconsin law that provide the foundation for the alleged constitutional violation. Even apart from the delay, the claims fail under the Electors Clause." Judge Michael Scudder Jr., nominated to the court by Trump, wrote the decision. The other members of the panel were Judge Joel Flaum and Judge Ilana Rovner, who were both nominated by Ronald Reagan.

Full Article: Federal appeals court rejects Trump bid to overturn Wisconsin results

Wisconsin Chief Justice Decries ‘Threats of Actual or Proposed Violence’ After Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Against Trumpe | Aaron Keller/Law & Crime

Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack issued a rare Christmas Day statement decrying concerning comments throttled toward at the judiciary, including “threats of actual or proposed violence.” The statement comes on the heels of a narrow 4 to 3 decision earlier this month which shot down election litigation launched by President Donald Trump. Though Roggensack was part of the dissent (and, therefore, ruled in favor of Trump), she was apparently not interested in standing idly by as her fellow justices were menaced for ruling against the president. … The statement arguably applies to comments levied toward multiple justices. Justices Jill Karofsky and Rebecca Dallet have reportedly been subjected to a “torrent of misogynistic and anti-Semitic messages.” The majority ruling which dismissed Trump’s election case was authored by Justice Brian Hagedorn, the former chief legal counsel to Republican Gov. Scott Walker who went on to win an election to serve on the state’s highest court. The New York Times called Hagedorn a “darling of the right” in a recent piece which touched briefly on a certain level of vitriol Hagedorn received after authoring the opinion. “I’ve been called a traitor. I’ve been called a liar. I’ve been called a fraud,” Hagedorn told the Times. “I’ve been asked if I’m being paid off by the Chinese Communist Party. I’ve been told I might be tried for treason by a military tribunal. Sure, I’ve gotten lots of interesting and sometimes dark messages.”

Full Article: Wisconsin Justice Decries Threats of Violence | Law & Crime

Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Dane counties presidential recounts come in about $355,000 less than projected | Alison Dirr Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The presidential recounts in Milwaukee and Dane counties came in about $355,000 below the $3 million projected cost, according to figures provided by the counties to the state Tuesday. Dane County's recount came in about $11,000 below budget while Milwaukee County's was about $343,600 lower than expected. The county clerks who oversaw the recounts credited the lower price tag to finishing days before the Dec. 1 deadline. "I’m glad, I’m happy," Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson said of coming in under budget. "We always want to be as accurate as possible, and I felt that because of the efficiency at which we operated and the fact that we put into service more tabulators and we had such dedicated election workers, that we were able to get the job done a few days ahead of schedule." President Donald Trump requested the recount only in the state's two most populous and most liberal counties after losing the state by about 21,000 votes out of about 3 million total to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

Full Article: Trump recounts in Milwaukee, Dane counties cost less than projected

Wisconsin: Biggest expenses in Dane County’s $700k presidential recount: workers, scanners | Abigail Becker and Briana Reilly/The Capital Times

Dane County incurred over $729,700 in costs to administer the presidential recount election, coming in about $11,000 under Clerk Scott McDonell’s original estimate to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The total cost of the recount, $729,733, included expenses for recount staff, security, room rental at Madison’s Monona Terrace, tabulator machines and election software. McDonell’s original estimate for the cost of the recount was $740,808. Among the most expensive items: the county paid $243,122 for temporary workers who tabulated the ballots during the week-and-a-half long process and $129,530 for high speed scanners. Security costs included $104,306 for the Madison Police Department and $8,694 for a private security company. The partial recount of the November election, requested and paid for by President Donald Trump, targeted liberal Dane and Milwaukee counties and served as a vehicle for the president and his allies to mount a series of legal challenges in the state that President-elect Joe Biden won by fewer than 21,000 votes. Milwaukee County officials haven’t responded to requests in recent days seeking the costs of administering the recount there. The county had previously estimated doing so would amount to just over $2 million.

Full Article: Biggest expenses in Dane County's $700k presidential recount: workers, scanners | Local Government | madison.com

Wisconsin: Justices Face Anti-Semitic, Misogynist Attacks After Trump Ruling | Ruth Conniff/Wisconsin Examiner

Trump supporters unleashed a barrage of obscenity on Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Jill Karofsky after Karofsky joined the majority in a decision rejecting the Trump campaign’s lawsuit seeking to throw out more than 200,000 votes in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Progressive Magazine editor Bill Lueders has published the contents of some of those messages to Karofsky, which the Progressive received in response to an open records request. In an article co-published by the Wisconsin Examiner, Lueders also reported on the contents of critical voicemail and email messages aimed at conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn, who wrote the majority decision rejecting the Trump campaign’s lawsuit. The messages to Karofsky were both cruder and more aggressive than those directed at Hagedorn. Justice Rebecca Dallet also shared email, voicemail, and written messages denouncing her for joining the decision. Karofsky and Dallet were the targets of an online anti-Semitic attack on a blog reposted by the white supremacist website Daily Stormer that identifies Karofsky and Dallet as “Wisconsin Jews.” “Powerful Jews came together to assure their people hold as many positions of power as possible,” it asserts, and repeats anti-Semitic canards about a cabal of wealthy Jews who dominate Ivy League universities and businesses. Both the blog post and the obscenity-laced messages to Karofsky’s office focus on her comment that the Trump campaign’s effort to throw out votes “smacks of racism.”

Full Article: Justices Face Anti-Semitic, Misogynist Attacks After Trump Ruling » Urban Milwaukee

Wisconsin: A Conservative Justice in Says He Followed the Law, Not the Politics | Reid J. Epstein/The New York Times

Justice Brian Hagedorn of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a veteran of the last decade’s fiercest partisan wars. As chief legal counsel of Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, Justice Hagedorn helped write the 2011 law that stripped public-sector labor unions of their collective bargaining rights. Then in 2019, he won a narrow election to a 10-year term on the Supreme Court with backing from the state’s Republican media and grass-roots networks. But Justice Hagedorn, a member of the conservative Federalist Society, who in 2016 founded a private school that forbids same-sex relationships among its employees and students, is no longer a darling of the right. In a series of 4-3 decisions in recent months, he sided with the court’s three liberal justices to stop an effort to purge 130,000 people from the Wisconsin voter rolls, block the Green Party candidate and Kanye West from the general election presidential ballot and, on two separate occasions, reject President Trump’s effort to overturn President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory in Wisconsin. Justice Hagedorn has in recent days found himself at odds not just with his political base but with his fellow conservative justices, who have spared little expense in showing their anger at him in judicial dissents defending Mr. Trump’s case.

Full Article: A Conservative Justice in Wisconsin Says He Followed the Law, Not the Politics - The New York Times

Republican lawmakers hold up Wisconsin recount funds as counties finalize costs | Briana Reilly and Abigail Becker/The Capital Times

The Legislature’s powerful budget committee is, for now, refusing to reimburse Dane and Milwaukee county officials for their work in conducting the election recount President Donald Trump requested and paid for following his loss in Wisconsin. The panel, controlled by Republicans, officially paused the process last Friday after one member raised an objection to the ask, meaning the full Joint Finance Committee may have to meet before the dollars are passed on. The state already has $3 million from Trump’s campaign to cover what the counties’ estimated costs were for the recount. The identity of the lawmaker who raised the objection is unknown, but the offices of the committee’s co-chairs say it came about because only the initial estimate of the costs is available, while the final figures haven’t yet been completed or shared. “The committee simply needs more information,” co-chair Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said in a statement. “At the time the request was before the committee, and still today, we do not know the actual costs of the recount. Once those counties submit their receipts, we will have more information.” On Monday, Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said in an email that the county is working through the billing process to determine a final cost for the recount. He had been waiting on a bill from the Madison Police Department, which he expected to be “significant.”

Full Article: Republican lawmakers hold up Wisconsin recount funds as counties finalize costs | Local Government | madison.com

Wisconsin Senate leader wants bill by July to allow absentee counting before Election Day | Molly Beck and Alison Durr/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The incoming leader of the state Senate is pushing legislation to allow election officials to count absentee ballots before Election Day — a change some election officials have sought for years. Republican state Sen. Devin LeMahieu, who will begin the new legislative session as Senate Majority Leader, said he wants the Legislature to expand the amount of time absentee ballots may be counted by July, according to the Associated Press. "I have no idea where my caucus would be at on that but I would think (it would pass),” LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, told the AP. “As long as it’s secure, I would think we could get there.” The proposal, which LeMahieu has previously pushed for unsuccessfully, comes in the wake of the November presidential election during which a massive influx of absentee ballots forced election officials in Milwaukee and elsewhere to count absentee ballots well after midnight because of a state law that requires election officials to wait until Election Day to begin counting.

Full Article: Senate leader wants bill by July to allow absentee counting before Election Day

Wisconsin: Ron Johnson’s last hearing as chair of the Senate homeland security committee unfolds in post-election acrimony | Craig Gilbert/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Ron Johnson’s final hearing as chairman of the Senate homeland security committee was a divisive and bitter one, devolving at one point Wednesday into a near shouting match between the Wisconsin Republican and the panel’s top Democrat, Gary Peters of Michigan. “This is terrible what you’re doing to this committee,” Peters exclaimed to Johnson. “It is what you have done to this committee,” Johnson answered heatedly. The subject of that angry exchange — the two accused each other of spreading falsehoods — was the role of Russian disinformation, a source of bitter partisan feuding ever since the 2016 election. It was the 2020 election that was the official subject of Wednesday's hearing. And that provided plenty of acrimony as senators on both sides took turns airing their grievances about the presidential contest and its aftermath. Johnson, who acknowledged Tuesday that Democrat Joe Biden won the election, said Wednesday he hoped the hearing would be a noncontroversial probe into how to improve public confidence in elections. At the same time, he aired broad claims at the hearing of fraud and irregularities made by President Donald Trump's campaign that have repeatedly failed in court. … “We’re past the point where we need to be having conversations about the outcome of the election," said the Democrats' chief witness, Christopher Krebs, a homeland security official that was fired by Trump after he defended the security of the election. Krebs also bemoaned the threats of violence that have been made against local election officials for certifying the outcome of the election, saying: "This is not an America I recognize. It’s got to stop. We need everyone across the leadership ranks to stand up. I would appreciate more support from my own party, the Republican Party, to call this stuff out and to end it. We've got to move on. We have a president-elect."

Full Article: Senate hearing on election leads to acrimony over fraud allegations

Wisconsin: A pandemic. False fraud claims. A misplaced flash drive. How Milwaukee elections chief led high-pressure vote count. | Nora Eckert/Channel 3000

Election workers across the nation have been threatened with violence, accused of tampering with results of the Nov. 3 election, and some have battled a virus that’s killed nearly 300,000 people nationwide. For these people, the desire to serve their communities has come with unexpected tensions because of a bitterly contentious presidential race and the subsequent legal battles over its outcome. Claire Woodall-Vogg has weathered many such challenges in her five months as the top election official in Milwaukee — the largest city in a swing state whose results were scrutinized, criticized and the subject of allegations of “late-night ballot dumps” that favored President-elect Joe Biden. “(It’s been) extremely partisan and divided,” said Woodall-Vogg, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission. “That doesn’t shock me, but the fact that people are supporting someone trying to overturn the actual results is disappointing.” Many of her colleagues laud her performance. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett told Wisconsin Watch that she’s supervised the most transparent election the city has ever seen. Common Council President Cavalier Johnson called her performance “stellar” and her predecessor, Neil Albrecht, said he “couldn’t think of anyone more dedicated to avoiding error.” Her deputy, Jonatan Zuniga, said if she “had a million and one things to do, she did them all.” Still, critics rebuke her missteps, such as mistakenly leaving behind a flash drive in a tabulator on election night, which she later retrieved.

Full Article: A pandemic. False fraud claims. A misplaced flash drive. How Milwaukee elections chief led high-pressure vote count.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Was One Vote Away From Flipping the State to Trump | Ed Kilgore/New York Magazine

It didn’t get much attention because it happened the very day the Electoral College formally awarded Joe Biden the presidency, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court only narrowly rejected a bid by the Trump campaign to throw out over 200,000 absentee ballots in the state’s two most Democratic counties. The 4-3 decision by what is generally considered the most polarized and politically driven high court in the country involved one conservative justice (Brian Hagedorn) joining three liberal colleagues in rejecting the Trump petition, mostly because it addressed alleged improper local election practices that were apparent long before balloting occurred. The legal doctrine of “laches” (undue delay in asserting a legal right or privilege) was emphasized in the majority opinion. But in dissent, three conservative justices (in an opinion written by Chief Justice Patience Drake Roggensack) agreed with the Trump campaign’s claims that election officials in Dane and Milwaukee Counties violated state laws by instructing election clerks to correct small errors in the addresses listed for witnesses of absentee ballot signatures. They also objected to Dane County accepting absentee ballots at a preelection “Democracy in the Park” event in Madison, regarding it as a form of unauthorized early in-person voting. The dissenters did not address a third Trump claim that voters claiming “indefinitely confined” status due to the COVID-19 pandemic were illegally allowed to evade photo ID requirements.

Full Article: Wisconsin Supreme Court Was Close to Flipping State to Trump

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Trump Election Challenge ‘Unreasonable In The Extreme’ | Vanessa Romo/NPR

It was close but in the end, the conservative-led Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump campaign's bid to throw out more than 220,000 ballots from two Democratic county strongholds. The move, which came just shortly before Electoral College voters were due to cast their ballots, ensured President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn sided with the court's three liberal members in the 4-3 ruling, finding Trump's legal challenge to change Wisconsin's certified election results "unreasonable in the extreme" and was filed too late. "The challenges raised by the Campaign in this case ... come long after the last play or even the last game; the Campaign is challenging the rulebook adopted before the season began," Hagedorn said in the 81-page decision. "Striking these votes now — after the election, and in only two of Wisconsin's 72 counties when the disputed practices were followed by hundreds of thousands of absentee voters statewide — would be an extraordinary step for this court to take. We will not do so."

Full Article: Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Trump Election Challenge 'Unreasonable In The Extreme' : NPR

Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds Biden’s win, rejects Trump lawsuit | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The state Supreme Court upheld Democrat Joe Biden's Wisconsin win Monday, handing President Donald Trump a defeat less than an hour before the Electoral College met. The 4-3 ruling was the latest in a string of dozens of losses for the president across the country as Republicans pursue last-gasp efforts to give Trump a second term. Just after the decision was issued, the Electoral College cemented Biden's national victory. In the majority, conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn joined the court's three liberals to confirm Biden's win. They found one of Trump's arguments was without merit and his others were brought far too late. Trump's challenges to Wisconsin's voting laws "come long after the last play or even the last game," Hagedorn wrote for the majority. "(Trump) is challenging the rulebook adopted before the season began." The three other conservatives on the court dissented, writing they believed clerks violated the law with some election practices. They argued the majority should have taken on the merits of Trump's arguments instead of sidestepping them by saying he'd filed his lawsuit too late.

Full Article: Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds Biden's win, rejects Trump lawsuit

Wisconsin: A Stunning Passage from the Latest Court Rejection of Team Trump | Andrew C. McCarthy/National Review

The most telling aspect of the Wisconsin federal district court’s rejection of another Trump campaign lawsuit on Saturday is so obvious it is easy to miss. And no, it is not that the rejecting was done by a Trump-appointed judge, Brett H. Ludwig, or that it was done on the merits. After all that’s been said over the last six weeks, this fleeting passage near the start of the court’s workmanlike, 23-page decision and order should take our breath away (my highlighting):

With the Electoral College meeting just days away, the Court declined to address the issues in piecemeal fashion and instead provided plaintiff with an expedited hearing on the merits of his claims. On the morning of the hearing, the parties reached agreement on a stipulated set of facts and then presented arguments to the Court.

A “stipulated set of facts,” in this context, is an agreement between the lawyers for the adversary parties about what testimony witnesses would give, and/or what facts would be established, if the parties went through the process of calling witnesses and offering tangible evidence at a hearing or trial.… So what happened in Wisconsin? Judge Ludwig denied the state’s claims that the campaign lacked standing. Instead, he gave the campaign the hearing they asked for — the opportunity to call witnesses and submit damning exhibits. Yet, when it got down to brass tacks, the morning of the hearing, it turned out there was no actual disagreement between the Trump team and Wisconsin officials about the pertinent facts of the case. The president’s counsel basically said: Never mind, we don’t need to present all our proof . . . we’ll just stipulate to all the relevant facts and argue legal principles. In the end, after all the heated rhetoric, what did they tell the court the case was really about? Just three differences over the manner in which the election was administered — to all of which, as Ludwig pointed out, the campaign could have objected before the election if these matters had actually been of great moment.

Full Article: Trump Campaign Wisconsin Election Lawsuit: Court Rejects Allegations | National Review

Wisconsin GOP withholds Trump recount funds for Milwaukee, Dane counties | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Republican-led Legislature's budget committee is holding up reimbursements to two counties for their recount costs. President Donald Trump's campaign paid $3 million for recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties, Wisconsin's two most Democratic areas. But two top Republicans said Friday they were withholding the money from the counties for now. They did not explain why. Lawmakers "are playing politics with money that isn't theirs," said Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson. "It's acting in bad faith," he said. "It's not their money. It's Trump's money and this is what he decided to spend it on." Under state law, losing candidates can request recounts but must pay the cost upfront if they lost by more than 0.25 percentage points. Trump lost Wisconsin to Democrat Joe Biden by 0.6 points and paid in advance for the recounts in the two counties. The recounts resulted in Biden slightly widening his lead, and courts so far have upheld Biden's victory in the state.

Full Article: Wis. GOP withholds Trump recount funds for Milwaukee, Dane counties

Wisconsin GOP election official says no evidence of voter fraud | Bill Glauber and Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission told legislative committees Friday that he has "not seen credible evidence of large-scale voter fraud in Wisconsin during the November election." There were no dumps of ballots during the night, none," Dean Knudson told lawmakers looking into the conduct of the Nov. 3 election that Democrat Joe Biden won by about 21,000 votes over President Donald Trump. "There is no evidence of any fraud related to Dominion voting machines in Wisconsin," Knudson said. "Counting in Wisconsin did not stop and restart. Election observers were allowed to be present throughout Election Day and election night proceedings. The number of voters on our poll books match the number of ballots cast. "There has been no criminal evidence presented to the Elections Commission that any of these problems occurred in Wisconsin," he said.

Full Article: Wisconsin GOP election official says no evidence of voter fraud

Wisconsin Trump lawsuit is thrown out, 5th adverse ruling in days | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A state judge concluded Wisconsin's election was conducted properly Friday, dealing President Donald Trump and his allies their fifth legal defeat in a little over a week. "There is no credible evidence of misconduct or wide-scale fraud," Reserve Judge Stephen Simanek said. Simanek issued his decision from the bench 73 hours before the Electoral College is to meet Monday to officially deliver the presidency to Democrat Joe Biden. Wisconsin's slate of 10 electors for Biden has already been certified, and Simanek's decision upheld that finding. Over the last week, courts in Wisconsin have thrown out four other lawsuits brought by Trump and his backers. And after a daylong hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig said he thought Trump might have taken too long to file yet another lawsuit. Ludwig is expected to rule in that case by Saturday. Trump lost Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes out of 3.3 million. That's a margin of 0.6 percentage points. He paid $3 million for recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties, the state's most populous and most liberal areas. The recounts slightly widened Biden's winning margin. Trump then filed a lawsuit directly with the state Supreme Court, but the justices last week on a 4-3 vote rejected it. The majority concluded Trump should have started in circuit court rather than the state's high court.

Full Article: Trump lawsuit in Wisconsin is thrown out, 5th adverse ruling in days

Wisconsin: Federal Judge: ‘Incredible’ That Trump Waited To File Lawsuit | Shawn Johnson/Wisconsin Public Radio

The judge hearing President Donald Trump’s federal lawsuit seeking to overturn Wisconsin’s November election said Thursday that such a move would be without precedent in U.S. history. The comments were the latest example of a skeptical tone struck by U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig, who is being asked to reverse President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin. Trump’s lawyers are asking Ludgwig to declare Wisconsin’s entire presidential election unconstitutional, leaving it to Wisconsin’s GOP-controlled Legislature to choose the state’s presidential electors. “The relief that’s been requested, if that relief were granted, this would be a most remarkable proceeding and probably the most remarkable ruling in the history of this court or the federal judiciary,” Ludwig said Thursday during arguments in Milwaukee. “That’s not lost on me. I get that.” Ludwig was nominated for his judgeship by Trump earlier this year. At its core, Trump’s lawsuit argues the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s guidance to clerks and voters ran contrary to state law when it came to several categories of absentee ballots.

Full Article: Federal Judge: ‘Incredible’ That Trump Waited To File Wisconsin Lawsuit | Wisconsin Public Radio

Wisconsin Republicans are calling partisans instead of election professionals for their hearing on voting | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A month ago, Republican lawmakers said they were prepared to issue subpoenas for the first time in decades to haul election officials before them to get answers about how the presidential contest was conducted. But they have now abandoned that plan and aren’t even bothering to invite them to attend a Friday hearing looking into an election that Democrat Joe Biden won by about 21,000 votes in the state. Instead, they’re asking to hear from a conservative radio talk show host, a former state Supreme Court justice, a postal subcontractor who has offered a debunked theory about backdated absentee ballots and an election observer whom President Donald Trump wants to testify in court in one of his lawsuits over the election. Friday’s hearing before two committees is being overseen by Rep. Ron Tusler of Harrison and Sen. Kathy Bernier of Lake Hallie. The two have not sought testimony from Meagan Wolfe, the director of the state Elections Commission, or Claire Woodall-Vogg, the director of the Milwaukee Election Commission. Tusler has spent the last month reviewing what he has said are thousands of complaints and concerns about the election, but he’s yet to talk to Woodall-Vogg about them, Woodall-Vogg said. “No one has contacted me during the course of their 'investigation' into claims over the past month,” Woodall-Vogg said by email.

Full Article: Wisconsin GOP election hearing will hear from partisans, not pros

Wisconsin: GOP head of elections panel won’t acknowledge Biden’s win | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The chairman of the Assembly’s elections committee says he is unsure who won Wisconsin’s presidential election and might support having the GOP-controlled Legislature try to flip Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes from Joe Biden to Donald Trump. Republican Rep. Ron Tusler of Harrison, the chairman of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, also said he would not vote early in person in the spring election, as he did in November, because he no longer believes the procedure is being conducted legally by officials around the state. Tusler's committee plans to host a wide-ranging hearing Friday alongside a Senate committee to look into the Nov. 3 election, which Biden won by about 21,000 votes, a margin of 0.6 percentage points. The legislative hearing comes as courts in Wisconsin try to resolve lawsuits by Trump and his allies before the Electoral College casts ballots Monday. Meanwhile, one of Tusler’s colleagues warned of a revolt over the election and a Republican on the state Elections Commission said he had filed a complaint against Democratic Gov. Tony Evers for certifying the results. Trump and his backers have been trying without success to overturn the election, and officials from both parties, including U.S. Attorney General William Barr, have said they have not found any signs of widespread fraud that would change the outcome. Trump last month fired cybersecurity chief Christopher Krebs after he announced the election was the most secure in the country's history. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tusler wouldn’t say whether he agreed with election officials who found Biden won Wisconsin.

Full Article: GOP head of elections panel won't acknowledge Biden's win in Wisconsin

Wisconsin: With case pending in state court, Wisconsin is only state to miss election safe-harbor deadline | Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin faces another effort seeking to overturn the Nov. 3 presidential election — this time in the U.S. Supreme Court — as the state becomes the only one in the nation to miss a federal deadline to finalize its election results.  But a unanimous decision by the nation's highest court on Tuesday to reject a similar lawsuit over Pennsylvania's election outcome signals to President Donald Trump and his allies that their efforts to invalidate Wisconsin votes likely won't succeed. The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to stop Pennsylvania from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the state despite allegations from allies of Trump that the expansion of mail-in voting was illegal. The action by the court, which includes three justices appointed by Trump, came as states across the country are locking in the results that will lead to next week's Electoral College vote. It represented the latest in a string of stinging judicial opinions that have left the president defeated both politically and legally. Every state but Wisconsin appears to have met a so-called safe-harbor deadline set by federal law, which means Congress has to accept the electoral votes that will be cast next week, locking in Biden's victory.  The safe-harbor provision protects states against challenges in Congress through certifying the results of the election and resolving legal challenges in state courts by the deadline, which was Tuesday. Wisconsin election officials still have a case pending in state court that wasn't resolved by the safe-harbor date, in addition to the federal actions that are still pending.

Full Article: Wisconsin is only state to miss election safe-harbor deadline

Wisconsin: Despite a surge in absentee voting, changes to ballot processing languish | Nora Eckert/Wisconsin Watch

As Claire Woodall-Vogg stood in the middle of an empty Central Count facility days before the Nov. 3 election, it wasn’t just the national spotlight on the city of Milwaukee or the swirling claims of voter fraud that weighed heavily on her mind. It was the frustration that she, and hundreds of other Milwaukee election workers, were facing an unprecedented pile of absentee ballots — and no permission to process them. For years, Woodall-Vogg, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, and other election officials have pushed for absentee vote processing to start before Election Day. While momentum on this front has built since 2008, with two pieces of legislation proposed in the last legislative session alone, Wisconsin still bars workers from opening absentee ballots before an election. “I get pretty frustrated by it and pretty angry that we’re being forced to risk our own health,” Woodall-Vogg said, her voice straining as she explained that more than 400 election workers would take shifts counting absentee ballots until all were tabulated. Woodall-Vogg had hoped workers would have more time to process absentee ballots, so they wouldn’t have to work around the clock in the enclosed Central Count space on Election Day. Earlier processing also would have allowed Wisconsin to avoid unwarranted charges by President Donald Trump and his allies of middle-of-the-night “dumps” of absentee ballots that in most places tended to favor former Vice President Joe Biden. Rules for processing ballots vary across the country. Wisconsin is one of a handful of states that doesn’t allow workers to process ballots until Election Day, while others, such as Massachusetts, Washington and Colorado, allow workers to process ballots as soon as they receive them.

Full Article: Despite a surge in absentee voting, changes to ballot processing languish in Wisconsin

Wisconsin Supreme Court deals Trump election challenges 3rd defeat | Patrick Marley and Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For the third time in less than 30 hours, four justices on the state Supreme Court dealt President Donald Trump a setback Friday, saying they wouldn't accept a lawsuit by Trump allies who wanted to let Republican lawmakers instead of voters decide how to cast the state's electoral votes. As with two decisions Thursday, Friday's ruling was 4-3, with conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn joining the court's liberals to rebuff the president as he seeks to take away Democrat Joe Biden's narrow win of the state. "The relief being sought by the petitioners is the most dramatic invocation of judicial power I have ever seen," Hagedorn wrote. "While the rough and tumble world of electoral politics may be the prism through which many view this litigation, it cannot be so for us. In these hallowed halls, the law must rule." The ruling came just hours after a federal judge appointed by Trump expressed skepticism toward a separate challenge to the election results brought by the president. The case before the state Supreme Court was filed by the Wisconsin Voters Alliance, a conservative group formed this fall in Kewaunee County that maintained the election was conducted improperly. The group raised some of the same arguments Trump did in a lawsuit that the justices threw out on Thursday. Hagedorn expressed alarm at the group's request to throw out nearly 3.3 million votes, calling it a "real stunner." "We are invited to invalidate the entire presidential election in Wisconsin by declaring it ‘null’ — yes, the whole thing," wrote Hagedorn, who served as chief counsel to Republican Scott Walker when he was governor.

Full Article: Wisconsin Supreme Court deals Trump election challenges 3rd defeat

Wisconsin high court declines to hear Trump election lawsuit | Scott Bauer/Associated Press

A split Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday refused to hear President Donald Trump’s lawsuit attempting to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the battleground state, sidestepping a decision on the merits of the claims and instead ruling that the case must first wind its way through lower courts. The defeat on a 4-3 ruling was the latest in a string of losses for Trump’s post-election lawsuits. Judges in multiple battleground states have rejected his claims of fraud or irregularities. Dissenting conservative justices said the decision would forever “stain” the outcome of the election. Trump asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots in the state’s two biggest Democratic counties, alleging irregularities in the way absentee ballots were administered. His lawsuit echoed claims that were earlier rejected by election officials in those counties during a recount that barely affected Biden’s winning margin of about 20,700 votes. Trump had wanted the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case directly, saying there wasn’t enough time to wage the legal battle by starting first with a lower court given the looming Dec. 14 date when presidential electors cast their votes. But attorneys for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the state Department of Justice argued the the lawsuit had to start with lower courts. Swing Justice Brian Hagedorn joined three liberal justices in denying the petition without weighing in on Trump’s allegations.

Full Article: Wisconsin high court declines to hear Trump election lawsuit

Wisconsin: Trump sues in federal court to put state lawmakers in charge of election outcome | Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

President Donald Trump and his allies are bombarding state and federal judges across the country with lawsuits seeking to change the outcome of the presidential election — the latest in a Wisconsin federal court. Trump called on a federal judge late Wednesday to respond to the case within 48 hours as the president seeks to find a foothold in a courtroom before the Electoral College meets in 11 days to finalize the election for President-elect Joe Biden. The lawsuit by the Trump campaign challenges absentee voting in Wisconsin by arguing it discriminates against "able-bodied" voters, that broad availability of voting by mail contradicts the Wisconsin Legislature's disfavor of such voting, and because ballot drop boxes were not manned. "While everyone understands that public officials working in cities and towns across Wisconsin are dedicated and selfless, it should not be a moment of pride that the Wisconsin Elections Commission offered so little guidance that absentee ballots could be intermingled with library books and utility bills," the suit argues. On Thursday, the case was assigned to Judge Brett Ludwig in the eastern district court in Milwaukee. Trump named Ludwig to the seat earlier this year to fill the long-vacant seat of Judge Rudolph Randa, who died in 2016. The U.S. Senate confirmed Ludwig on Sept. 9. That action came hours before the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to hear a separate case filed by Trump attorneys. That case, which seeks to nullify more than 200,000 votes cast in Milwaukee and Dane counties, is likely to be refiled in state circuit court.

Full Article: Trump files federal court challenge to Wisconsin election outcome