Wisconsin prosecutors have added 10 new felony charges against three individuals associated with Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign. This includes Jim Troupis, Trump’s attorney in Wisconsin, Kenneth Chesebro, an advisor to the campaign, and Mike Roman, who served as the director of Election Day operations. Initially, each faced a single felony charge of forgery, which was filed back in June.
The additional charges, filed just two days prior to their scheduled initial court appearances, allege that they engaged in forgery with the intent to deceive the 10 Republican electors who cast votes for Trump. Each of the 11 felony charges holds a potential penalty of up to six years in prison and a fine of $10,000. The defense attorneys for the accused have yet to make public comments regarding these developments.
Notably, the charges brought against these individuals are unique to Wisconsin, with no charges filed against the electors involved. In fact, the 10 electors, along with Chesebro and Troupis, settled a related lawsuit earlier in 2023. Additionally, there are ongoing investigations into similar fake electors schemes in other states, including Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia. The federal probe focusing on Trump’s actions surrounding the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot indicates that the scheme initially originated in Wisconsin.
Electors, appointed representatives in the presidential election process, submit votes based on the popular vote outcome in their respective states. The process culminates in the Electoral College when electors meet in December to finalize and certify the election results. Unlike most states, Maine and Nebraska allow for the splitting of electoral votes.
The latest complaint outlines how Troupis, Chesebro, and Roman purportedly created a document falsely declaring Trump’s victory in Wisconsin and attempted to deliver it to then-Vice President Mike Pence. According to prosecutors in the amended complaint, many of the electors informed investigators that their signatures were intended solely to keep legal options open, anticipating potential court alterations in the election’s outcome. They indicated their belief that their signatures would not be submitted to Congress without a definitive court ruling.
Additionally, several electors expressed that they did not authorize their signatures to be showcased as an indication of Trump’s victory without a court’s endorsement. Troupis has filed multiple motions to dismiss the charges against him ahead of the upcoming hearing. He argues that the actions taken by the Republican electors aimed to prepare for possible legal recourse if the Supreme Court sided with Trump, thereby contending that no crime was committed.
One of Troupis’s dismissal motions claims that federal law should supersede in this instance, asserting that state court actions are legally inappropriate. Furthermore, he argues that essential facts demonstrating the absence of criminal activity were overlooked in the initial complaint. His final dismissal motion states that election crime prosecutions fall under the jurisdiction of the county district attorney rather than the state attorney general.
These charges, filed by Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, were initiated in June, notably prior to Trump’s Wisconsin victory in the subsequent November election. He previously won the state in 2016 but lost in the 2020 election.
The endeavors relating to the false elector scheme have been central to broader federal racketeering charges against Trump, alleging efforts to reverse the results from the 2020 election. However, special counsel Jack Smith recently moved to abandon that case, acknowledging that Trump’s return to the presidency complicates federal prosecution efforts.
In Georgia, Trump, alongside 18 other individuals, faces charges associated with a comprehensive scheme to contest the outcome of the presidential election. He has sought to dismiss this case, arguing that state court jurisdiction dissipates with his upcoming return to office. Chesebro and Roman have also been indicted in Georgia and, while Roman has pleaded not guilty to the presented charges, Chesebro has accepted a guilty plea under a deal with Georgia prosecutors. He is currently in the process of attempting to overturn this plea after the related charge was dismissed by a judge in September.
Chesebro is one of four individuals who pleaded guilty in connection with the Georgia case following the indictment.
