Wisconsin Attorney General Remains Silent on Whether he Plans to Charge Fake Electors in Wisconsin

Friday, July 21st, 2023 -- 12:01 PM

(By Sarah Lehr, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin's Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul declined to say whether he's investigating Wisconsinites who are accused of trying to subvert the 2020 election by casting fake electoral votes.      

According to Sarah Lehr with Wisconsin Public Radio, on Tuesday, Michigan's AG Dana Nessel put a spotlight on the issue when she announced felony charges against 16 Michiganders who signed certificates falsely attesting to former President Donald Trump's victory and sent them to the National Archives.

Their goal was to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, Nessel said. Trump tried to use the dueling slates of electors to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence into certifying the election in Trump's favor.

The charges in Michigan are the first in the country to be filed against false electors as a result of probes into the 2020 election. But Republicans in six other swing states took similar actions when they signed and submitted false certificates denying Biden's victory.

That includes 10 Wisconsinites who are being sued in Dane County Circuit Court over their actions. The use of false electors is also part of a federal criminal investigation by U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith into the Jan. 6 insurrection and other efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

But some have argued Wisconsin's AG should prosecute this state's false electors for potential violations of state law, as well. In a statement Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for Kaul didn't say whether the AG's office is currently pursuing such an investigation or whether it would consider one in the future. 

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