Former Trump Associates Accuse Judge of Misconduct in Wisconsin Forgery Case
President Donald Trump's former attorney in Wisconsin has accused a judge overseeing his felony forgery case related to the 2020 election of misconduct and requested that the judge step aside. The attorney, along with two other former Trump associates, has asked for a postponement of the preliminary hearing and an evidentiary hearing in another county to investigate the allegations of wrongdoing. The details of the alleged misconduct have been sealed by the court.
The attorney, Jim Troupis, who represented Trump in Wisconsin during the 2020 election, filed the motion ahead of the scheduled preliminary hearing in Dane County Circuit Court. The other defendants in the case are Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who advised the campaign, and Mike Roman, Trump's director of Election Day operations in 2020. They face 11 felony charges related to a fake elector scheme in an attempt to falsely claim that Trump had won Wisconsin in 2020.
The charges against the defendants carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each count. The case has been progressing slowly through the Wisconsin courts, with the defendants initially seeking to have the charges dismissed. However, the motion to dismiss was denied by Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland in August, prompting the latest allegations of misconduct.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is prosecuting the case, has not yet responded to the allegations of misconduct. The defendants have requested that the preliminary hearing be canceled, all Dane County judges recuse themselves from the case, and that the entire case be moved to another county. The charges brought against the Trump associates are the only ones in Wisconsin, and none of the electors involved have been charged.
The fake elector scheme, which originated in Wisconsin, was part of an effort to overturn the 2020 election results. The defendants created a document falsely claiming that Trump had won Wisconsin's Electoral College votes and attempted to deliver it to then-Vice President Mike Pence. Despite the defendants' arguments that no crime was committed, the judge allowed the case to proceed, rejecting their claims.
Similar cases related to fake elector schemes are ongoing in Nevada and Georgia, but they have not reached the trial stage. The defendants in the Wisconsin case continue to maintain their innocence as the legal proceedings unfold.