Two lawyers for then-President Donald Trump led the plan. fake elector A lawsuit settlement reached on Monday reveals months of texts and emails released in a strategy to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 victory in Wisconsin and other battleground states that Republicans won in Wisconsin. submitted false documents.
Under the agreement, Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Tupis submitted more than 1,400 pages of documents, emails and text messages, along with photos and videos, providing a detailed explanation of the program's origins in Wisconsin. . This communication shows how they, with the help of Trump campaign officials, The strategy was replicated in six other states. Chesebro already includes Georgia plead guilty for charges stemming from the 2020 election.
an agreement is reached civil lawsuit A 2022 lawsuit filed by Democrats against two Wisconsin attorneys and 10 Republicans who posed as fake electors. Republicans have reconciled During December.
“Our democracy demands better than this,” said Scott Thompson, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers who helped negotiate the agreement. “That's why this lawsuit … has consistently sought transparency, accountability, and deterrence. We can't let something like this happen again.”
There is no admission of wrongdoing or liability in the agreement, in which Mr. Chesebro and Mr. Troupis promise never to participate in similar efforts related to future presidential campaigns. The organization must also pay an undisclosed amount to the plaintiffs.
Troupis said in an emailed statement Monday that the “electoral bypoll” is a “reasonable action” given the 2020 results below. attractive to the United States Supreme Court.
“This settlement was made to avoid endless litigation, and today's settlement does not and should not constitute an admission of fault.”
Calls and text messages left for Chesebro on Monday were not immediately returned.
Electors are people appointed to represent voters in presidential elections. The winner of each state's popular vote determines which party's electors are sent to the Electoral College, which meets in December after the election to certify the results.
Documents show how Chesebro and Trump's Wisconsin attorney Troupis used arcane laws to streamline and create fake certificates for fake electors. . It also revealed how the two men devised strategies to sway public opinion, including delaying the deadline for elector certification and floating the idea on conservative talk radio.
Same as November 2020 waiting for decision Chesebro was hired as a conservative radio host in Milwaukee and Madison following an opinion from the then-conservative-leaning Wisconsin Supreme Court about Trump's efforts to invalidate thousands of votes in the state. I suggested that Tropis contact me. Will the judge hear this immediately and prejudge the case? ”
He finished with a winking emoji.
Fake election campaign takes center stage in August federal indictment He filed a lawsuit against Trump, accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 election results.Federal prosecutors are conducting an investigation related to his conduct. January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, also says the plan started in Wisconsin.President Trump will also be indicted georgia and denies wrongdoing.
michigan and nevada Criminal charges have been filed against fake electors, but there are no known criminal investigations in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, did not rule out a state investigation but indicated he was relying on federal investigators. Lawyers who negotiated the settlement said the information in the documents had already been provided to Kaul's office.
Monday's agreement was announced by Georgetown University Law Center's Institute for Constitutional Defense and Advocacy, Law Forward, and the Madison-based Stafford Rosenbaum law firm.
Plaintiffs' lawyers say the documents show how Troupis, a former judge who represents the Wisconsin Republican Party, was deeply involved in the effort's origins.
Trump lost Wisconsin to Democrat Biden. Less than 21,000 vote.
At Torpi's urging, Cesebro drafted a memo in the final months of 2020 detailing how to create and sign fake electoral certificates. The document includes a 10-minute video of fake electors voting for Trump at the Wisconsin State Capitol, cheering and taking pictures as they sign their ballots.
The documents do not include any direct communications with President Trump, but they do include communications with senior campaign aides and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
A day after Mr. Chesebro shared his Dec. 6 memo about the strategy, Mr. Troupis followed up with a text. A real decision maker. ”
There is also a brief mention of a meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office on the afternoon of Dec. 15, which both men attended, along with others. A few days later, Chesebro referenced President Trump's social media post calling his supporters to Washington on January 6th, saying: “Stay in there and it’s going to be wild!”
“Oh. Based on 3 days ago, I think we have our own understanding of this,” Chesebro texts Troupis.
Trump campaign officials have released an assessment of each state's progress regarding the fake elector program.
“Wisconsin appears to be the most organized state ever,” concluded a Dec. 11, 2020, email from Joshua Findlay, deputy general counsel for the Trump campaign, to Chesebro.
“All of this started out of Wisconsin and spread to other states,” said Mary McCord, an attorney with the Georgetown Institute who helped negotiate the settlement. “That was a key part of the story that led to the violence on January 6th.”
After the deadly attack at the Capitol, lawyers discussed: change direction by mistake Condemnation has come from Trump supporters and members of the anti-fascist movement, among others.
“If it weren't for Antifa's role in the actual invasion, I hope Trump's agents understood that…the scene at the Capitol would have been completely peaceful. And Trump could not have reasonably foreseen this.” I didn’t (couldn’t),” Chesebro wrote in a text to Troupis.
“If the president invites Biden and (Vice President Kamala) Harris for coffee on the morning of the inauguration and attends the (virtual) inauguration, he can forget about this,” he added.
government and external investigationfound uniformly There was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could sway the 2020 election.But Mr. Trump continued to spread falsehoods About elections.
