Pro-Trump Attorneys Face Felony Charges in Wisconsin Over Alternate Electors Plan

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks at an event in Milwaukee, Wisc., on Oct. 27, 2022. AP Photo/Morry Gash, File

Two attorneys and an aide face felony forgery charges in Wisconsin for their alleged role in a so-called alternate electors plan involving submitting “alternate” or, as some allege, “fake” electoral certificates for President Donald Trump in Wisconsin in a bid to preserve his claim of victory in the 2020 election amid pending legal challenges to the official results.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, on Tuesday filed charges against Trump-allied attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Troupis, as well as former Trump aide Mike Roman, accusing them of helping to submit paperwork stating that President Trump had won the battleground state in 2020.

Each of the accused faces a single count of forgery-uttering—943.38(2) of the Wisconsin Statutes—which is a class H felony punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The relevant statute makes it a crime for whoever “utters as genuine” a forged legal document or public record.

Dane County Circuit Court records show that each of the defendants has been served a summons for an initial court appearance set for Sept. 19, 2024.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Mr. Chesebro and Mr. Troupis for comment. No attorney contact was available for Mr. Roman.

The Wisconsin Attorney General’s office did not respond to a comment request.

Mr. Chesebro and Mr. Troupis settled a civil lawsuit in December 2023 that had been brought against them in Wisconsin relating to the alternate electors plan.

Background

Mr. Chesebro has been widely publicized as the attorney who proposed the use of alternate slates of electors in several states, with a Nov. 18, 2020, memo from Mr. Chesebro to Mr. Troupis detailing the plan with respect to Wisconsin.

Besides Wisconsin, alternate electors cast votes for President Trump in another six states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania.

The Trump-aligned electors faced criticism for allegedly usurping the authority of the Democrat electors who were authorized by state election officials to submit electoral certificates based on the official election results.

However, the Republican electors argued that their decision to submit alternate certificates was to preserve President Trump’s legal claim for the election as legal challenges to the results made their way through the courts.

The charges filed on Tuesday in Wisconsin are the first in the state relating to the alternate electors plan, which involved 10 Wisconsin Republican electors meeting at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, to cast ballots for President Trump while Democrat electors met in another part of the building to do the same—except for President Joe Biden.

However, only the Democrat electors were named as the duly elected electors on the certificate of ascertainment signed by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.

This was also the case in the six other states where alternate Republican electors cast competing electoral votes, a fact that has bolstered prosecutors’ cases for charges to be brought there against alternate electors, who have often been dubbed in court filings and press releases as “fake electors.”

Arizona recently became the fourth state where Trump-aligned electors have been criminally charged, with cases ongoing in Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada.

More Details

The 10 Republican electors in Wisconsin—along with Mr. Chesebro and Mr. Troupis—all settled a civil lawsuit in Wisconsin related to the alternate electors plan.

As part of the settlement, the alternate electors acknowledged that President Biden won the state of Wisconsin, withdrew their filings, and agreed not to serve as electors in the 2024 election.

Official results indicate President Biden won Wisconsin by roughly 21,000 votes.

Mr. Chesebro and Mr. Roman were also among the 18 people indicted along with President Trump in August 2023 for alleged racketeering in Georgia’s Fulton County. They face allegations of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to try to illegally overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

Mr. Chesebro pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents in a plea deal with prosecutors.

Mr. Roman has pleaded not guilty in the Georgia case.

An attorney representing Mr. Roman sued the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in January, alleging that her office failed to produce documents to the defense and intentionally withheld information.

Mr. Roman’s complaint also accused Ms. Willis of profiting from public funds and engaging in an “improper” relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, an attorney hired to prosecute the election case.

The fallout from those allegations led to court proceedings that examined whether the relationship resulted in any conflicts of interest.

Ultimately, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that the relationship created an “appearance of impropriety” but that there was no actual conflict of interest.

Mr. Wade subsequently resigned in the wake of the scandal, while Ms. Willis continues in her role at the helm of the Fulton County DA’s office, which is leading the election interference case against President Trump.

The 45th president has pleaded not guilty and maintains the case is a politically driven attempt to thwart his 2024 presidential comeback bid.