A special investigator and former member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court who has been looking into potential voter fraud in the 2020 election is now threatening mayors with jail time if they fail to comply with his requests for information.
“Conservative former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman on Friday filed yet another petition in Waukesha County Circuit Court against the two mayors, this time adding Racine Mayor Cory Mason, the city clerks from Madison and Green Bay, staff from the Wisconsin Elections Commission and city of Milwaukee employees,” The Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Democrat Mayors Eric Genrich of Green Bay and Satya Rhodes-Conway of Madison would also be subject to the punishment.
Gableman has reportedly been weighing his options in deciding what to do with the non-compliant elected officials. Before changing his tune, he said that he would not take criminal action against them.
In October, he issued subpoenas to the mayors, seeking election records. He also wanted them to give depositions about potential voter fraud in their cities during the 2020 election, which has been a contentious subject nationwide.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) “has allocated $676,000 in taxpayer money for the Gableman-led, one-party review of the election, which is focused on some of the procedures voters and clerks relied on in casting and processing ballots,” according to The Wisconsin State Journal. “Vos has said the review could cost more, and he has not said when it might be finished or what additional expenses might accrue.”
Gableman is reportedly seeking “emails, voting machine information and other election-related documents.”
If the elected officials do not comply, Gableman wants them incarcerated until they decide they will comply.
Wisconsin is a swing state that former President Donald Trump was expected to win but lost by a slim .63% margin – 21,000 votes in a state with a population of nearly six million handing the state’s 10 Electoral College votes over to then-candidate Joe Biden.
Trump still contends that the presidency was fraudulently stolen from him as speculation swirls about another potential run for the nation’s highest office in 2024.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Wisconsin Daily Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
