Alternate Wisconsin Trump electors admit Biden won, settle lawsuit
MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin Republicans, in settling a civil lawsuit, admitted their paperwork was used to try to "improperly" overturn the 2020 presidential election.
In the settlement, Wisconsin Republicans revoked the documents they sent to the federal and state governments. They stated they will fully cooperate, or continue to cooperate, with the U.S. Department of Justice in any investigations. They also agreed not to serve as presidential electors in 2024 and future elections with Donald Trump on the ballot.
The Republicans will not have to pay damages, but they have handed over their texts and emails. It sheds light on behind-the-scenes Republican discussions – including from Dec. 14, 2020, the day Electoral College members met in every statehouse to cast their votes.
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In Madison that day, 10 Republicans filled out paperwork certifying that Trump won Wisconsin when he had in fact lost the state by 20,000 votes. The same happened in six other battleground states.
In the settlement, the 10 Republicans stated: "The elector defendants took the foregoing action because they were told that it was necessary to preserve their electoral votes in the event a court challenge may later change the outcome of the election in Wisconsin. That document was then used as part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results."
The Republicans also said in the settlement: "We hereby reaffirm that Joseph R. Biden, Jr. won the 2020 presidential election."
"I think today’s settlement is a big win for democracy in Wisconsin," said Jeff Mandell with Law Forward, a liberal law firm.
Donald Trump
Law Forward filed the civil lawsuit against the 10 Republicans on behalf of voters, including two Democratic electors. The lawsuit was settled out of court.
"We initiated this lawsuit really with the goals of making sure the people of Wisconsin could understand exactly what had happened after the 2020 election and to make sure it could never happen again," Mandell said. "Today’s settlement accomplishes both of those goals.
"This case has always been about trying to make sure that a small group of insiders cannot disregard the will of the voters and try to intervene with the peaceful transfer of power in the United States, by saying who the voters chose don’t matter."
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With the lawsuit, Republicans turned over their texts and emails. In one text before the Dec. 14 meeting, Wisconsin GOP Executive Director Mark Jefferson wrote then-Wisconsin Republican Chairman Andrew Hitt: "Now how are we gonna get this silly electors meeting canceled." Then, Jefferson sent another: "Freaking trump [sic] idiots want someone to fly original electoral papers to the senate president."
Emails from Kenneth Chesebro, who pled guilty to a similar allegation in Georgia, gave guidance to Wisconsin Republicans on mailing the documents.
In one email, a Wisconsin Republican staff member shared tracking numbers for the paperwork sent to the vice president, the U.S. archivist and the Wisconsin Secretary of State.
One Republican was asked if they expected their votes to be counted. The response over text: "I certainly don't."
Another texted about the Republican meeting and documents: "It's not valid unless the courts rule" and "It wasn't official. Because it couldn't be."
One texted about the alternative meeting: "I feel like I have to do it otherwise there will be a target on my back in my own district for the chair…Also-it could piss off the trump [sic] base..."
Reaction
Former Wisconsin Republican Chairman Andrew Hitt:
"The Wisconsin electors were tricked and misled into participating in what became the alternate elector scheme and would have never taken any actions had we known that there were ulterior reasons beyond preserving an ongoing legal strategy.
"I will not be supporting Trump in 2024. We have serious problems facing this country and we need a President who will not repeat 2020 and will focus on tackling those difficult issues.
"I have been working with the Department of Justice since May of 2022."