Wisconsin regulators accuse Michael Gableman of conduct violations
Michael Gableman
MADISON, Wis. - Judicial regulators filed a complaint Tuesday against a former conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who spread election conspiracy theories and was hired by Republicans to lead an investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, accusing him of violating multiple rules of conduct.
The Office of Lawyer Regulation 10-count complaint accuses former Justice Michael Gableman of violations which could result in a variety of sanctions, including possibly losing his law license. The complaint does not make a specific recommendation regarding what sanction the Wisconsin Supreme Court should apply.
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Gableman did not immediately return text messages seeking comment.
The complaint stems from Gableman’s work investigating allegations of fraud and abuse related to the 2020 election that Trump narrowly lost in Wisconsin. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos had hired him to lead the inquiry. Gableman found no evidence of widespread fraud during his investigation, drew bipartisan derision and cost taxpayers more than $2.3 million.
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Vos said in 2021 when he hired Gableman that he was "supremely confident" in his abilities. But when he fired Gableman in August 2022, Vos called him an "embarrassment." Gableman this year helped backers of Trump who were attempting to recall Vos from office. Two of their efforts failed to gather enough valid signatures to force a vote.
Vos in 2022 said Gableman should lose his law license over his conduct during the election probe. Vos did not return a message Tuesday seeking comment.
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In his seven-month inquiry, Gableman was sued over his response to open records requests and subpoenas and countersued. He was ridiculed for scant expense records, criticized for sending confusing emails and making rudimentary errors in his filings and called out for meeting with conspiracy theorists.
The complaint accuses Gableman of making false statements, disrupting a court hearing, questioning a judge’s integrity, making derogatory remarks about opposing counsel, violating open records law and revealing information about representing Vos during the investigation while Gableman was promoting a failed effort to recall Vos from office.
The complaint came after Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington forwarded his contempt order against Gableman in 2022 to the Office of Lawyer Regulation for possible action. Remington found Gableman in contempt of court for not complying with the state’s open records law related to a lawsuit filed by the liberal group American Oversight seeking records related to the 2020 election investigation.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Gableman, during that lawsuit, was captured on a microphone while the court was in recess making sarcastic comments about the judge and the ability of American Oversight’s attorney Christa Westerberg to do her job without the help of the judge.
Remington said Gableman’s behavior was misogynistic and an "affront to the judicial process and an insult" to Westerberg.
Attorneys from the liberal law firm Law Forward also requested sanctions against Gableman in 2023. They alleged that Gableman "has embraced conspiracy theories, spread lies, rejected facts, impugned the character of people he perceives to be his adversaries, and abused the legal process."
Gableman was a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 2008 to 2018 and joined with the conservative majority in several major rulings, including one that upheld the state law that effectively ended collective bargaining for public workers. The court is now controlled 4-3 by liberal justices, including one who was elected to fill the seat vacated by Gableman.