Two Wisconsin judges on Monday dismissed a pair of lawsuits contesting subpoenas issued last year by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman as part of the now-closed GOP review of the state’s 2020 election.
Both cases related to subpoenas that were withdrawn Friday by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who earlier this month fired Gableman and closed the Office of Special Counsel that has cost Wisconsin taxpayers more than $1 million and has failed to provide any evidence to support some Republicans’ claims of widespread fraud in the presidential election.
In a brief order Monday, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Ralph Ramirez dismissed a case brought by Gableman after officials in Wisconsin’s five largest cities refused to sit for private, in-person meetings with him as part of the review.
Later that day, Dane County Circuit Judge Rhonda Lanford dismissed a separate lawsuit brought by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul challenging Gableman’s authority to demand a similar meeting with Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe. Kaul had argued that demanding private interviews is illegal.
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Both judges said no costs would be assessed to any party.
Gableman at one point asked the Waukesha County sheriff to force the mayors of the state’s five largest cities to meet with him or face jail time. Several officials, including Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, said they would meet with Gableman in public.
Rhodes-Conway responded to Ramirez’s ruling in a statement saying “the end of the Gableman reign of error is ten months late and a million dollars short.”
“Wisconsin residents are appalled at the enormous waste of taxpayer money and the damage caused by this sham investigation,” Rhodes-Conway said. “From the start it was a partisan, fact-free and incompetent effort. We expect better from legislative leaders and attorneys working on their behalf. We can finally move on from the 2020 election, but make no mistake, our democracy was damaged by this effort.”
Gableman was hired last summer by Vos after pressure from former President Donald Trump, who continues to promote the lie of a “stolen” 2020 presidential election. A recount, court decisions and multiple reviews have affirmed that President Joe Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. Only 24 people out of nearly 3.3 million who cast ballots have been charged with election fraud in Wisconsin.
The taxpayer-funded review was initially budgeted at $676,000, though legal fees and other court costs have pushed the price tag to more than $1.1 million — all of which will ultimately fall on taxpayers. Gableman was paid more than $100,000 to lead the review.
Gableman in March proposed that the Legislature consider decertifying the results of the election but later backed off that suggestion in a private memo to Vos, in which the former justice acknowledged the idea is a “practical impossibility.” Decertification cannot happen under state law or the U.S. Constitution.
Vos fired Gableman three days after the longtime GOP lawmaker narrowly avoided being unseated in a primary election by long-shot candidate Adam Steen, who was endorsed by both Trump and Gableman. Steen plans to run against Vos as a write-in candidate in the Nov. 8 election.
Coverage of Michael Gableman and the 2020 elections investigation
Read past coverage about Michael Gableman and the GOP-ordered investigation into the 2020 election.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos plans to pay former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman $44,000 to lead a probe of 2020 presidential election results in Wisconsin.
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Gableman's taxpayer-funded salary will be cut in half in the meantime, from $11,000 to $5,500 a month.
Michael Gableman is expected to be back in court on Thursday as part of another case filed by liberal watchdog group American Oversight seeking records related to the GOP-ordered probe into the 2020 election.
"It appears to this court that at this point whatever records may have been responsive are gone … that's for a separate day," Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn said.
The grievance follows a similar complaint filed last month by a Dane County judge for Gableman's courtroom conduct where he refused to testify and accused the judge of being a "partisan" advocate.
Michael Gableman has turned on Speaker Robin Vos, claiming in a new robocall endorsing the speaker's primary challenger that Vos "never wanted a real investigation."
No Democratic opponent will appear on the ballot to face Vos, R-Rochester, in November, giving Vos a clear path to another term. Steen, an election denier, was boosted last week by a Trump endorsement.
Vos said his opinion of Michael Gableman soured after the lead investigator recommended the Legislature decertify the 2020 results.