A Republican lawyer hired to investigate the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin released a provocative interim report on Tuesday and urged the state to consider decertifying the contest.
Michael Gableman, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, claimed he initiated his investigation with an open mind but discovered evidence of malfeasance in the election. His 136-page report centered on allegations that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg helped undermine the election.
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“When I started this procedure, I had no other goal in mind than to find the truth, and while we don’t have it entirely yet, we’re getting it,” Gableman said during a hearing Tuesday in which he presented his preliminary findings. “At this point, I believe the Legislature ought to take a very hard look at the option of decertification of the 2020 Wisconsin presidential election.”
At the heart of his report were allegations that election funding originating from private donations to the Center for Tech and Civic Life amounted to bribery. The funding was used to help municipalities adjust their election procedures for the pandemic. Donations to the nonprofit organization came from all over the country and included millions of dollars from Zuckerberg.
His report dubbed five cities — Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Kenosha, and Green Bay — the “Zuckerberg 5” and said CTCL grants were aimed at boosting Democratic voter turnout under the guise of a “get out the vote” effort. While it is true the five cities received the majority of the grants from CTCL, 39 out of 72 counties in the state also received grants, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Gableman’s investigation has long faced skepticism from Democrats, including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who dismissed the inquiry as a circus and lashed out at state Republicans for enabling him.
“This circus has long surpassed being a mere embarrassment for our state. From the beginning, it has never been a serious or functioning effort, it has lacked public accountability and transparency, and it has been a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars,” Evers said. “This effort has spread disinformation about our election processes, it has attacked the integrity of our clerks, election administrators, and poll workers, and it has emboldened individuals to harass and demean dedicated public servants.”Â
Joe Biden triumphed over then-President Donald Trump in Wisconsin, winning 49.45% to 48.82% by about 20,000 votes. Trump alleged that voter fraud and irregularities took place in states that he lost, such as Wisconsin. However, courts and election officials have roundly rejected the claims.
The 2020 election in Wisconsin has faced numerous reviews by prosecutors and independent groups. For example, last year, an investigation by the conservative-leaning Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty evaluated over 20,000 ballots and 29,000 absentee ballots and found “no evidence of widespread voter fraud,” Forbes reported.
In a statement, the Wisconsin Elections Commission blasted Gableman’s interim report, denouncing it as rife with mischaracterizations of Wisconsin election practices.
“Nearly every item in Special Counsel Gableman’s report has already been litigated or otherwise addressed. There appeared to be very little new information or research presented to the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections Tuesday,” the commission said in a statement. “Every decision affecting the 2020 presidential election was fully transparent and made in open meetings. Complainants had every opportunity to challenge those decisions, and some of them did.”
Although Gableman claims he initiated his investigation without any preconceived notions, Gableman told a crowd in November 2020 that bureaucrats at the Wisconsin Elections Commission were allowed to “steal our votes,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. During Tuesday’s hearing, Gableman took aim at his critics, saying, “I know you’ve been making inquiries about me. Maybe I’ll be making inquiries about you very soon too.”
Gableman was hired last summer by Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to investigate possible “voting irregularities” in the 2020 election. But many prominent Republicans in the state appear uneasy with his investigation. Republican state Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Tuesday that he agreed with an attorney for the Legislature who said during the hearing that it was not possible for the Legislature to decertify the election. Steineke said he believed the Legislature was “largely united” on that view.
Near the end of his report, Gableman laid out legal arguments for decertifying the election. He argued that while the state’s constitution does not explicitly authorize the Legislature to decertify the election, it does not prohibit such action either. His report said the Legislature could pass a resolution declaring that the 2020 election violated state law and then use “plenary power” to designate electors that best “accorded with the outcome of the election.” He noted that such an action would not “change who the current President is.”
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In addition to accusations levied against the “Zuckerberg 5,” Gableman also alleged that the state used illegal drop boxes, that nursing homes illegally assisted residents with voting, and that noncitizens were able to vote in the election “unimpeded.” Dozens of states enacted temporary measures to allow drop boxes and expand absentee voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A separate inquiry into possible election malpractice in Wisconsin nursing homes failed to produce criminal charges, but the prosecutor noted that she believed election laws had been broken by staff, NBC 15 reported.
Last December, Gableman requested that a circuit court compel mayors in Madison and Green Bay to comply with his investigation. The mayors claim they adequately complied with his requests and asked for his lawsuit to be dismissed, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. A judge scheduled a hearing on the matter for April, likely prolonging his inquiry. Tuesday’s report was characterized as an interim report. Gableman indicated during the hearing before the Legislature Tuesday that he is not yet finished with his inquiry.
Trump’s Save America political action committee sent multiple emails to followers in which he told them to pay attention to the results of the Wisconsin inquiry. “Read carefully because, despite the findings, the Fake News will never allow you to see what is happening,” he said in one of the missives.
