(The Center Square) – None of the Republicans who signed on as one of former President Donald Trump’s Wisconsin electors is being charged in a new fraud case, but three former Trump advisers are.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced forgery charges Tuesday against attorneys Jim Troupis and Kenneth Chesebro. Kaul also filed charges against former Trump campaign aide Michael Roman, who was also indicted in Georgia.
“I have no doubt that there will be a number of legal arguments raised in this case as this moves forward,” Kaul told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “We feel confident in the charges we brought. We're going to continue to follow the facts where they lead, and this case, like any criminal case, will follow the typical process for a prosecution.”
Kaul didn’t answer specific questions about the case and referred to the criminal complaint that was filed Tuesday morning.
That complaint states that Troupis, Chesebro and Roman “together with other individuals not charged in this complaint, agreed or combined with another with the intent to commit and for the purpose of committing the crime of uttering as genuine a forged writing or object."
Troupis and Chesebro organized the legal strategy for Wisconsin Republicans to sign an alternate slate of electors following the 2020 presidential election.
Roman is accused of delivering that slate to Republicans in Congress in an attempt to get then Vice President Mike Pence to declare Trump the winner on Jan. 6, 2021.
Kaul’s charges focus on the state statutes that criminalize the forgery of public records or legal documents.
“This is an investigation into alleged criminal conduct, and we're going to follow the facts wherever they lead,” Kaul added. “The investigation is not focused on any particular person, but on those facts and what information we can gather.”
None of the alternate electors who signed the Trump paperwork are facing charges.
Those electors signed an agreement in December that ended a civil lawsuit, and none of them admitted to any criminal responsibility.
Wisconsin’s electors say they were simply following the legal advice from Troupis and Chesebro. They’ve long denied any claims of a conspiracy or fraud.
Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson echoed that idea on social media on Tuesday.
“Now Democrats are weaponizing Wisconsin’s judiciary,” Johnson wrote. “Apparently conservative lawyers advising clients is illegal under Democrat tyranny. Democrats are turning America into a banana republic.”
Troupis, Chesebro, and Roman are due in a Wisconsin courtroom to answer the charges Sept. 19.
