Madison-Judge expressed embarrassment on Thursday that Speaker of Parliament Robin Vos submitted few documents on a review of the Republican 2020 elections.
The liberal American Overseas tried Valerie Bailey-Rihn in the Dane County Circuit to accuse Vos of contempt of court for failing to prepare all documents in response to a request filed under the state’s public records law. I am asking the government.
Bailey-Rihn said Thursday that no one has been accused of contempt of court so far because he does not know how thoroughly Vos and his aides searched for the documents needed for publication.
She understands how Vos couldn’t find any documents for election reviews that lasted months and included a trip to Arizona with a taxpayer-funded budget of $ 676,000. He said he didn’t. The election review is being carried out by Judge Michael Gableman of the former Supreme Court of State.
“Did he have no itinerary and no deliverables for what he did while in Arizona?” She asked.
“It seems strange that this could last for three months (as of August). I don’t think there’s more than one lawyer working on this, but they didn’t do anything. They didn’t do anything. Didn’t you provide it? A receipt showing that you paid the plane ticket? “
Bailey Lin is scheduled for a hearing on January 24th and can hear from Voss or his aides about what he did to identify the records related to the election review.
If she found that Voss failed to fulfill his duty, she could find a Rochester Republican accused of contempt of court. American Oversight asks her to force him to pay $ 2,000 a day until he flips all the records he’s playing in the case.
The proceedings are one of three proceedings by American overseers in an attempt to submit records of election investigations.
Bailey Lin in November First ordered Vos to release a record.. American Oversight has received very little from Vos, Request for insult proceedings..
Vos lawyer Ronald Stadler said the Vos team searched Vos and Gableman records and submitted everything found at the request of American Overseas.
Crysta Westerberg, an American supervisory lawyer, questioned the allegations, noting that Gableman had submitted an email that Voss should have created in response to another record request. Stadler said he wasn’t sure why the email wasn’t found by the Vos team.
Gableman is considering elections that have already been scrutinized through recounts, court proceedings, and independent reviews. The court upheld Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in Wisconsin with about 21,000 votes.
Several records of Republican election reviews have already been released, including one that shows what Gableman has. Meet with When Hired election conspiracy theorist As part of his review.
Also revealed those records Taxpayers have funded Gableman’s trips to South Dakota and Arizona. Vos this summer said taxpayers do not have to pay these costs. In a recent interview, he said he would probably try to recover the money.
The American Oversight proceedings are bystanders of the broader court battle over Gableman’s work.
October Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul Sued Gableman He tries to block the subpoena he issued to the bipartisan state election commission. The decision in that case is scheduled for January.
In November, Gableman filed his own proceedings Trying to imprison the mayor He claims that Madison and Green Bay aren’t working with him. The mayor disagrees with it. A judge in Wakisha County will consider the dispute in January.
Gableman and Green Bay lawyer Jeffrey Mandel threatened to seek professional sanctions from each other in that case.
Several hearings in a series of cases are scheduled for January, at which Tuesday’s hearing determines whether Vos and his attorney Steve Fawcett need to testify to the American Overseas legal team. I can do it.
Eggplant wants new election rules
Also Thursday, Republican Senator Steve Nath of Whitewater announced that he was calling on the Election Commission to swiftly adopt the rules for absentee ballot dropboxes.
Ballot drop boxes were widely used in Wisconsin last year due to opposition from some Republicans.
State law says nothing about ballot drop boxes. Election officials said local governments were free to use them, but some Republicans claimed they were not allowed.
two Proceedings Beyond the legality of drop boxes On hold..
In December, the Commission began a lengthy process of creating formal rules in the ballot drop box, but Nath hopes to adopt the urgent rules within 30 days.
If the Commission does that, Republicans who control the Legislature can block them without leaving state-wide policies in the dropbox.
Nath is also seeking urgent rules regarding when a clerk can fill in the missing address of a witness on an absentee ballot document. Since 2016, the committee is allowed to fill in the information if it is available to the clerk.
Mr. Nath said he has received Senate Republican support for his efforts and is urging Parliamentary Republicans to stand by him.
Please contact Patrick Marley ([email protected]). Follow him on Twitter @patrickdmarley..
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This article was originally published in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Judge asks why Vos submitted some records of election reviews