The Republican-hired investigator of Wisconsin’s 2020 election says the state Legislature should “take a hard look at decertification of the 2020 presidential election,” a move that GOP leaders have said they won’t take and that nonpartisan attorneys say is illegal.
The release of Michael Gableman’s 136-page “interim report”Tuesday comes amid a nationwide GOP effort to reshape elections following President Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump.
Gableman presented highlights of the report before the Assembly elections committee.
He delineated a host of alleged problems with the 2020 election and recommendations, including eliminating the bipartisan state elections commission.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) issued this statement following the release of the report:
“Like the Legislative Audit Bureau, Special Counsel Gableman raises severe issues regarding the 2020 election in Wisconsin that need to be taken seriously. The goal of our efforts moving forward is to restore confidence in our election system. That starts by following established law – which the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) failed to do multiple times during the 2020 election. The lack of cooperation by WEC and some local election officials is not only troubling, but their obstruction of his investigation raises other serious issues. I will continue to study the Special Counsel’s findings and work to make sure no legitimate vote is cancelled by a fraudulent one.”
Democratic Governor Tony Evers also released a statement following the release of the report. He called the investigation a circus that has been “a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“This effort has drawn bipartisan opposition, and nothing about it has changed or will change what the courts, the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, and multiple other reviews have already proven: Wisconsin held a free, fair, and secure election in November 2020. Wisconsinites’ votes were counted in every municipality by trusted local officials, in the presence of representatives from both parties, and machines across the state were subject to an official audit. 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,” said Evers.
