It's been 490 days since Trump lost the election. Get over it, Gabe! You to, Robin.
Washington Post, 3/6/2022
The Republicans behind Wisconsin’s investigation into the 2020 election have made little effort to hide their intentions. Many of those supporting the investigation have connections to the Trump campaign. Leading the investigation is former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman, no neutral arbiter but rather a man who told a group of supporters of former president Donald Trump in November 2020 that the election had been stolen. Asked last week if he had voted for Mr. Trump, he proudly declared: “You bet I did.”
No surprise, then, that the 136-page draft report released last week by Mr. Gableman was full of debunked claims of misdeeds, accompanied by Mr. Gableman’s suggestion to state lawmakers that they consider “decertifying” Wisconsin’s 2020 election results. That ridiculous suggestion, made during a state Assembly committee hearing, has no legal basis.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/5/2022
“I’m surprised that a partisan trip for personal purposes would be considered a reimbursable expense,” said Ann Jacobs, the Democratic chairwoman of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
“It seems to me that the Assembly ought to be taking a much closer looks at the invoices and similar requests for payment that Mr. Gableman keeps submitting because they certainly don’t appear to comport with the ordinary rules for state employees and that should concern the Assembly,” she said. “It appears there isn’t a lot of oversight of his submissions.”
3/3/2022 update starts here
Circuit Court Judge Frank Remington ordered Vos and Gableman, who has been allocated $676,000 in taxpayer funds for the one-party review, to release the records, which were requested last year by liberal watchdog group American Oversight. Remington put enforcement on the ruling on hold until after a hearing on the case scheduled for Tuesday.
“(The Office of Special Counsel), Robin Vos, and the assembly each arbitrarily and capriciously denied or delayed access to records,” Remington wrote in the ruling.
Remington ruled that Gableman had no basis for withholding the public records, which the former state Supreme Court justice requested to keep secret as they pertained to “strategic information to our investigation,” according to court documents.
3/2/2022 update, "Dear Wisconsin, We don't have a clown as one of our state symbols. I think 2020 election conspiracy theorist Michael Gableman", starts here.
Top headline, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/1/2022
Bottom headline: Politico, 3/1/2022
2/21/2022 update, "Welcome to the Michael Gableman and Robin Vos Off-the-Rails Clown Show ("Lack of Oversight" episode)", starts here.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/17/2022
But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester said Thursday he didn't know whether a report Gableman soon issues will attempt to validate the result of the election.
"I think you'd have to ask him," Vos said.
2/20/2022 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/18/2022
A month ago an attorney working with Gableman told a judge he was hoping to avoid trying to jail the mayors of Madison and Green Bay.
But on Friday Gableman intensified his efforts, telling Waukesha County Circuit Judge Ralph Ramirez he should incarcerate those mayors and others if they don’t sit for interviews with him behind closed doors.
The officials have said they are willing to talk to Gableman but don’t believe he should be able to do so out of the view of the public. They argue the interviews should be conducted before a legislative committee.
2/7/2022 update starts here
Once again, too many voters in Wisconsin got snookered.
The leader of a sprawling, taxpayer-funded probe of Joe Biden’s victory in battleground Wisconsin ignited his political career in 2008 by unseating the first Black justice on the state Supreme Court, capitalizing on an ad that sparked ethics complaints and allegations of racism.
Michael Gableman’s commercial against then-Justice Louis Butler drew comparisons with the infamous Willie Horton ad from the 1988 presidential race and an official complaint from the state judicial commission. But the ad paid off as Gableman, then a little-known circuit judge in rural Wisconsin, became the first challenger to defeat a sitting justice in 40 years, tilting the court’s balance in favor of conservatives. [emphasis added]
1/28/2022 update starts here.
Milaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/27/2022
In 2008, Gableman ran a campaign ad that dramatically distorted his opponent’s record, leading state authorities to file an ethics complaint against him.
In 2011, he relayed a story to sheriff’s deputies about a fellow justice smacking him on the back of the head in front of his colleagues — a tale no justice would corroborate.
In the months before he was hired to review the election, Gableman publicly contended the 2020 contest had been stolen in Wisconsin. Soon after that, similar baseless claims made by others were knocked down in a string of court rulings.A fool never learns.
1/23/2022 update starts here
Wisconsin Examiner, 1/21/2022
On Friday, attorneys for Vos, Gableman and American Oversight appeared in the court of Judge Frank Remington to settle a dispute over records requested in September 2021. Vos’ office has said they’ve released all records covered under the request and Gableman refused to release the records, saying they were protected as he completes his investigation because he’s afforded the same privileges as law enforcement officers or prosecutors.
Wisconsin open records law leans toward always granting the public access to government proceedings with some exceptions, including prosecutorial work. In such cases, a balancing test is conducted to determine whether or not the harm of releasing records outweighs the public benefit of open government.
1/22/2021 update, "Who's on First" edition, starts here.
Wisconsin State Journal, 1/21/2022
Early in the hearing, Gableman attorney James Bopp told Remington that a contract between his client and Vos existed, then said it did not. Later, Vos’ attorney said he saw a contract signed by Vos but not Gableman, which Remington said was problematic. Gableman’s last contract expired Dec. 31, and Vos has said Gableman’s review is likely to go into February..
1/20/2022 update ("Dr. Frankenstein" episode) starts here
1/15/2022 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/15/2022
Former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman in December issued orders to Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems and Electronic Systems & Software of Nebraska seeking records related to the location of the companies' voting machines in Wisconsin during the primary and general elections in 2020.
Gableman also seeks information about staff members who worked on Wisconsin machines or communicated with anyone in Wisconsin during that period.
Gableman's subpoenas, first reported by WisPolitics, demand company officials produce the requested documents later this month and order them to testify in private at the former Supreme Court justice's rented office space in Brookfield. Gableman set a series of deadlines to receive the documents and testimony, with the earliest on Wednesday. [emphasis added]
Beyond crazy!
1/14/2022 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/13/2022
Daniel Lenz, an attorney for Green Bay, told Gableman in a letter Thursday that any extension of his contract needs to be done in writing, not verbally.
"Whatever the status of those negotiations may be, it appears that you may no longer have any authority to act on behalf of the Committee as Special Counsel," Lenz wrote in the letter.
"It is not clear whether you currently are an appointed agent, attorney, or counsel for the Wisconsin State Assembly or otherwise a person authorized to act on behalf of the Committee," he added.
1/10/2022 update starts here
The conservative National Review abandons these two clowns.
National Review, 1/10/2022
What precedes the following excerpt is just the kind of myopic *false equivalency you'd expect from this grandfatherly conservative outlet. It was penned by Wisconsin State Senator Kathy Bernier, who flailingly insists that she wasn't forced to drop her bid for re-election.
Now the tables have turned. And while the Right hasn’t fully coalesced around the perpetrator of the 2020 “steal” (Italy, Russia, China, and the Forces of Darkness have all had their turn), the pattern is all too familiar. Election experts were minted overnight, and a cottage industry of half-informed opportunists began making the rounds with theory after theory of how the election was stolen.
*Hillary Clinton conceded the election to Donald Trump on November 9, 2016. The election took place on November 8, 2016.
1/7/2022 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/6/2022
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is in talks with former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to extend the Republicans' review of the 2020 election for another two months at least. [emphasis added]
On the other hand.....
Fox6 Milwaukee, 1/6/2022
1/5/2022 update starts here
Wisconisn State Journal, 1/5/2022
Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn, who last week expressed confusion over how so few documents were produced from the first three months of former state Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman’s ongoing probe, denied a request by attorneys for Vos and his attorney, Steve Fawcett, seeking to block the depositions.
She ordered the two to meet with attorneys for American Oversight to provide additional details on how officials responded to the group’s multiple requests for public records — and answer questions about whether additional documents exist and have been withheld or were destroyed.
“The citizens of Wisconsin deserve the truth,” Bailey-Rihn said. “Either these records exist or they don’t.”
1/4/2022 update starts here
While you were celebrating.....
Wisconsin Public Radio, 1/3/2022
In a tweet, Wisconsin Elections Commission chair Ann Jacobs called the Gableman team’s new request to the Wisconsin Elections Commission's IT head "bizarre and insanely broad." That request includes copies of all communication "between you and any other person or entity" related to the 2020 election between January 2020 and the present day, as well as election applications or data "related to any Wisconsin voter or person eligible to vote in Wisconsin."
A large number of subpoenas have already been issued in the election investigation, including requests for in-person testimony and documents from state election officials and the mayors of the state’s five largest cities. A lawsuit over whether the in-person testimony must happen in public or behind closed doors, as Gableman prefers, is pending. A Dane County judge is expected to rule in the case by Jan. 10.
1/1/2022 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/31/2021
The latest subpoenas, dated Tuesday, were issued by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who is overseeing the review of the presidential election for Assembly Republicans.
Recounts and court rulings have confirmed Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes, and independent entities have found no evidence of significant voter fraud in the state.
The latest subpoenas seek emails, logs of internet traffic, information about voting machines and data about individual voters. The scope of the requests suggest Gableman's team plans to spend months more looking into an election that occurred over a year ago. [emphasis added]
12/25/2021 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/22/2021
Citizens can still have the final say, but they must band together now to protest this nonsense.
Now is the time — not next year, not the year after.
Now is the time to tell these so-called leaders to find their backbones and stand up to Trump.
To tell them to cut off Gableman’s $676,000 taxpayer-funded budget.
To tell them to work with Gov. Tony Evers on constructive changes that strengthens the electoral process for all Wisconsinites.
To tell them to let the Elections Commission do its work. And, perhaps most important, to insist that they respect the results of elections.
When leaders are so willing to put at risk the most successful democratic experiment in human history, the beating heart of democracy is in danger.
12/17/2021 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/16/2021
The dishonor roll:
- Robin Vos
- Michael Gableman
- Carol Matheis
- Clint Lancaster
- Ron Heuer
- Gary Wait
- Zakory Niemierowicz
- Nate Cain
- Erik Kaardal
- Peter Bernegger
- Harry Wait
- Mike Lindell
- Shiva Ayyadurai
- Douglasl Frank
- James Bopp
- Michael Dean
- David Craig
- Kevin Scott
- Janel Brandtjen
- Timothy Ramthun
In other words, the demographic of Trump election conspiracy theory whackjobs.
12/14/2021 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/13/2021
Jazzing up the wackos.
"Mr. Gableman is coming to my county and I will attend that meeting along with my concealed carry permit, to be perfectly honest, because (the election review) keeps jazzing up the people who think they know what they're talking about, and they don't," Bernier said.
Bernier, who oversaw elections for 12 years as Chippewa County clerk, said Republicans are reacting to political pressure from former President Donald Trump. Their constant complaints about the election could ultimately hurt Republicans if they don't believe results can be trusted, she said.
12/12/2021 update starts here
Up North News, 12/10/2021
Republicans are trying to tear down a system they built to make the fourth change in 15 years on who controls the rules on voting. Wisconsin is at the forefront of efforts taking place right now to undermine your confidence in elections and their outcomes—on multiple fronts.
The most public scam is the most ridiculous. Republican legislators hired a right-wing former state Supreme Court justice to “investigate” last November’s election. Michael Gableman’s baseless, expensive, and sloppy oafishness is being widely and rightly ridiculed, but a far quieter threat is taking shape behind the scenes inside the state Capitol. It isn’t another attempt to relitigate the last election. It’s all about rigging results in the future. [emphasis added]
12/8/2021 update starts here
Milwaukee Jpurnal Sentinel, 12/7/2021
Since the summer of 2020, Heuer — the president of the Wisconsin Voters Alliance — has used racist tropes in several of his social media posts.
For example, he reposted a Facebook item likening a laughing Vice President Kamala Harris to a laughing hyena. Another of his items disparages former first lady Michelle Obama's weight and appearance. He also compared a group of looters, most of whom appear to be Black, to "wild animals," prompting his wife to call the scene "Planet of the Apes." Yet another post links to a video crediting whites with ending slavery, something Heuer labels "the real history of slavery."
12/2/2021 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/1/2021
In hourlong testimony before an Assembly committee, Gableman on Wednesday said he made legal filings this week against the mayors of Green Bay and Madison because he believed they had not cooperated with him. No record of the filings could be found in the state's online database of court cases and officials from the two cities said they did not know what Gableman was talking about. [evidence of Gableman's lies highlighted]
11/29/2021 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/24/2021
It gets wackier and wackier.
Among those Gableman met with were Peter Bernegger, a felon convicted of fraud who has been using the open records law to gather images of Wisconsin ballots, according to Nate Cain, a West Virginia consultant who has assisted Gableman.
Gableman and his team last month also met with Shiva Ayyadurai, who has contended without evidence that the votes were taken away from Donald Trump based on a science fiction novel; Mike Lindell, the MyPillow executive who has spent a year making over-the-top false claims that the election was hacked by the Chinese; and Douglas Frank, the [former] chairman of the math and science department at an Ohio school who has falsely asserted that votes in Michigan were manipulated with a mathematical "key."
11/12/2021 update starts here.
Wisconsin Public Radio, 11/10/2021
The head of a Republican-backed investigation into Wisconsin’s 2020 election decried what he called "obstruction" of the effort during his first public testimony about the inquiry before state lawmakers on Wednesday evening.
Former conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman also told lawmakers he would not honor calls for public testimony — rather than closed-door interviews — from election officials for the probe and refused to share the names of his staff on the taxpayer-funded effort.
"Information like that shouldn’t be shared in real time," Gableman said.
Because then the GOP can't control tne narrative, make stuff up as they go along.
11/11/2021 update starts here
Gableman accuses others of what he is guilty of. GOP hypocrisy in full flower.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/10/2021
He said documents about his review will eventually be released under the state's open records law.
Gableman so far has not turned over records in response to requests from the Journal Sentinel. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester and Assembly Chief Clerk Ted Blazel have provided some records but not others.
Gableman repeatedly criticized the Elections Commission, saying it "has numerous issues that cry out for the exercise of legislative oversight."
11/6/2021 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/6/2021
Vos argued the group had brought the suit against the wrong person because the records in question are held by the newly created Office of Special Counsel that Gableman oversees. While Vos considers the office an arm of the Assembly, it is made up entirely of contractors like Gableman rather than permanent state employees.\
The records requests were made to Vos before the office was formally constituted by legislative leaders on Aug. 27. Bailey-Rihn ruled that Vos was responsible for records Gableman created or maintained before then and must gather the records and turn them over to American Oversight.
11/5/2021 update, "Clown Show welcomes special guest Carol Matheis", starts here.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, 11/2/2021
After refusing to disclose her last name for a week, attorney Michael Gableman through an aide said Carol is Carol Matheis, a California attorney active with the Federalist Society.Carol practices business litigation and insurance law, which clearly makes her unfit for the assignment given to her by Gableman. She'a a graduate Western University College of Law. Think last-dtich effort to get into law school.
The Federalist Society is one of those crackpot free enterprise, limited goverment, individual freedom "think tanks".
10/29/2021 update, "Michael Gableman and Robin Vos Clown Show continues to waste taxpayers' money", starts here.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/27/2021
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester, who hired Gableman, last week said he had a broad understanding of who was working for Gableman but refused to name them. Vos and Gableman for weeks have ignored public records requests from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for staff lists, resumes and other documents.
10/27/2021 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/26/2021
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, State Rep. Janel Brandtjen and former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, all Republicans, have created an embarrassing, chaotic mess as they subject the state to a dangerous disinformation campaign that undermines the work of trusted election officials, is costing taxpayers at least $680,000, and casts doubt on the state's history of free, fair and secure elections.
[snip]
We’ve taken a close look at the trend of so-called 2020 election reviews popping up across the country. Make no mistake: They are a waste of time, energy and taxpayer money. And they leave our elections less secure and the public less rather than more confident in the election system. There’s a reason bipartisan leaders and election experts alike have called out the dangers of this sort of “investigation.”
10/25/2021 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/25/2021
Michael Gableman, the former state Supreme Court justice hired by Assembly Republicans to review the election, on Sunday hired attorney Michael Dean to help fight a lawsuit brought by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul. Separately, Assembly Republicans also hired an attorney to try to beat back the lawsuit.
Dean didn't say during a brief court hearing Monday why Gableman needed help in defending against the lawsuit.
October 21 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/21/2021
This is how concerned Robin Vos is about the tax dollars he is wasting.
In an interview this week, Vos said he has a "broad idea" of who is working for Gableman but doesn’t know all of their names. He wouldn’t say how large Gableman's staff is and said he doesn’t know the names of investigative firms and computer consultants who may be helping him.
"All that stuff will come out" eventually, Vos said. “But I would rather have at the end of the day a complete record that we can put together of where the investigation started, where it ended, and where it concluded … than to try to get into every detail of, is it one investigator or three? Is it 10 investigators or 20?”
10/16/2021 update, "Time to flush Michael Gableman's fraudulent 'investigation' down the toilet", starts here.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/14/2021
Now, an “investigation” into those results is being led by former state Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman, who by his own admission does “not have a comprehensive understanding or even any understanding of how elections work.” His conduct proves it. He has focused on data on voting machines even though voting machines don’t retain data — they are “dumb machines,” in the words of the Dane County clerk. He has accused officials of impropriety without citing evidence. He has served clerks and mayors with subpoenas then pulled them back amid contradictory statements about what he wanted.
October 15 update starts here
Apparently, Gableman is a master of the yo-yo.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/14/2021
The disclosure Thursday offered the latest sign that former Justice Michael Gableman's review is moving slower than Republican lawmakers wanted.
The announcement that Gableman had put off the interview came three days after Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul announced he considered Gableman's plans for the interview unlawful.
In an online video, Gableman described the move as routine and contended those he has subpoenaed shouldn't have lawyers. An attorney himself, Gableman has hired at least one other lawyer to assist him with his review.
October 14 update, " Robin Vos discovers what happens when you don't thoroughly vet your election conspiracy stooge", starts here.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/13/2021
Gableman has not voted in seven elections in Wisconsin in the last three years, including the 2018 race for governor and the 2020 race for state Supreme Court, a review of his voting record shows.
Gableman refused to answer questions Wednesday and didn't respond to emails asking why he had not voted. He did not say whether he had temporarily moved out of state in recent years.
"You would expect someone to be a little more self-aware before they start preaching, but there's always a difference between what they preach and what they do," said Assembly Democratic Leader Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh, who missed the April 2020 election but has otherwise consistently voted in recent years.
October 11 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/8/2021
The lawyer, Andrew Kloster, worked in the White House under former President Donald Trump. He told the Assembly Elections Committee in March he is not an election attorney and has a "limited understanding" of election laws.
His hiring surfaced just days after Gableman said he does not have "any understanding of how elections work." Like Kloster, Gableman without evidence has stated the election was stolen.
10/9/2021 update, "The Michael Gableman-Robin Vos GOP Clown Show stumbles through another performance", starts here.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/8/2021
"Given Gableman’s public comments today there still seems to be a lack of clarity about this issue. A subpoena is a legal directive and (Assembly Speaker Robin) Vos should formally rescind it," the mayor said in a statement.
Ann Jacobs, the Democratic chairwoman of the state's bipartisan Elections Commission, noted the commission months ago provided records Gableman is looking for to the Assembly Elections Committee — a committee Gableman is purportedly working with.
Meet committee chair, Janel Brandtjen
October 6 update starts here
You have to make some stupefyingly mindless missteps to stumble below Rebecca Bradley’s level.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/6/2021
His comment raises fresh questions about how long Gableman's taxpayer-financed review will take. He called an Oct. 31 deadline set for him by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester unrealistic.
"Most people, myself included, do not have a comprehensive understanding or even any understanding of how elections work," Gableman said in an interview late Tuesday before addressing the Green Bay City Council about his plans.
Gableman's acknowledgment that he does not know how elections work comes 10 months after he told a crowd of supporters of former President Donald Trump without evidence that elected officials had allowed bureaucrats to "steal our vote." Recounts in the state's two most populous counties and court decisions determined Joe Biden won by more than 20,000 votes, or 0.6 points.
Vos this summer hired Gableman and gave him a $676,00 budget to review the election. In the interview, Gableman said he planned to write a report that started by comparing what happened in 2020 with what should have happened. [emphasis added]
October 3 update starts here
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/1/2021
The budget for the review is $676,000 with nearly half — $325,000 — being spent on a "data analysis contractor," costs for which are classified as being related to "voting machines," according to a new contract between former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
A total of $373,679 is classified as costs related to looking at voting machines, according to the contract.
8/13/2021 update starts here.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/12/2021
Gableman told the AP he was there "out of an honest effort to find out if anyone has any information that will be helpful in carrying out my duties as special counsel."
Gableman, who is being paid $44,000 by taxpayers, declined to answer questions from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Stop calling me. Stop texting me," he said by text message.
Also attending the event hosted by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell were two other Wisconsin Republicans — state Elections Commissioner Bob Spindell and state Rep. Timothy Ramthun of Campbellsport.
[snip]
Gableman told the AP his travel costs were being paid using the $11,000 a month he receives from taxpayers for his election review. [emphasis added]
8/9/2021 update, "Meet Michael Gablman and Janel Brandtjen, king and queen of the Wisconsin election audit clown show", starts here.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/9/2021
"Our elected leaders — your elected leaders — have allowed unelected bureaucrats at the Wisconsin Elections Commission to steal our vote," former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman told the crowd at Serb Hall in Milwaukee in November.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester hired Gableman at taxpayer expense this summer to review the election that Trump narrowly lost even though recounts and a slew of court rulings showed Joe Biden had won.
Related post:
The batshit crazy behavior of Janel Brandtjen: the list goes on and on. (8/7/2021)Who just happens to be former Wisconsin State Supreme Court justice.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/26/2021
Following confirmation of President Joe Biden's victory in the Nov. 3 election, Gableman said the presidency was stolen.
"I don't think anyone here can think of anything more systematically unjust than a stolen election," Gableman told a crowd at a pro-Trump rally staged Nov. 7 in a parking lot at American Serb Hall in Milwaukee.
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