Headline: Wisconsin Examiner, 4/11/2022
The emails also show a flurry of activity within Vos’ office as he and his staff attempted to figure out how to respond to growing calls for extensive reviews of the 2020 election from the Republican base and the farthest right-wing members of the Assembly GOP caucus. [emphasis added]
Initially, Vos said he’d hire several former police officers to conduct a review of the election, but eventually decided to hire Gableman and establish a “special counsel” to investigate Republican claims of fraud.
Nearly a year later, even the hiring of Gableman hasn’t been enough to quell Republican complaints as Vos faces a primary challenge and some members of the Legislature continue to call for more extreme measures.
4/8/2022 update, "The Diether King", starts here
Headlines from top to bottom:
4/6/2022 update, "Dear Robin Vos, How much money did this junket cost Wisconsin taxpayers? Best, Retiring Guy", starts here.
From one of Vos's email updates
Headline: Wisconsin State Journal, 4/6/2022
The former state Supreme Court justice leading Wisconsin's GOP-ordered review into the 2020 election attended a Donald Trump-hosted event on Tuesday that largely focused on unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud — which continue to fuel Republican scrutiny of the presidential election that Trump lost more than 17 months ago.
Michael Gableman, who was hired by Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, last year to lead the review at a cost of $676,000 in taxpayer funds, was one of several Trump supporters to attend the meeting at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort, where he was met with applause from the crowd and praise from Trump, the Washington Post reported.
“Michael, you’ve been unbelievable,” Trump told Gableman, according to the Post.
4/1/2022 update, "Meet Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the essence of GOP hypocrisy", starts here.
Headline from Wisconsin State Journal, 4/1/2022
he invoices pertain to lawsuits directly involving Vos and the Assembly and include more than $160,000 paid to attorneys between October of last year through early March. The largest amount relates to a lawsuit Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed to block Gableman from interviewing Wisconsin Elections Commission officials in private settings.
Those payments were made from the Assembly's budget, which is funded by taxpayer dollars, and are in addition to the $676,000 in taxpayer funds already allocated to Gableman's effort. Attorney payments for additional ongoing lawsuits filed by or against Gableman were not available, but would come out of the former justice's contract. It's unclear how much of Gableman's contract has already been spent.
3/24/2022 update starts here
Taking credit where ABSOLUTELY no credit is due.
Sources:
Guardian (10/31/2020)
U. S. News and World Report (2/15/2022)
1/24/2022 update starts here
Headline from Wisconsin State Journal, 1/24/2022
At a hearing in Dane County Circuit Court Monday, Assembly staff attorney Steve Fawcett also said he has not received weekly reports from Gableman on the review, which is required under the contract between the former justice and the state Assembly. Assembly Chief Clerk Ted Blazel also testified, but more than two hours of Monday's hearing focused on Fawcett.
Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn noted Fawcett helped negotiate the Assembly's contract with Gableman and is listed as the former justice's point of contact for the agreement. Bailey-Rihn again questioned why so few documents have been provided in the case, which was filed last year by liberal watchdog group American Oversight.
"He's supposed to be doing weekly investigative reports," Bailey-Rihn said. "I'm just having difficulty believing that Mr. Gableman did nothing for three months and received payment." [emphasis added]
1/22/2022 update starts here
Headline from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/21/2022
A judge on Friday scheduled a hearing on what to do for late April, providing the latest sign that the GOP election review will take far longer than originally intended.
Republican Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester has said he wants Gableman to wrap up his work by the end of February. The schedule the judge set signals that that deadline — like two earlier ones set by Vos — will be missed.
1/1/2022 update starts here
"No transparency" Robin.
Headline from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/30/2021
Bailey-Rihn said Thursday she would not hold anyone in contempt of court for now because she doesn't know how thoroughly Vos and his aides searched for documents they are required to make public.
She said she didn't understand how Vos could have found so few documents for a review of the election that has lasted months, has a taxpayer-funded budget of $676,000 and has included travel to Arizona. The election review is being conducted by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.
"Does he not have any itinerary and did he not have any work product for what he did out in Arizona while he was there?" she asked.
12/15/2021 update starts here
Headline from Wisconsin Public Radio, 12/14/2021
Vos called for the investigation shortly after the November 2020 election. This summer, he announced former conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman would lead the probe and that its initial, taxpayer-funded budget would be roughly $680,000. The inquiry was initially expected to be complete this fall. Since its outset, it has spurred controversy, confusion and several lawsuits.
12/1/2021 update starts here
Headline from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (11/30/2021)
Vos spokeswoman Angela Joyce did not initially respond to questions about the payments. Shortly after this article was posted online Tuesday, she said the payments should not have been made and the Assembly would attempt to recover them.
The newly released records also show the team hired by Assembly Republicans is sharing office space with a nonprofit group and law firm that have been at the forefront of efforts to overturn the presidential results in Wisconsin and elsewhere. [emphasis added]
11/6/2021 update starts here
Headline from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/5/20210
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. [emphasis added]
10/29/2021 update starts here
Headline from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/27/2021
Wisconsinites picked Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of nearly 21,000 votes. Recounts and court rulings upheld those results and a legislative audit released last week did not identify any widespread fraud.
Republicans who control the Assembly and Gableman want further investigation and they’ve brought on Carol to help them.
The woman, who signs her emails “Carol M.,” has been contacting attorneys for election officials recently to discuss subpoenas Gableman has issued. She has not told them whether she is a lawyer, an administrative assistant or holds some other post, the attorneys said.
10/25/2021 update starts here
Headline from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/25/2021
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester has given Gableman a $676,000 budget to conduct his review. It includes $50,000 for outside counsel, which would presumably cover Dean's work.
Original 10/22/2021 post starts here.
Headline from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/21/2021
Related series of posts:
Michael Gableman-Robin Vox Clown Show
Michael Gableman-Robin Vox Clown Show
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