Wisconsin prosecutors have filed 10 additional felony charges against two attorneys and an aide to President-elect Donald Trump. The charges stem from a plan to submit false paperwork claiming that Trump had won the battleground state in 2020. Initially facing a single felony forgery charge, the trio now faces a total of 11 felony charges each, with a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each charge.
The charges are related to an attempt to defraud the 10 Republican electors who cast their ballots for Trump in Wisconsin. The state charges are the only ones in Wisconsin, and none of the electors have been charged. The 10 electors, along with the attorneys and aide, settled a lawsuit brought against them in 2023.
Similar charges related to the fake electors scheme are pending in state and federal courts in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia. Federal prosecutors investigating Trump's conduct in relation to the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot have stated that the fake electors scheme originated in Wisconsin.
Electors are individuals appointed to represent voters in presidential elections. The winner of the popular vote in each state determines which party's electors are sent to the Electoral College, which meets in December after the election to certify the outcome.
The Wisconsin complaint outlines how the accused individuals created a document falsely claiming Trump's victory in Wisconsin and attempted to deliver it to then-Vice President Mike Pence. The majority of the electors stated that they signed the elector certificate under the belief that it was to preserve legal options in case a court altered the election outcome in Wisconsin.
Attorneys for the defendants have filed motions to dismiss the charges, arguing that no crime was committed and that federal law should take precedence. The charges were brought by Wisconsin's Attorney General, a Democrat, in June, five months before Trump won Wisconsin in November.
The fake elector efforts are central to a federal racketeering indictment filed against Trump in 2023, alleging he attempted to overturn the 2020 election results. The accused individuals are also facing charges in Georgia and Arizona related to the fake electors scheme.
Last year, one of the attorneys pleaded guilty to a felony charge in Georgia but is now seeking to invalidate the plea after the charge was dismissed by a judge. The developments in this case continue to unfold as legal proceedings progress.
