Empower Wisconsin | March 17,  2022

MADISON — Breaking with tradition, the Wisconsin Elections Commission has decided to follow election law.

The six-member commission voted unanimously to dismiss a complaint against 10 Republican electors who exercised their legal rights to cast their votes for then-President Donald Trump even as Democrat Joe Biden claimed victory in Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election.

The electors, including WEC Republican member Bob Spindell, have contested the complaint brought by Gov. Tony Evers’ attorney Jeffrey Mandell. Democrat Attorney General Josh Kaul’s office determined the Republicans did not break Wisconsin election law. Assistant Attorney General Mike Murphy said the electors were protecting their legal options amid Trump’s challenge of Biden’s victory in Wisconsin by 20,000-plus votes. The election was still in doubt on Dec. 14, so the GOP electors were within their rights when they cast votes for Trump to ensure the Senate received them by the constitutional deadline, said Bill Feehan, La Crosse County GOP chair and one of the embattled electors.

Democrats have tried to tie the electors’ efforts to what they have broadly and politically painted as the Jan. 6, 2021 “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol following the hotly contested 2020 presidential election.

“As was said publicly at the time, Wisconsin Republican electors were advised by legal counsel to keep legal options open by meeting and signing papers in support of President Trump should lawsuits on appeal ultimately be successful,” Feehan said.

Feehan added the actions of the Republican electors were done in accordance with precedent. Democrats did the same thing in the presidential race of 1960. Republican Richard Nixon was the winner on Election Day, but after two recounts John F. Kennedy was declared the winner.

Feehan said the complaint “perpetuated a false narrative by Democrats that the Republican Electors were part of a plot to overturn the November 2020 election.”

“The illegitimate January 6th Commission has even subpoenaed electors (including former Wisconsin GOP chairman Andrew Hitt) as part of this smear campaign, Feehan said,

Mandell, the attorney who led the complaint, boasts on his law firm’s website that he represented Evers in the challenges to the validity of Wisconsin’s November 2020 election and represents the city of Green Bay, which faces a number of complaints regarding its handling of the 2020 election. He’s the attorney who prosecuted the complaints that kept Kanye West and Howie Hawkins off of Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential ballot.

Mandell blasted WEC’s ruling.

“From the outset, our goal has been to shed light on this travesty, seek accountability for the fraudulent electors & ensure this never happens again in WI. That project continues. We’re actively pursuing numerous avenues for accountability. Our work on this is far from done,” the attorney tweeted.

Feehan said Democrats and their allies are trying to “criminalize political activity.”

“These fear and intimidation tactics are intended to discourage people from political involvement. I hope voters can see the dishonesty of the Democrat Party and their incredible failure in governing. Which they are now trying to cover up with baseless attacks upon Republicans,” Feehan said.