Wisconsin election officials recommend charges in Vos recall effort

From JSOnline:

Molly Beck

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Wisconsin's top election officials are recommending criminal charges against more than a dozen people who helped carry out a failed recall campaign against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission on Feb. 27 notified 13 people that the six-member panel found probable cause they had violated election fraud laws while attempting to gather enough signatures to force a recall election against Vos.

Supporters of President Donald Trump sought to organize a recall election against Vos over the Assembly speaker's criticism of Trump and his unwillingness to break the law and undo the 2020 Wisconsin presidential election.

The commission said two recall volunteers likely violated state laws by listing false addresses on paperwork required to circulate petitions and 11 violated laws by submitting fraudulent signatures of voters in 2024.

The 13 people were notified Friday of the recommended charges that will be forwarded to the Racine County district attorney, according to the letter obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Most live out of state. Just one person has a Wisconsin address.

Wispolitics.com first reported on the letter.

Vos filed a complaint against the volunteers and recall campaign organizers, but the commission did not find sufficient evidence to show the recall leaders had violated state laws.

According to letter, Vos submitted "credible affidavits from several individuals who claim they did not sign the recall petition" but whose signature appeared on the petitions.

At the time, the recall committee blamed the forged signatures on "sabotage" and unidentified participants "recruiting individuals from outside Wisconsin."

The organizers ultimately were unsuccessful in triggering a recall election despite trying twice to do so.

Vos, 57, announced last week he would retire at the end of his current term representing Wisconsin's 63rd Assembly District.

Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.

From: https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/news/politics/2024/11/25/robin-vos-has-been-speaker-of-the-wisconsin-state-assembly-for-more-than-a-decade/76568437007/

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Robert Haack Diamonds owner raises questions about Jan. 6 Capitol riot in newspaper ad

From JSOnline:

Ricardo Torres

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Bret Eulberg, owner of Robert Haack Diamonds, entered the debate by running an ad Sunday that he says raises questions about what happened at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

In the ad, published Sunday in the Journal Sentinel, Eulberg poses questions about the January 6 riot. One example: "Ask yourself before voting: Why was the Capitol Police ORDERED NOT TO use tear gas on January 6, 2021?"

The move by the diamond store echoes what Penzeys Spices has done on the other side of the political spectrum, which is to embed the political views of owners in their advertising and online presence

The Robert Haack ad makes no mention of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. The committee interviewed more than 1,000 people and published an 845 page report on the attack, blaming former President Donald Trump for lying about losing the 2020 election.

Trump was impeached for his actions on that day, however he was not removed from office.

PolitiFact in 2021 called numerous statements about the Capitol riot the Lie of the Year.

The PolitiFact article states: "The events of Jan. 6 were widely broadcast on that day and many days afterward, allowing the public to see for itself exactly what happened. The body of evidence includes direct video documentation and many eyewitness accounts. So efforts to downplay and deny what happened are an attempt to brazenly recast reality itself."

One person was killed by police during the siege, and in the days after, two died of heart attacks, and one died of a drug overdose, according to Factcheck.org.

About 175 police officers were injured and four officers committed suicide after the attack.

Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,000 people with participating in the riot, and arrests continue.

Eulberg said he believes it is wrong to blame Trump for the attack.

Although Robert Haack Diamonds is the name of the company on the ad, Eulberg says the message is coming from him. 

“This is stuff that’s been bugging me," he said.

Eulberg indicated he plans to run additional ads in advance of the the Nov. 5 election.

"All I'm going to be doing is running a series of questions of 'why?'" Eulberg said.

“Penzeys Spices, they can voice their opinion on political stuff, I guess I can too,” Eulberg said. “It basically opens up the conversation, that’s all I’m trying to do.”  

Eulberg believes that-those who hurt people or did damage should be punished.

“The people that went in and hurt anybody, 100% they need to be punished,” Eulberg said. “I’m not condoning what happened on January 6^th whole-heartedly, it’s disgusting."

USA Today has published fact check round ups about the events of January 6 on the anniversary of the riot, in 2023 and in 2024.

From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2024/09/22/robert-haack-diamonds-owner-raises-questions-about-jan-6-capitol-riot/75307586007/?tbref=hp

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Group that tried to recall Vos got most of its funding from a single, out-of-state donor

From The Journal Times.com:

Scott Williams

Yard signs were part of two efforts to recall Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. 

Scott Williams

UNION GROVE — Organizers of recall campaigns targeting Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos spent $1.3 million — almost all of which came a single donor from Arkansas.

The Union Grove-based recall group, operating under the names “Recall Vos” and “Racine Recall Committee,” twice fell short of the number of signatures needed on petitions calling for a midterm election in Vos’ legislative district.

John Bailey, who according to Arkansas Business, a newspaper in Little Rock, is a real estate investor, made 10 donations totaling $1.1 million to the unsuccessful efforts, Wisconsin Ethics Commission finance reports show.

The reports, which were submitted a month past the filing deadline on Aug. 28, show Bailey donated $320,000 to the first recall effort and $785,000 to the second.

According to the reports, less than $1,500 came from Wisconsin donors. In addition to Bailey, donations were made by individuals in California, Arizona, Illinois and Massachusetts.

Vos, who was targeted by fellow Republicans after he refused calls to decertify President Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in Wisconsin in the 2020 presidential election, said the reports confirmed his suspicion that the recall was driven largely by out-of-state interests rather than constituents in his district.

“This makes it clear this wasn’t a grassroots, volunteer, local effort,” he said. “It was an out-of-state paid endeavor engineered to pay those who took part in it.”

Recall organizer Matt Snorek defended accepting out-of-state donations, saying that Vos gets such support, too, for his own campaigns.

From: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/government-politics/recall-vos-arkansas-donor/article_a5b60a56-6bb4-11ef-854d-c3a6c72c01e2.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

'I screwed up': Joe Biden addresses debate performance with Milwaukee radio host

From JSOnline:

Lawrence Andrea

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden in a Milwaukee radio interview on Wednesday said he “screwed up” during the debate with former President Donald Trump last week — marking some of the first public comments from the president since the event.

“I had a bad night," Biden told Milwaukee radio host Earl Ingram in a pre-recorded interview set to air Thursday morning. "And the fact of the matter is that I screwed up. I made a mistake. That’s 90 minutes onstage, look at what I’ve done in 3.5 years.”

The comments, made during an interview with Ingram Wednesday, are among the first from the president following a shaky debate performance that highlighted questions about Biden's age and led some Democrats to call to replace him at the top of the ticket. Biden has said he plans to stay in the race.

About one minute of select clips from Biden's interview was provided to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Ingram, a longtime Biden supporter, told the Journal Sentinel he spoke with the president for 20 minutes. The full interview will air 8 a.m. Thursday on WAUK-AM(540).

During the interview, Biden also touted his efforts to engage minority communities and noted his work appointing Black judges, according to the short clips.

"I picked a Black woman to be my vice president. I've appointed the first Black woman to be a Supreme Court justice," Biden said. "I've appointed more Black judges, more Black women judges, than every other president in American history combined."

He attacked Trump for recent comments the presumptive Republican nominee made about Black workers.

"I'm sorry to get so worked up," Biden said. "But he is just — he's terrible things in the community, and he has about as much interest and concern for Black, minority communities as the man on the moon does."

Biden is set to visit Madison Friday.

The interview was recorded the same day Biden met with 24 Democratic governors from across the country as he sought to tamp down concerns from within the party about his place at the top of the ticket. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers was the only Democratic governor to miss the meeting.

"(Evers) didn’t attend the meeting because he’s focused on moving forward and winning Wisconsin," Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback wrote on X. "He supports President Biden - his comments in support of the president over the last week speak for themselves, and he looks forward to campaigning with the President on Friday."

Several governors after the meeting indicated they remained behind Biden.

“He has had out backs through COVID, through all of the recovery, all of the things that have happened,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters. “The governors have his back.”

“A path to victory in November is the No. 1 priority,” Walz added. “And that’s the No. 1 priority of the president. So that’s what we’re trying to get done.”

Milwaukee is set to host the Republican National Convention starting July 15.

Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed from Milwaukee.

From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/03/joe-biden-addresses-debate-performance-with-milwaukee-radio-host/74298805007/

Judge rules against Vos, Gableman in open records lawsuit

From Fox6Now:

Robin Vos; Michael Gableman

MADISON, Wis. - A Wisconsin judge on Wednesday ruled that Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman denied or delayed access to requested public records related to the investigation into the 2020 presidential election.

Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington put his ruling on hold pending a hearing on Tuesday.

Remington also ruled that Vos and Gableman would be responsible for covering legal costs of the liberal group American Oversight that brought the lawsuit. He also fined Vos, Gableman and the Assembly $1,000 each, fines that would likely be paid by taxpayers if they stand.

Remington in January ordered that records requested by American Oversight be turned over by Jan. 31 and he would decide at next week's hearing whether to make them public.

American Oversight has filed three lawsuits seeking records related to the investigation. Gableman presented his latest report on Tuesday and said the investigation would continue.

Remington said in his ruling Wednesday that Vos's and Gableman's "denials, delays, and refusals violate the letter and the spirit of Wisconsin’s public records law."

From: https://www.fox6now.com/news/judge-vos-gableman-open-records-lawsuit

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Vos: Wisconsin GOP election probe to go longer, cost more

From TMJ4:

Photo by: Scott Bauer/AP

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the highest ranking Republican in the state, said he didn't know what a forensic audit of the state's 2020 presidential election results would prove on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, during a news conference in the state Capitol in Madison, Wis. Vos said that two other ongoing investigations were sufficient while disagreeing publicly with a GOP colleague who called for yet another, broader probe. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

By: Associated Press

Posted at 7:47 PM, Dec 14, 2021

 

and last updated 7:47 PM, Dec 14, 2021

MADISON, Wis. — Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says the investigation he ordered into the 2020 presidential election will spill into next year and cost more money, factors he blamed on Democrats who are fighting subpoenas.

The current contract Vos signed with former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to lead the investigation runs through the end of this month at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $680,000.

Vos said in an interview with The Associated Press Tuesday that legal fights over Gableman's subpoenas of mayors and the state election administrator will prolong the investigation indefinitely. He says any additional costs are "on the Democrats, not on us."

From: https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/vos-wisconsin-gop-election-probe-to-go-longer-cost-more

Bombshell Press Conference: Wisconsin Sheriff Shows Massive Voter Fraud in Nursing Homes Helped Steal 2020 Election

 Until this morning, only a handful of people were aware that Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling would be unveiling the results of an extensive investigation into Wisconsin voter fraud. The surprise press conference was quickly picked up by Right Side Broadcasting Network and others, and the bombs were dropped left and right.

According to The Gateway Pundit:

Today during the press conference the Racine Sheriff’s Office brought forth evidence that the Wisconsin Election’s Commission BROKE THE LAW.

The Wisconsin Election’s Commission took advantage of senior citizens in nursing homes who had their votes stolen. This was illegal behavior against Wisconsin State Law. The Wisconsin Election Commission sent out instructions to nursing homes in all 72 counties on how to break state law with their residents!

There were nearly 200,000 more “indefinitely confined voters” who allegedly voted in 2020 than in 2016. This fact alone should draw massive investigations at both the state and federal level, and perhaps if former Attorney General William Barr wasn’t part of the Deep State that installed Joe Biden, there would have been investigations across the country. Instead, we’ve just been fed an incessant series of lies telling us there was no voter fraud and Joe Biden is the most popular president in American history.

Biden allegedly won Wisconsin by a mere 20,000 votes. In nursing homes along, there are ten-times that many that are questionable at best.

Sheriff Schmaling has submitted the results of his investigation to the Attorney General. The way it’s laid out during the press conference, one would think this is a slam dunk prepared to happen. But it’s 2021 and the conspiracy to install Joe Biden last year is so widespread, there’s no telling whether this will get the attention it desperately deserves.

The fight to reverse the fraudulent results of the 2020 election is ongoing even if the vast majority in “conservative” media have moved on and accepted as successful the attack on the Constitution. We will continue to press forward with the fight and reveal as much information as we can when it comes available. This particular bit of news is huge and needs to be spread far and wide. Kudos to Sheriff Schmaling and his team.

From: https://thelibertydaily.com/bombshell-press-conference-wisconsin-sheriff-shows-massive-voter-fraud-in-nursing-homes-helped-steal-2020-election/

Wisconsin election law violations, Racine County sheriff alleges

From Fox6Now:

RACINE, Wis. - Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling unveiled on Thursday, Oct. 28 the results of an investigation into possible election law violations throughout Racine County and Wisconsin. While the sheriff alleges the law has been broken, he is not yet recommending charges.

"Election statute was in fact not just broken, but shattered by members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission," Schmaling said. 

The case started with Shirley, a resident of the Ridgewood Care Facility in Mount Pleasant, who died in October 2020 and voted in the presidential election. Her daughter, Judy Westphal-Mitchell, filed a complaint alleging her mother with "diminished mental capacity" was taken advantage of.

Racine County Sgt. Michael Luell investigated the issue. 

"Judy was obviously concerned and asked, you know, ‘How can you actually do this?’ And she was informed that the employees would inquire as to how the resident had voted in the past and they would basically follow those guidelines and vote accordingly," Luell said. "Judy, quite astutely asked, ‘Are you telling me that if my mother can only recall JFK, that the staff would have voted Democrat for her?’ And the answer is yes."

"How could my mother know that her vote was recorded accurately, she couldn't see. Judy was informed by the staff that the staff hoped that the other employees would be honest."

Luell found the Ridgewood Care Facility had an unusual surge in voting activity in 2020. In past years it was roughly ten voters, but in 2020 it rose to 42. Families of eight of them say they think their relatives didn't have the cognitive ability to vote.

"VH would ask her own son, who are you? She couldn't even recognize her own son. And she, she happened to vote in two elections in 2020, but no other elections," said Sgt. Michael Luell, Racine County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer. 

The sheriff accuses the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) of breaking the law. The commission is equally divided between Democrats and Republicans. They voted 5-1 during the pandemic – when nursing homes were limiting visitors – that municipalities across the state should not send special voting deputies into nursing homes. In normal years, they are deputized by clerks – pairs of them normally help nursing home residents vote.

"That means the staff at the facility absolutely, positively cannot, by this law. assist in the execution of the vote," Luell said.

Sgt. Michael Luell, Racine County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer

But the WEC gave nursing home staff tips on how to help.

"That is the completion of the crime right there. Crimes throughout the state. All 72 counties, every nursing home, resident care facility, right there," Luelle alleged.

Sheriff Schmaling is now asking Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul to investigate statewide.

Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling

Wisconsin Democrats called the Racine investigation a waste of taxpayer money and a publicity stunt, while former President Donald Trump urged people to watch the news conference.

The investigation only related to this one nursing home. But Sheriff Schmaling said he expects Thursday's announcement will lead to others across the state coming forward. 

Schmaling is calling on Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul to launch an immediate investigation.

Read and see more: https://www.fox6now.com/news/wisconsin-election-law-violations-racine-county-sheriff-reveals-findings