Former Trump attorney slams charges in Wisconsin's fake elector investigation

 

MADISON Wis. (CBS 58) -- A former attorney of President-elect Donald Trump lashed out at Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul after an initial court appearance regarding an investigation into paperwork that falsely stated Trump won the battleground state in 2020.

Jim Troupis, a former Dane County judge who represented Trump after the 2020 election, was defiant against the felony charges he and two others face related to the alleged fake elector plot.

After the hearing, Troupis called the lawsuit politically motivated and "a gross misuse of our courts."

"This is a political case that has nothing to do with the law," Troupis told reporters at the Dane County Courthouse. "The attorney general should be ashamed of himself."

Troupis and two other Trump allies, Kenneth Chesebro and Mike Roman, are each facing 11 felony forgery counts for their role in collecting an alternate slate of electors claiming Trump won Wisconsin four years ago, even though Joe Biden did.

During the court hearing, Chesebro and Roman appeared by phone. More than a dozen packed the courthouse as the court commissioner gave all three men signature bonds and ordered them to have no contact with Wisconsin's 10 GOP electors.

Kaul's case stems from a Dec. 14, 2020, meeting at the state capitol when Republicans met to sign the documents for Trump.

The Republican electors told investigators they signed the paperwork because they were told it was to preserve Trump's legal options and would only be used if a court changed the election outcome.

Troupis has reiterated that same legal argument and has filed four motions seeking to dismiss the charges.

Two days before the hearing, all three men faced a single felony charge On Tuesday, Kaul filed 10 additional charges.

All three men are scheduled to be back in court on Jan. 28th. Each felony count they face is punishable by up to six years in prison and fines of up to $10,000.

Last year, Troupis, Chesebro and Wisconsin's 10 fake electors reached a settlement with Democrats acknowledging their actions were part of an effort to overturn President Joe Biden's win in Wisconsin.