"Shambolic" GOP election review: Michael Gableman issued another ethics complaint

MADISON Wis. (CBS 58) -- As taxpayers’ tab continues to grow months after Assembly Republicans' review of the 2020 election ended, the lead investigator has received another ethics complaint.

Michael Gableman, who was hired by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to investigate the 2020 election, was the center of a third ethics complaint targeting his conduct during the probe.

In a 108-page complaint to the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation, attorneys for Law Forward and Stafford Rosenbaum wrote Gabelman's taxpayer-funded review was a " "shambolic, dishonest, and destructive campaign against Wisconsin’s democracy at taxpayer expense and in the guise of a public official."

"We respectfully submit that Gableman’s repeated failures to abide by the Rules in conducting a taxpayer-funded boondoggle requires a response from the Office of Lawyer Regulation," wrote attorneys Daniel Lenz and Jeffrey Mandell.

Vos was pressured by former President Donald Trump to launch an investigation after he repeatedly alleged massive voter fraud "stole" the election from him.

In August, Vos fired Gableman after he produced no evidence of widespread fraud after 14-month review and suggested lawmakers decertifying the 2020 election, a move Vos admitted was "legally impossible".

Gableman was given a $676,000 taxpayer budget to work with, but legal fees challenging aspects of his probe continue to mount today.

This week, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Diane Schipper ordered Vos to pay $135,574 in legal fees to the liberal watchdog group American Oversight who filed a series of open record lawsuits seeking documents about the probe.

Those fees will be paid for by taxpayers, which means the overall price tag is now nearly $2.5 million, according to a review by WisPolitics.

Vos plans to appeal the judge's ruling and said he wants to move past Gableman's fruitless review.

"I'm sure we'll end up appealing because they are outrageous in the fees that they charged," Vos said. "Look, the investigation is over. We are moving forward. It is only these liberal activists that seem like they can't let the 2020 election go."