Here & Now

Twists, Turns in the Republican Election Probe

Frederica Freyberg:

In post-election news, today was the day clerks were to have appeared before the special counsel investigating the Wisconsin 2020 election. But after issuing subpoenas to election officials and mayors of the state’s five largest cities, former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, after negotiation with them, backed off the request for now. There has been confusion over the process and still the former justice is pressing ahead and late this week issued his latest YouTube statement. “Here & Now” reporter Will Kenneally has been covering the twists and returns of this Republican-sponsored probe. He joins us now from the Capitol. Hey Will.

Will Kenneally:

Hey Fred.

Frederica Freyberg:

So Michael Gableman just today, again, says he will in fact depose people next Friday. Frankly it is kind of hard to keep up. What did he say?

Will Kenneally:

That’s right. So we’re actually not expecting any testimony from any officials next Friday, but in an interview this morning, he said he was going to take some depositions. So we’ll see what happens there.

Frederica Freyberg:

What was his primary message in his latest YouTube statement?

Will Kenneally:

His YouTube statement came out a few days ago and that kind of lays out some of the steps he has been taking so far in the subpoena process. Largely that he’s been using it as a formal way to solicit documents and testimony from the mayors and elections officials. On top of that, he’s received some criticism this week from Attorney General Josh Kaul. Kaul’s representing the Wisconsin Elections Commission in the subpoena process and he really took Gableman to task over what he called a flawed subpoena process. Here’s what he had to say.

Josh Kaul:

The one that was issued, however, is drastically overbroad and it’s requesting her testimony at a secret hearing rather than a public forum and that is improper. It’s our hope that we will be able to continue working with the special counsel’s office and reach an agreement.

Frederica Freyberg:

So as to reach an agreement, it appears they have. To what extent?

Will Kenneally:

That’s right. So lawyers working with the mayors and the elections officials have reached an agreement with the investigators to provide documents right now, but to delay testimony to a future date. So testimony will come. Documents are in hand this week.

Frederica Freyberg:

Yeah. We’ll see what comes next. But the former justice wanted to hear from those mayors because he’s particularly concerned about the Facebook nonprofit which gave money to Wisconsin’s five largest cities to help conduct the election in the midst of the pandemic.

Michael Gableman:

While millions of dollars in private funds may have been used in the public management of elections to achieve a preferred outcome at the expense of election integrity, if indeed this occurred would be the true definition of a boondoggle and it would also mark the beginning of tyranny and the end of the American experiment in democracy.

Frederica Freyberg:

That’s some pretty soaring rhetoric right there. He’s outright making accusation the money may have been used for “a preferred outcome.”

Will Kenneally:

That’s right. So it stems from a conservative concern that when you put money into democrat cities, you’re going to drum up democratic turnout. This was taken to court last October and a federal judge ruled that because the funds are going to all voters in the cities, not targeting Democrats specifically, that it was okay to go forward. There’s also another level of a concern over outside influence being imbued into elections that are supposed to be largely locally run. The important thing to know here is while these five cities received an initial round of funding, a second round of funding went to more than 200 Wisconsin cities, towns and villages, including conservative bastions like Waukesha for example.

Frederica Freyberg:

This all definitely pitches partisan obviously, but in the course of this, there is a nonpartisan audit currently underway. What is the status of that?

Will Kenneally:

That’s right. That’s being done by the state’s Legislative Audit Bureau, a nonpartisan agency that’s been working for the better part of this year on the audit. That’s expected sometime this fall. So we could see that in a matter of weeks.

Frederica Freyberg:

Will Kenneally, thanks for following this.

Will Kenneally:

Thank you.