Judge denies Vos request to stop deposition over records

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday denied a request from Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to postpone his sitting for a deposition with attorneys for a liberal watchdog group seeking records related to the GOP-ordered investigation into the 2020 election.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn denied an attempt by Vos and his staff attorney, Steve Fawcett, to delay the depositions, which are scheduled for Wednesday. She had ordered Vos and Fawcett to sit for the depositions last week.

The ruling comes in a case brought by the watchdog group American Oversight over records it is seeking related to the investigation Vos ordered into the 2020 presidential election.

Vos last year hired former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to lead the investigation at a cost of $676,000 in taxpayer money.

“These open records request have been pending for months; thus, additional delay may cause harm in the way of documents being destroyed or becoming stale,” Bailey-Rihn wrote in her order on Tuesday. She also reiterated her earlier order that the citizens of Wisconsin deserve open government.

Bailey-Rihn previously ruled that the depositions can relate only to the documents that American Oversight requested and what searches were done to locate those documents.