Judge orders Wisconsin investigator to stop deleting records

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By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge on Thursday ordered an investigator in Wisconsin looking into the 2020 election to stop deleting records, the latest blow against the former state Supreme Court justice whose contract is nearing an end.

Michael Gableman has released two interim reports on the election won by President Joe Biden and has suggested the GOP-controlled Legislature look into the legally impossible move of decertifying his victory. Republican leaders, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos who hired Gableman, have repeatedly said they have no intention of trying to decertify the win.

Gableman’s reports have not included evidence to back up the false claims that Donald Trump won Wisconsin in 2020.

Biden’s win over Trump by nearly 21,000 votes has withstood recounts, independent audits and reviews and numerous lawsuits. Still, Vos ordered the review by Gableman last summer under pressure from Trump and others who falsely contend the election was stolen.

Gableman’s work is mired in several ongoing lawsuits, including three brought by the liberal watchdog group American Oversight. It filed numerous open records requests seeking documents primarily from Vos and Gableman. Vos has been found in contempt in one case for failing to turn over records.

Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington on Thursday issued an order in another of those lawsuits, telling Gableman “not to delete or destroy any record that is or may be responsive” to the group’s open records requests.

Remington made the order after Gableman’s attorney told American Oversight that it “routinely deletes documents and text messages that are not of use to the investigation.”

The nonpartisan Legislative Council, attorneys who advise the Legislature, said in October that deleting such records, even by a state contractor like Gableman, is a violation of Wisconsin law.

Gableman’s attorney, James Bopp, has argued in court filings that the record retention law does not pertain to contractors. Bopp did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.

Bopp said in the April 8 letter to American Oversight that all responsive records have been turned over and once the investigation is complete, all materials will be made public. Bopp said that Gableman’s office routinely evaluates documents, including text messages and emails, to determine whether the record is of use to the ongoing probe. Those determined to be relevant are retained and the others are deleted, Bopp said.

American Oversight adviser Melanie Sloan faulted Gableman’s office for deleting the records.

“If this investigation was above board, the Office of Special Counsel would have maintained and released records of its work required by law,” Sloan said. “Instead, it is fighting tooth and nail to hide its work from the public. This inquiry is nothing more than an attempt to prop up conspiracy theories and undermine free and fair elections.”

Gableman’s current contract runs through the end of April, but he has indicated in recent interviews that he does not expect it to be extended.

Remington in March releases more than 700 pages of documents from Gableman, records the judge said did not support conclusions made in Gableman’s latest report or that showed there has been much of an investigation at all.