Trump allies plead not guilty in Wisconsin elector case

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MADISON — Architects of a plan to overturn former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges of forgery for their alleged roles in a plot to gather falsified elector documents.

Jim Troupis, a former Wisconsin campaign attorney for President Donald Trump, Michael Roman, a former Trump aide, and Kenneth Chesebro, a Wisconsin-born former Trump attorney, appeared in Dane County Circuit Court for arraignment on 11 counts of felony charges related to the so-called fake elector scheme.

Troupis, who lives in Dane County, was the only defendant who appeared in person. All three pleaded not guilty.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul filed the charges against Troupis, Chesebro and Roman in 2024.

The charges allege the three lied to the Wisconsin Republicans who signed paperwork falsely claiming to be electors for Trump in the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 election for Biden.

Prosecutors allege the three were instrumental in having Republicans in battleground states pretend to be electors for Trump in an effort to persuade then-Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of Biden’s victory over Trump.

Biden defeated Trump by about 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. Trump sought recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties, which confirmed Biden’s win.

Trump sued and the state Supreme Court upheld the results on a 4-3 vote on Dec. 14, 2020.

Less than an hour later, Democrats met in the state Capitol to cast the state’s 10 electoral votes for Biden.

At the same time, the Republican fake electors gathered in another part of the Capitol to fill out paperwork claiming Trump had won. They submitted their filings to Congress, the National Archives, a federal judge and then-Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette. Chesebro was in the room during the meeting.

The Republicans have said they held the meeting only to ensure the state’s electoral votes were cast for Trump if a court later determined he was the true winner of the state.

Republicans in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada also signed documents purporting to be electors at the same time. Republicans in New Mexico and Pennsylvania filled out paperwork saying they should be considered electors if courts found Trump had won their states.

The 10 Republicans who signed paperwork claiming to be electors have not been charged criminally related to the fake documents.

In 2024, the group settled a lawsuit filed by the real Biden electors against them over their role in the scheme. As a part of the settlement, the Republicans acknowledged their actions were used in an attempt to overturn an election.

Andrew Hitt, a former Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman who was one of the 10 Republicans who participated in Wisconsin, said in 2024 he felt “tricked” by the Trump campaign to sign the paperwork.

In a statement released by Hitt and others after the lawsuit was settled, the Republicans wrote they met in the Wisconsin State Capitol to sign paperwork falsely claiming to be electors to be “in compliance with requests from the Trump campaign and Republican Party of Wisconsin.”

“The Elector Defendants took the foregoing action because they were told that it was necessary to preserve their electoral votes in the event a court challenge may later change the outcome of the election in Wisconsin. That document was then used as part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results,” the Republicans wrote.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Mario White, who is overseeing the case, said during the hearing he was still considering a Troupis motion to dismiss one of the charges and to move the trial to another county.