The former chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party said Sunday that he was “duped” into signing a document claiming former President Trump won the 2020 election as part of the state’s “fake voter” scheme.
Andrew Hitt told Anderson Cooper: “60 Minutes” interview He said he was advised by the state’s Republican Party’s general counsel to sign the document as an emergency in case the Trump campaign’s lawsuit challenging the integrity of Wisconsin’s elections is successful.
Hitt said he was “disgusted” by the Trump campaign’s attempt to waste votes in Wisconsin and did not believe the legal claims of widespread fraud.
“We have received specific advice from our lawyers that these documents have no meaning unless the court says they have meaning,” he said.
He added that he felt pressured to sign the document because he feared the Trump lawsuit would prevail and he would be held accountable in a situation where the electorate was not ready.
“It wasn’t a safe time,” he said. “If my lawyers are right and Trump losing Wisconsin is all my fault, I’ll be scared to death.”
“Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have done that,” he continued. “We were not made aware that there was another plan, another motive.”
Wisconsin’s 10 Republican electors gathered at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, overseen by Kenneth Chesebro, the Trump campaign lawyer who U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith described as the “architect” of the election fraud scheme. Signed the document under.
On the same day, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected the Trump campaign’s lawsuit in a 4-3 decision. Hitt said he proceeded to sign the document anyway in case the Supreme Court reverses the decision.
Chesebro is also one of 19 people, including multiple Trump campaign lawyers and the former president himself, charged in a separate Georgia extortion case over the state’s fake electoral system. Chesebro reached an agreement with Georgia prosecutors in October, after which he pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
A part-time state Republican Party official told Mr. Cooper that he personally delivered fake electoral ballots signed by Mr. Hitt and other Wisconsin Republican electors to Mr. Chesebro in Washington. Fake voting was not allowed in the wake of the January 6th Capitol riot.
Hitt resigned as state Republican Party chairman in August 2021.
Fake voters face criminal charges in several states, including Michigan and Nevada, but face no legal repercussions in Wisconsin. Hitt said he believes prosecutors understand that voters were deceived. He told Cooper he was cooperating with federal prosecutors.
“Every time someone sees our text messages, emails, documents, they understand and they know. Their conclusion is that we were deceived,” he said. “The committee on January 6th saw that.” Jack Smith specifically mentions in the indictment that “some electors were deceived.” That was us. ”
Wisconsin’s fake electors admitted the documents were part of a plan to overturn the election results and settled a civil lawsuit in December.
“We oppose any attempt to undermine public confidence in the final results of the 2020 presidential election,” said a statement from 10 Republican senators attached to the settlement agreement.
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