MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin prosecutors announced Friday they will not indict a Republican lawmaker accused of trying to circumvent state campaign finance laws to unseat the powerful Assembly speaker.
Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper said she will not pursue felony charges against Rep. Janelle Blancchen, following the recommendations of the bipartisan Wisconsin Ethics Commission.
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He is the fourth county prosecutor to decide not to pursue charges against former President Donald Trump’s fundraising committee, Blancchen and others involved in the ousting of Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
The case could ultimately be brought to the state’s attorney general, Democrat Josh Kaul.
The Ethics Commission found that Trump’s fundraising committee and Trump ally Blancchen conspired to circumvent campaign finance laws to support a 2022 Republican primary challenger to Vos. It sent recommendations for felony charges to prosecutors in six counties.
Prosecutors in Wisconsin say they will not bring charges against a Republican lawmaker accused of trying to circumvent state campaign finance laws to unseat the powerful Assembly speaker. (Reuters/Daniel Acker)
Mr. Voss angered Mr. Trump by firing a former state Supreme Court justice he had hired to investigate Mr. Trump’s alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Vos launched the investigation under pressure from Trump, but ultimately distanced himself from Trump’s efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Blancchen then supported the Republican front-runner, Adam Steen, in an attempt to unseat Mr. Voss. When President Trump endorsed Steen just before the 2022 primary, he called him a “driven patriot.” Vos, the longest-serving speaker in Wisconsin history, defeated Steen by just 260 votes.
The Ethics Commission alleges that Blancchen of President Trump’s Save America political action committee, Republican leaders in three counties, and Steen’s campaign conspired to circumvent state funding restrictions and overthrow the boss. He claims to have induced at least $40,000 into the company.
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Opper said his decision “does not reveal wrongdoing by Rep. Blancchen. There simply is not enough evidence to move forward and leave it to fact-finders.”
“I simply conclude that the charges against her cannot be proven,” Opper said in a statement. “Intercepted communications, such as audio recordings, may be persuasive in the court of public opinion, but they are not persuasive in a court of law.”
