Wisconsin prosecutors are accused of advising two of President-elect Trump's lawyers and an aide to falsely claim he won the state election in 2020 as part of a “fake elector” scheme. He was also charged with 10 felonies.
in Tuesday declaration The Wisconsin Department of Justice announced in Dane County Circuit Court that Jim Troupis, Trump's former Wisconsin attorney, Kenneth Chesebro, who advised his 2020 campaign, and Trump's 2020 Election Day Director Mike Roman was charged with a felony.
All three were each charged with felony forgery in June. The new filing comes days before an initial court appearance was scheduled for Thursday. Associated Press reported.
The new charges are forgery in an attempt to defraud 10 Republican electors who voted for Trump in 2020, prosecutors said. Each charge against the men carries a $10,000 fine and six years in prison.
After the 2020 election, the defendants engaged in a “fake elector” scheme in which they planned to send pro-Trump slates of electors to the legislatures of various battleground states where Trump lost the election to President Biden. was.
Related charges have also been filed against Trump allies in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada over similar schemes.
Mr. Chesebro pleaded guilty in the Georgia case, but last week asked to have the plea deal invalidated following Mr. Trump's election victory. Trump was also charged in Georgia, but has maintained his innocence.
The Wisconsin complaint alleges how three people created a false document in 2020 that said Trump won all 10 of the state's Electoral College votes.
Trump won Wisconsin in 2016, lost in 2020, but won again in the most recent presidential election in 2024.
Since the first charges were filed, Troupis has filed four motions to dismiss ahead of Thursday's first hearing.
Lawyers for the defendants did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
