MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Former aides to President-elect Donald Trump made their first appearance in a Wisconsin court Thursday on felony charges related to a scheme to file paperwork falsely claiming Trump carried the swing state in 2020 won.
Jim Troupis, Trump’s lawyer in Wisconsin, lashed out after the hearing, saying he was the victim of “legal politics” waged against him by the state’s Democratic attorney general.
Troupis, Kenneth Chesebro, a lawyer who advised the campaign, and Mike Roman, Trump’s director of 2020 Election Day operations, are all charged with 11 felony counts of forgery. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
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Troupis appeared in person, while the other two appeared by telephone with their attorneys in the Dane County courtroom.
Troupis said in comments after the brief hearing was over that Wisconsin Attorney General Josh “has doubled down on a vicious strategy to destroy our faith in the justice system by using the courts for his own personal political game.”
“My family and I have endured non-stop brutal and brutal attacks on my reputation and on my livelihood,” Troupis said outside the courtroom, surrounded by supporters including former Republican Gov. Scott McCallum. “My children have been interrogated. My long-standing friendships and professional life have been destroyed.”
A court commissioner has scheduled a preliminary hearing for all three on Jan. 28. They will enter their pleas at their arraignment, which has not yet been scheduled.
They were ordered not to have contact with the 10 voters or three others who were not named in the indictment. They had no objection to these conditions and were allowed to leave without paying a deposit.
Troupis defended the strategy of convening Republican voters, saying it was necessary in case a court ruled that Trump won Wisconsin.
“We thought this would end,” Troupis said. “The country has asked for it to end in November, but the practice of law in all its despicable forms will not end in Wisconsin.”
The state charges against Trump’s lawyers and aides are the only ones in Wisconsin. None of the voters have been charged. The 10 Wisconsin voters, Chesebro and Troupis, have all settled a lawsuit filed against them in 2023.
There are pending charges related to the fake voter program in state and federal courts in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Georgia. Federal prosecutors investigating Trump’s conduct in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol say the fake voter scheme originated in Wisconsin.
Electors are people appointed to represent voters in presidential elections. The winner of the popular vote in each state determines which electors are sent to the Electoral College, which meets in December after the presidential election to determine the outcome.
The Wisconsin complaint details how Troupis, Chesebro and Roman created a document falsely claiming Trump had won the 10 Electoral College votes and attempted to deliver it to then-Vice President Mike Pence for certification by Congress.
Prosecutors said in the complaint that most of the 10 voters told investigators they were required to sign the voter certification, indicating Trump won only to preserve his legal options if a court changed the outcome of the election in Wisconsin. Most voters also said they did not agree to have their signatures presented as if Trump had won without such a court ruling, the complaint said.
Troupis and Roman filed four motions to dismiss the charges before Thursday’s hearing. The court commissioner did not take this into account.
The lawsuit against Wisconsin was filed by Kaul, Wisconsin’s attorney general. One forgery charge was filed against each of the three defendants in June, and another 10 were added on Tuesday relating to the defendants’ interactions with the 10 voters.
The voter fraud efforts were at the center of a 2023 federal racketeering indictment filed against Trump, alleging he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Special counsel Jack Smith moved to drop that case last month, recognizing that Trump’s return to the White House in January will preclude efforts to prosecute him federally.
Trump was also indicted in Georgia, along with 18 others accused of participating in an elaborate scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there. Trump is seeking to have that case dismissed, arguing that state courts will have no jurisdiction over him when he returns to the White House next month.
Chesebro and Roman were among those charged along with Trump in Georgia.
Roman has pleaded not guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges there, as well as nine felony charges in Arizona related to that state’s false election campaign.
Chesebro pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to file false documents in a deal with Georgia prosecutors. He is seeking to invalidate the plea after a judge dismissed charges against Trump and others in September.
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Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this story.
