U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s campaign paid over $20,000 in consulting fees to a law office led by an attorney who represented former President Donald Trump in his effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin.
The two payments, including one for legal consulting regarding a possible recount in next month’s election, were sent to a law firm led by Jim Troupis, a former Dane County Circuit Court judge who was reportedly involved in the plot to pass then-Vice President Mike Pence slates of fake electors as Pence was set to confirm the presidential election results on Jan. 6, 2021.
The news about the payments, first reported by NBC, comes after Johnson refused to unconditionally commit to accepting the certified results in his upcoming Nov. 8 election against Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. Recent polls have shown the Oshkosh Republican several points ahead of Barnes.
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Text exchanges revealed by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack show a staffer for U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson seeking to have Johnson hand a slate of fake Republican electors to Vice President Mike Pence moments before the joint session of Congress certifiying Joe Biden's win in 2020.
Under state law, if an election is within 1% of the winner’s total vote, the second-place candidate has the right to request a recount.
Noting that close elections were common in Wisconsin, Johnson campaign spokesperson Ben Voelkel said, “It would be reckless to be unprepared for any possible circumstance — and this campaign has been preparing for months for just that.”
Johnson’s campaign paid the Troupis Law Office $7,000 on Aug. 18, saying the payment was for “Recount: Legal Consulting,” federal campaign finance reports show. The law office received over $13,000 from the senator’s campaign on July 15 for “Legal Consulting.”
“Sounds like they’re gearing up to try to destroy our democratic processes again,” Barnes said on Twitter. “We can’t let them get away with it.”
Federal campaign reports show the Barnes campaign has paid the Elias Law Group, led by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias, around $90,000 in the past year.
“As is standard practice, the Barnes campaign has made plans in case of a possible recount, but unlike the Johnson campaign, we have not and would not pay a lawyer involved in efforts to overturn the results of a free and fair election,” Barnes’ campaign said in a statement.
Elias brings his own baggage, having been accused of “rigging the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries to thwart Bernie Sanders and facilitating a deluge of big money into politics,” The New York Times reported in 2018.
Work for Trump
Trump’s campaign paid Troupis’ firm for legal consulting regarding a recount after the 2020 presidential election that he lost, federal reports show. Recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties reaffirmed Trump’s loss.
Troupis also represented the former president in a bid to invalidate enough ballots to overturn the 2020 election result in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected Trump’s effort on Dec. 14, 2020. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case in February 2021.
But Trump’s bid to overturn the 2020 election in Wisconsin continued, as did Troupis’ involvement with the effort.
Troupis did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Coordination with Johnson
Johnson’s chief of staff told Pence’s aide on Jan. 6, 2021, that the senator needed to pass the vice president documents falsely stating Trump won in Wisconsin, text messages released this summer by the Jan. 6 committee revealed. The texts came as the vice president was set to confirm Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. Johnson initially denied involvement in the attempt to hand off the documents.
But the fallout continued when text messages revealed Troupis had first texted Johnson to pass along documents to Pence.
“We need to get a document on the Wisconsin electors to you for the VP immediately,” Troupis told Johnson at 11:36 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, according to texts provided to conservative media outlet Just the News. “Is there a staff person I can talk to immediately. Thanks Jim T.”
Johnson then put Troupis in touch with chief of staff Sean Riley before Riley contacted and was subsequently rebuffed by Pence’s aide.
After the revelation about Troupis’ involvement, audio revealed Johnson calling him a victim of the “radical left” who needs to be supported.
Troupis sued
In May, a handful of Democrats sued the 10 Republicans who acted as the fake electors, alleging that, by attempting to hand Wisconsin’s Electoral College votes to Trump, the GOP activists played a role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. The plaintiffs also sued Troupis and Boston-area lawyer Kenneth Chesebro.
The group alleges the Republicans and their attorneys broke several criminal and civil laws when the fake electors met at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign official-looking documents asserting that Trump won the state. The Republicans have said the meeting was to preserve their legal options amid litigation surrounding the election.
The meeting came after Chesebro sent a memo to Troupis on Nov. 18, 2020, detailing the Republicans’ eventual plan to pose as electors.
Documents have underscored efforts by those in Trump’s inner circle to circumvent the Electoral College process in several states, including Wisconsin, following the 2020 election, despite recounts and court decisions affirming that Biden defeated Trump in the battleground state by almost 21,000 votes.
Top 10 Wisconsin political stories of 2021 (based on what you, the readers, read)
2021 was another big year in Wisconsin politics. Sen. Ron Johnson said some things. Voters elected a new state superintendent. Gov. Tony Evers and Republicans clashed over mask mandates. Michael Gableman threatened to jail the mayors of Madison and Green Bay. Here are 10 political stories you, the readers, checked out in droves.
Since the start of the outbreak, Gov. Tony Evers has issued multiple public health emergencies and a series of related orders.
Sen. Ron slammed the impeachment over the weekend as “vindictive and divisive,” and possibly a “diversionary operation” by Democrats to distract from security lapses at the U.S. Capitol.
"I wouldn’t run if I don’t think I could win," said Johnson, who is undecided on a re-election bid.
The board had previously not required masks in schools after some in the public voiced opposition.
With a new order announced, Republicans may be forced to start the process all over again to vote down the governor's emergency order and accompanying mask mandate, but the most likely outcome appears to be an eventual court decision.
Fort McCoy officials acknowledge there were initial problems with food supply, but that and other issues are being addressed.
The idea is in its infancy and all options, including declining to pursue anything, are on the table.
Gableman has asked the court, which plans to take up the matter on Dec. 22, to compel the two mayors to meet with him.
Deborah Kerr said she has also voted for Republicans and tells GOP audiences on the campaign trail for the officially nonpartisan race that she is a "pragmatic Democrat."
Limbaugh died Wednesday at 70.
