The attorney general of the US state of Wisconsin, Josh Kaul, filed felony forgery charges against two lawyers and an aide who worked for former president Donald Trump related to their roles in submitting paperwork falsely saying that Trump had won the battleground state in 2020.
The charges were filed against lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Troupis, and former Trump aide Mike Roman, who allegedly delivered Wisconsin’s fake elector paperwork to a Pennsylvania congressman’s staff member in order to get them to then vice president Mike Pence on January 6, 2021.
All three will appear in court on September 19, according to court records.
The attorney general of the US state of Wisconsin, Josh Kaul, filed felony forgery charges against two lawyers and an aide who worked for former president Donald Trump related to their roles in submitting paperwork falsely saying that Trump had won the battleground state in 2020.
Mr Kaul, a Democrat, has faced pressure to bring action against the 10 fake electors, who have yet to be charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
He has previously suggested that he was relying on federal investigators while also not ruling out a state probe.
Electors are people appointed to represent voters in presidential elections. The winner of the popular vote in each state determines which party’s electors are sent to the electoral college, which meets in December after the election to certify the outcome.
The fake elector efforts are central to an August federal indictment filed against Trump, alleging he tried to overturn results of the 2020 election.
Federal prosecutors, investigating his conduct related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, have also said the scheme originated in Wisconsin.
Trump also faces charges in Georgia and has denied wrongdoing.
Michigan and Nevada have also criminally charged fake electors.
Chesebro and Roman were among the 18 people indicted along with Trump in August in a sprawling racketeering indictment in Georgia. They are accused of taking part in a wide-ranging scheme to try to illegally overturn the 2020 election in that state.
Chesebro in October pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents after reaching a deal with prosecutors.
Roman has pleaded not guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges related to a plan to have Republican electors meet and cast electoral college votes for Trump even though Biden had won Georgia.
The Wisconsin electors, Chesebro and Troupis all settled a civil lawsuit that was brought against them last year.
Documents released as part of those settlements showed that the strategy in Wisconsin replicated moves in six other swing states.
Trump lost Wisconsin to Joe Biden, a Democrat, by fewer than 21,000 votes. Trump carried Wisconsin by a similar margin in 2016.
Wisconsin is one of a handful of swing states again this year.
Government and outside investigations have uniformly found there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could have swung the 2020 election.
Trump has continued to spread falsehoods about the election, particularly in Wisconsin.
