Wisconsin

The trial against two people charged with felony forgery in Wisconsin in connection to the 2020 false electors scheme will proceed after a Dane County judge found probable cause on Monday.

At a lengthy preliminary hearing in Dane County Circuit Court, Judge John Hyland found the state presented enough evidence against Jim Troupis, who served as Trump’s Wisconsin attorney in the 2020 election, and Mike Roman, a 2020 campaign aide, for the criminal trial to go forward.

A third co-defendant, former Trump campaign attorney Ken Chesebro, was separated out based on questions his lawyers raised about what evidence is admissible. He will face a separate probable cause hearing later.

A hearing in the felony case against a key figure in Wisconsin’s false electors scheme will proceed Monday — even as allies of President Donald Trump have ramped up pressure to stall the proceeding.

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Trump ally, asked the U.S. Department of Justice to review the case against Jim Troupis, an attorney who faces 11 counts of felony forgery tied to his role as Trump’s Wisconsin campaign lawyer in 2020.

Troupis is alleged to have worked with Trump campaign attorney Ken Chesebro and campaign aide Mike Roman to develop and implement the false electors plot, where Republican electors from key swing states gathered in 2020 and signed official-looking documentation asserting Trump’s victory in states that he had lost.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Thursday denied a demand from the U.S. Department of Justice for the state’s full voter registration list, including personally identifiable information such as dates of birth, driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers.

At a special meeting Thursday afternoon and in a letter sent in response to the DOJ demand, WEC stated that Wisconsin law explicitly prevents the commission from sharing the personal information of voters.

“The U.S. DOJ is simply asking the commission to do something the commission is explicitly forbidden by Wisconsin law to do,” commissioner Don Millis said.

This is the second time this year the DOJ has requested Wisconsin’s voter database. Both times, the department has been informed that Wisconsin state law requires that the commission charge a fee to obtain the list.

Former Lieutenant Governor and state legislator Mandela Barnes has announced he will run for governor in the 2026 election, which will immediately shake up the Democratic primary.

His campaign is touting polls showing he has more support than any other Democrat in the gubernatorial race and runs well ahead of U.S. Congressman Tom Tiffany, widely seen as the front runner in the Republican primary.

In a video launching his campaign, Barnes promised to stand up to the “chaos” caused by the policies of Republican President Donald Trump and make life more affordable for Wisconsin

If you live in Wisconsin—reach out to your Senator and urge them to kill A.B. 105/S.B. 130. Our privacy matters. VPNs matter. And politicians who can’t tell the difference between a security tool and a “loophole” shouldn’t be writing laws about the internet.

New documents show Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s phone records were obtained by the FBI during a now-shuttered investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden.

Johnson, whose office was involved in attempting to get slates of false electors from Wisconsin and Michigan to former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, said the Biden-era surveillance of him and eight other Republicans “should shock every American.”

• A freeze warning and frost advisory are issued through Wednesday morning for most of Wisconsin.
• Widespread frost and temperatures dipping into the upper 20s and low 30s.
• Southern Wisconsin will be the warmest but could still reach the 30s.