Court records from Trump attorneys Troupis and Chesebro reveal depth of fake elector scheme

Two attorneys with deep ties to Wisconsin worked together to carry out a scheme to keep Donald Trump in power after he lost reelection in 2020, new court records show.

Former Trump attorneys Jim Troupis and Kenneth Chesebro made public this week "troves of previously hidden emails, text messages, and other documents" as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit filed against them over a plan to have 10 Wisconsin Republicans sign and submit paperwork claiming to be electors for Trump, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys.

“Troupis and Chesebro orchestrated an egregious and unprecedented scheme to undermine the will of the voters, in Wisconsin and beyond,” Jeff Mandell of Stafford Rosenbaum LLP and Law Forward, who represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

“This case was the first to seek accountability for those individuals who tried to overturn the will of Wisconsin voters. Through this litigation, we have been able to reveal the details of the scheme and those who were responsible, to ensure this never happens again.”

But Troupis and Chesebro did not admit wrongdoing as part of their agreement with the plaintiffs to resolve the matter.

"The settlement was made to avoid endless litigation, and nothing in today’s settlement constitutes an admission of fault, nor should it," Troupis said in a statement. "It is the duty of lawyers to vigorously represent their clients, regardless of their popularity, within the bounds of the law. Our representation was vigorous and ethically appropriate.”

Attorney Matthew Fernholz, who represented Troupis in the lawsuit, said his client "did not deserve to be put through this politically driven civil lawsuit."

"I am glad he can now put this matter behind him and resume his public life that has benefitted so many," Fernholz said.

The lawsuit was initially filed in May 2022 by electors for President Joe Biden. It named Chesebro, Troupis and the 10 Wisconsin Republicans who signed the false paperwork. The group of false electors were previously dropped from the lawsuit after they agreed to a settlement of their own.

In the settlement agreements signed by Chesebro and Troupis, the attorneys agreed to not help any future presidential campaign prepare slates of "alternate electoral votes" without stipulating the documents are not being cast by true electors.

Troupis also agreed to pay an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement. Fernholz said Troupis also agreed to cover plaintiffs' attorneys' fees accrued in future lawsuits if he violated this agreement.

More: Fake elector plotter Kenneth Chesebro is reported to be cooperating with a Wisconsin investigation

As part of the resolution of the lawsuit, Chesebro and Troupis released hundreds of pages of emails, text messages and other documents showing the pair designed the plan days after the Nov. 3, 2020, election and shared the plan with Trump campaign officials at the national level.

According to the records, Troupis instructed Chesebro to prepare electoral college documents for Trump campaign officials in other states at the request of the Trump campaign.

Troupis, a former Dane County Circuit Court judge, was hired by Trump's campaign to oversee recounts Trump called for in Dane and Milwaukee counties. He lives in Cross Plains. Chesebro, who was born in Wisconsin Rapids, also worked for the Trump campaign.

The emails released by Troupis and Chesebro also show they coordinated legal strategies during recounts of ballots in Dane and Milwaukee counties, during which Troupis sought to throw out thousands of absentee ballots that were cast in person through a process known as early voting.

The pair received legal advice from former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly about their efforts, during which he urged them not to file an appeal of counting ballots collected by election workers in Madison city parks because of a lack of legal grounds to do so.

Kelly, who was working for the state GOP at the time as a legal counsel, told the attorneys if their goal is to get their arguments before the state Supreme Court, including problematic legal arguments will likely result in a rejection.

Molly Beck can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Chesebro, Troupis records show depth of Wisconsin fake elector scheme