Former Trump attorney lashes out at 'lawfare' after court appearance in Wisconsin fake electors case

MADISON, Wis. — President-elect Donald Trump's former Wisconsin attorney lashed out Thursday at the state's Democratic attorney general for filing felony charges against him and two others related to the 2020 fake electors scheme, saying after their initial court appearance that he was the victim of ''lawfare'' that wreaked havoc on his life.

Jim Troupis, a former Wisconsin judge who represented Trump in 2020, was the only one of the three defendants to appear in person at the hearing. Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who advised Trump's 2020 campaign, and Mike Roman, Trump's director of Election Day operations in 2020, appeared by phone.

All three are charged with 11 felony forgery counts. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. A court commissioner set a preliminary hearing for all three for Jan. 28. They will enter their pleas at their arraignment, which is not yet scheduled.

Troupis, in comments after the brief hearing, said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has ''doubled down on a vicious strategy to destroy our very faith in the system of justice by using the courts for his own personal political game.''

''My family and I have endured nonstop vicious and unrelenting savage attacks on my reputation, on my livelihood,'' Troupis said outside of the courtroom surrounded by supporters, including Republican former Gov. Scott McCallum. ''My children have been interrogated. My long-held friendships and professional life have been destroyed.''

Kaul did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Troupis defended the strategy of having the GOP electors meet, saying it was necessary in case a court ruled that Trump won Wisconsin.

''We had thought that this would end,'' Troupis said. ''The country asked for it to end in November, but lawfare in all its despicable forms will not end in Wisconsin.''

Troupis and the other two defendants were ordered not to have contact with the 10 electors or three others not identified by name in the criminal complaint. They did not object to those conditions and were allowed to leave without posting any money for bail.

The state charges against the Trump attorneys and aide are the only ones in Wisconsin. None of the electors have been charged. The 10 Wisconsin electors, Chesebro and Troupis all settled a lawsuit that was brought against them in 2023.

There are pending charges related to the fake electors scheme in state and federal courts in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Georgia. Federal prosecutors investigating Trump's conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot said the fake electors 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 party's electors are sent to the Electoral College, which meets in December after a presidential election to certify the outcome.

The Wisconsin complaint details how Troupis, Chesebro and Roman created a document that falsely said Trump had won the state's 10 Electoral College votes and attempted to deliver it to then-Vice President Mike Pence for congressional certification.

Prosecutors said in the complaint that most of the 10 electors told investigators they needed to sign the elector certificate indicating that Trump had won only to preserve his legal options if a court changed the outcome of the election in Wisconsin. Most of the electors also said that they did not consent to having 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 charge before Thursday's hearing. The court commissioner did not consider those.

The fake elector efforts were central to 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 abandon that case last month, acknowledging that Trump's return to the White House in January will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him.

Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 others accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there. Trump is trying to get that case dismissed, arguing that state courts won't have jurisdiction over him when he returns to the White House next month.

Chesebro and Roman were among those indicted with Trump in Georgia.

Roman has pleaded not guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges there, as well as to nine felony charges in Arizona related to the fake electors scheme in that state.

Chesebro pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents in a deal with Georgia prosecutors. He is trying to invalidate the plea after the judge in September tossed out the charge against Trump and others.

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Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this story.