Michael Gableman, a former state Supreme Court Justice, is calling on a GOP state senator to resign for questioning the review of the 2020 election he is conducting for Assembly Republicans.
Republican state Sen. Kathleen Bernier of Lake Hallie said that Gableman should wrap up his review quickly. If she went to see Gableman address a crowd, she would bring a concealed weapons permit with her.
Gableman spoke to the Chippewa County Republican Party about her comments.
I'm not here to change you up, I'm here to help you out. According to a video of his remarks posted on the party's Facebook page, Gableman said he was here to educate you.
He said he did not believe that she had any intention of shooting him.
Gableman said that she wanted to be armed because she was afraid of her own people. If you're an elected official and you're afraid of your own people, you should take a long hard look at what you're doing. And then, resign.
His comments were well received.
Gableman was given a budget by the Assembly Republicans to look into the 2020 election. He told the party he might ask for more money.
Gableman warned the crowd that he was about to start spending more money.
Gableman's review is focused on an election that was called properly for Joe Biden.
The work of Gableman has been slowed by a lawsuit by the Democratic Attorney General. The judge said she would rule on the subpoenas by mid-January after hearing 212 hours of arguments.
"We need to move on."
The person could not be reached for comment. She initially said she would attend Gableman's event, but later said she didn't want to create a distraction. She said her comment about her concealed weapons permit was stupid.
She said in an interview that it should have stayed in her head and not come out her mouth.
She said in the interview that she is still a conservative despite her criticism of Gableman.
She said that we need to stop putting a shadow over our elected officials. Biden was elected president. We need to move on.
Gableman has appeared at other Republican events in recent weeks, including one in Beloit where he showed his support for Rebecca Kleefisch, who is running for governor.
Gableman praised Adam Jarchow, who is running against Toney in the GOP primary for attorney general. The winner will face someone else.
Gableman is against voter rolls.
Gableman criticized the Elections Commission for how it maintains its database. When someone dies, moves out of state, or becomes ineligible to vote, election officials don't remove their names from the database, but they do stop their voter registration.
Election officials follow that practice because it helps them keep track of voters when they move. The approach helps them determine if someone is trying to register in the name of someone who has died.
Gableman said the practice could lead to fraud.
The Elections Commission keeps inaccurate voting rolls, Gableman said. Why is that important? It gives more names for those who want to commit fraud. They get real names of real people. They may be dead but they are still alive. If someone wants to vote them, they are still on the voting rolls.
Ann Jacobs is the chairwoman of the Elections Commission.
She said in an interview that it was incorrect and showed a misunderstanding of how databases work.
We limit who can inactivate voters and they have to show why. You can't vote for someone who is dead. That's not how this works.
Gableman is a backer of Donald Trump who claimed last year that the election was stolen. He has met with election conspiracy theorists in the past but he is not trying to overturn the results.
Gableman told his audience on Monday that he was looking into grants the Center for Tech and Civic Life gave to Wisconsin to help them run their elections, as well as how voting machines operate.
Gableman was siding with election experts and breaking with some on the right by saying he saw no evidence that the Chinese government or anyone else hacked the voting machines.
He wants to study whether the machines are vulnerable to attacks, despite the fact that he hasn't found anything to support MyPillow Chief Executive Mike Lindell's claims about hacking. Gableman attended a forum that election officials dismissed as absurd.
The court will rule in January.
Rhonda Lanford heard arguments in the lawsuit over Gableman's subpoenas. She said at the conclusion of the hearing that she would make a ruling by January 10.
Her decision could affect whether Republicans can conduct their work in secret or in public. She is likely to rule on an appeal.
In his lawsuit, he argues that subpoenas are too broad. Gableman wants to conduct his interviews behind closed doors, but he wants them to be done in public.
The lawsuit should be thrown out because the commission doesn't have the authority to bring it. State law allows him to conduct interviews in secret.
Gableman wants to jail the mayors of Green Bay and Madison because they haven't cooperated with him. The dispute has led to threats of legal sanctions against one another and the mayors contend they have complied with his requests.
Patrick Marley can be reached at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on the social media site.
Gableman wants to jail two mayors if they don't sit for interviews as part of his review.
Michael Gableman had meetings with conspiracy theorists and a convicted fraudster.
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Gableman called for the resignation of the GOP senator who criticized him.
