Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, has charged Trump campaign aide Michael Roman and attorneys Kenneth Chesbro and James Troupis with felony forgery, according to online court records. Copies of the charges were not immediately available.
If convicted, the defendants face up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. They are scheduled to make their first court appearance in September, and unless a plea deal is reached, the trial will likely continue until after this fall’s election.
Attorneys for Tulpis, Chesebro and Roman did not immediately respond to messages. Roman’s attorney, Kurt Altman, said he and Roman recently learned of the charges and are reviewing them.
After Trump narrowly lost Wisconsin in the 2020 election, he sought a recount in the state’s two most Democratic areas and tried to use the process to invalidate hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots. The state Supreme Court rejected Trump’s efforts on Dec. 14, 2020, the day the nation’s presidential electors were to vote.
An hour after the ruling, 10 Republicans met at the state capitol and signed papers claiming to be the true electors of their state. Trump allies held similar meetings in six other states, then sent what appeared to be official documents to Congress, the National Archives and other organizations claiming to be the true electors of their states.
Trump’s supporters used these documents to falsely claim that the results of the 2020 election were questionable and to try to stop Congress from certifying the election results, culminating in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Public records show that Mr. Tulpis, Mr. Chesebro and Mr. Roman worked together to craft the electoral strategy. Mr. Tulpis, who served briefly as a judge and was a longtime go-to lawyer for the Wisconsin Republican Party, served as Mr. Trump’s lead lawyer in the Wisconsin recount and litigation.
Chesbro helped plan the entire meeting and recorded it on his cell phone in Wisconsin, according to photos and records.
Chesbro was indicted in Georgia and pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to submit false documents as part of the deal. Roman is being indicted in Georgia and Arizona.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Yvonne Winget Sanchez in Phoenix contributed to this report.
