MADISON, Wis. – In a decisive move on Tuesday, a Wisconsin judge denied a request to recuse himself from presiding over a felony forgery case involving a former attorney of Donald Trump. This case stems from the contentious 2020 election in a key swing state.
The judge also dismissed a plea to cancel an upcoming preliminary hearing set for Monday. This hearing involves not only Trump’s former attorney, who once served as a judge in the same county, but also two other ex-Trump associates.
The trio, each facing 11 felony charges, are accused of participating in a fraudulent elector scheme related to the 2020 election. These individuals are Jim Troupis, who represented Trump in Wisconsin during the 2020 election, Kenneth Chesebro, a legal advisor to Trump’s campaign, and Mike Roman, who managed Election Day operations for Trump in 2020.
In a motion filed on Monday, Troupis, supported by his co-defendants, claimed that all judges in Dane County were prejudiced against him. Troupis had previously served as a judge in the county from 2015 to 2016.
The motion further asserted that Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland had sought assistance from a retired judge when drafting an order in August that rejected a motion to dismiss the case.
Troupis alleged that the retired judge, who supposedly harbors personal enmity towards him from their shared time on the bench, was the actual author of the order. As a result, he requested an evidentiary hearing to be held in a different county.
He included an expert analysis of the writing style that compares the order to the writing style of retired Dane County Judge Frank Remington. Troupis’ attorney also attached a Nov. 25 letter he wrote to Hyland claiming that other attorneys told him that Remington actually wrote the August order because the writing style matched Remington’s in a civil case they litigated before him.
Hyland rejected those arguments and Troupis’ call for moving the case to another county.
“The Court is satisfied that no person other the assigned staff attorney and I had a hand in drafting or editing the decision which this Court signed and entered,” Hyland wrote.
Hyland also wrote that he had “no personal animus or prejudice toward any of the litigants” and was satisfied that he could fairly hear the case. He declined to step aside as requested.
Hyland also said that Troupis presented no evidence to support his claim that every other judge in the country was prejudiced against him and therefore can’t fairly hear the case.
Troupis’ attorney, Joe Bugni, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Troupis, Chesebro and Roman each face 11 felony charges for allegedly using forgery in an attempt to defraud each of the 10 Republican electors who cast their ballots for Trump in 2020 as part of a plan to submit paperwork falsely claiming that the Republican had won the battleground state that year.
Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 but fought to have the defeat overturned. He won the state in both 2016 and 2024.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is prosecuting the case, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
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.
Federal prosecutors who investigated Trump’s conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, said the fake electors scheme originated in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin complaint details how Troupis, Chesebro and Roman created a document that falsely said Trump had won Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College votes and then attempted to deliver the document to then-Vice President Mike Pence.
The Trump associates have argued that no crime took place. But the judge in August rejected their arguments in allowing the case to proceed.
A judge threw out a similar case in Michigan in September. And last year, a special prosecutor dropped a federal case alleging Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. A Georgia election interference case was dropped by prosecutors earlier last month, and another similar case remains in Nevada.
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Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this report.
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