A third judge added to a growing chorus of Wisconsin court orders directing special counsel Michael Gableman not to destroy records in his 2020 election inquiry.
Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday directing Gableman, a former state Supreme Court justice, not to destroy any records tied to his election inquiry, even if they were not part of an open records request.
WISCONSIN 2020 ELECTION SPECIAL COUNSEL OFFICE HELD IN CONTEMPT AS SPARKS FLY IN COURT
“Until Plaintiff’s motion for a temporary injunction has been heard and ruled on by this Court, the Office of Special Counsel is hereby restrained and enjoined from deleting any documents in its custody,” the order read.
Frost is overseeing a case involving another lawsuit against Gableman from watchdog American Oversight. The lawsuit was filed late last month and sought to stop Gableman from deleting records. American Oversight has filed at least four lawsuits related to its records requests over his 2020 election inquiry.
In one of those lawsuits, the group alleged that his office informed its staff that he had frequently been deleting documents he considered unrelated to his investigation. During a court hearing in another case involving American Oversight last month, Gableman admitted to that under oath.
“Did I delete documents? Yes, I did,” Gableman said, the Cap Times reported. “If there was no (existing) open records request, and if it wasn’t going to be useful to my report, then I would probably delete it.”
LITIGATION UPDATE: A Wisconsin court has granted a temporary restraining order preventing the Office of Special Counsel from deleting records — one week after we, with @DemocracyFwd and Pines Bach LLP, filed a lawsuit and emergency motion. https://t.co/ICs14PHbU1 https://t.co/dB2ZNa7hAO
— American Oversight (@weareoversight) July 5, 2022
Some of those deleted documents included emails and the deactivation of an email account he used in the early days of his investigation. Two other Dane County judges have also demanded that Gableman preserve records in his 2020 election inquiry.
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) hired Gableman last summer to examine the 2020 election in the Badger State amid grumblings from former President Donald Trump and his allies that the election was “rigged.”
Vos was previously held in contempt of court for Gableman’s failure to produce documents. Gableman was also held in contempt last month and slapped with a $2,000 daily fine until he proves that he handed over all the requested documents to the court.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to a representative for Gableman for comment.
In May, Gableman’s inquiry was put on pause while the lawsuits over his inquiry play out in court. He has released some reports on his findings, alleging malfeasance in Wisconsin’s election practices. However, those reports have been subject to criticism from the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which has argued his reports were riddled with mischaracterizations of Wisconsin’s election practices.
