Established Fact
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul filed suit in Dane County Circuit Court seeking a declaration that the Wisconsin Legislature’s Office of the Special Counsel (OSC) lacked authority to conduct its election investigation. The AG also intervened in separate litigation on behalf of private individuals resisting legislative subpoenas, deploying state legal resources to defend private parties against constitutional legislative oversight – without documented authorization from the full WEC Commission at a properly noticed public meeting. The AG’s suit was subsequently dismissed.
Citations
Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul filed suit in Dane County Circuit Court (Oct. 22, 2021) seeking to bar OSC Special Counsel Gableman from enforcing subpoenas issued to the Wisconsin Elections Commission in connection with the 2020 election review. See Kaul sues to bar Gableman from enforcing subpoenas (WisPolitics, Oct. 2021). The suit was subsequently dismissed.
AG Kaul also intervened on behalf of private parties resisting legislative subpoenas, deploying state legal resources without documented authorization from the full WEC Commission at a properly noticed public meeting, as required by Wis. Stat. §§ 5.05(1e) and 5.05(5s)(a). See Gableman Report, pp. 4–5 and App. I. Report available at Gableman OSC Second Interim Investigative Report.
The AG’s suit was subsequently dismissed. Wis. Stat. §§ 5.05(1e) and 5.05(5s)(a) require a WEC majority vote at a properly noticed public meeting for official agency actions; the AG’s intervention on behalf of subpoena resisters lacked documented compliance with these statutory prerequisites.
Wis. Stat. §§ 5.05(1e) and 5.05(5s)(a) (WEC majority vote requirement for official actions). The AG’s deployment of state resources without documented WEC majority-vote authorization is a pattern documented in the Gableman Report and consistent with the broader pattern of state executive authority being deployed to obstruct legislative election oversight functions.