Established Fact
Law Forward and Georgetown University’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) pursued civil litigation against Wisconsin’s ten alternate electors and the two Trump campaign attorneys who organized the elector strategy — James Troupis and Kenneth Chesebro — in Penebaker et al. v. Hitt et al., No. 22CV1178 (Dane Cty. Cir. Ct.), filed May 17, 2022. In December 2023, the ten elector-defendants settled, agreeing to transmit a public statement to the same government offices that received Electoral College votes reaffirming that “Joseph R. Biden, Jr. won the 2020 presidential election” and that they “were not the duly elected presidential electors for the State of Wisconsin,” while also agreeing that none of them would ever serve as a presidential elector in any election featuring Donald Trump; neither payment of the $2.4 million in damages sought nor any admission of wrongdoing was required. Troupis and Chesebro settled separately in March 2024, agreeing to turn over more than 1,400 pages of documents, emails, texts, photos, and video, and to refrain from participating in similar efforts in future presidential campaigns; Troupis paid an undisclosed amount to plaintiffs, and neither attorney admitted wrongdoing or liability. The Dane County Circuit Court, in denying motions to dismiss the surviving claims — civil conspiracy, public nuisance, and quo warranto — found that Troupis had no qualified immunity and that the complaint adequately alleged the conspiracy had the “wrongful purpose of impersonating a public official,” a crime under Wisconsin law, as its object. The settlements’ combination of public acknowledgment requirements, permanent elector-service restrictions, and mandatory document production — secured through civil litigation rather than criminal process — represented the first time any Trump alternate electors revoked their filings.
Citations
Penebaker et al. v. Hitt et al.Penebaker et al. v. Hitt et al., No. 22CV1178 (Dane Cty. Cir. Ct., filed May 17, 2022); Law Forward/ICAP, Wisconsin’s 2020 Fraudulent Electors Acknowledge Their Votes Were Used in Effort to Undermine a Presidential Election, Settle with PlaintiffsWisconsin’s 2020 Fraudulent Electors Acknowledge Their Votes Were Used in Effort to Undermine a Presidential Election, Settle with Plaintiffs (Dec. 6, 2023), https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/our-press-releases/wisconsins-2020-fraudulent-electors-acknowledge-their-votes-were-used-in-effort-to-undermine-a-presidential-election-settle-with-plaintiffs/ (describing lawsuit as “the first of its kind in the nation, using civil law to redress the defendants’ unlawful actions”).
ICAP Press Release, suprasupra n.1 (verbatim settlement statement and restrictions); PBS NewsHour, Fake pro-Trump electors settle Wisconsin civil lawsuit, admit attempt to overturn Biden winFake pro-Trump electors settle Wisconsin civil lawsuit, admit attempt to overturn Biden win (Dec. 6, 2023), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fake-pro-trump-electors-settle-wisconsin-civil-lawsuit-admit-attempt-to-overturn-biden-win (“Under the deal, the fake electors don’t pay any damages or attorneys fees and there is no admission of wrongdoing or liability.”).
AP/PBS NewsHour, Settlement in Wisconsin 2020 fake elector case offers new details on the strategy by Trump lawyersSettlement in Wisconsin 2020 fake elector case offers new details on the strategy by Trump lawyers (Mar. 4, 2024), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/settlement-in-wisconsin-2020-fake-elector-case-offers-new-details-on-the-strategy-by-trump-lawyers (“There is no admission of wrongdoing or liability in the agreements in which Chesebro and Troupis promise to never participate in similar efforts involving future presidential campaigns. Troupis must also pay an undisclosed amount to the plaintiffs.”); Washington Examiner (Mar. 5, 2024), https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2903329/wisconsin-settlement-reveals-how-trump-team-tried-overturn-2020-election-key-state/.
Penebaker v. HittPenebaker v. Hitt, No. 22CV1178, Decision and Order at 15–17 (Dane Cty. Cir. Ct. Aug. 10, 2023) (Remington, J.) (“Troupis has no qualified immunity”; “The complaint alleges Hitt and Troupis conspired to commit a wrongful act because it alleges the conspiracy they formed had the wrongful purpose of impersonating a public official. Impersonating public officials is wrongful because it is a crime. Wis. Stat. § 946.69.”), https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2023/08/10068735.pdf.
PBS NewsHour (Dec. 6, 2023), suprasupra n.2 (“The settlement marks the first time that any Trump electors have revoked their filings sent to Congress purporting that Trump had won in seven battleground states.”).