No Recusal, No Misconduct Review In Wisconsin False Elector Forgery Case
Troupis’ attempt to sideline two liberal justices and challenge a Dane County judge falls flat at the Supreme Court.
GOP attorney and former judge Jim Troupis speaks to reporters in Madison after making an initial appearance on 11 felony charges tied to his role in the 2020 false elector plot that aimed to overturn President-elect Donald Trump’s Wisconsin loss to President Joe Biden, in December 2024. Anya Van Wagtendonk/WPR
Two liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court justices will not step aside from an ongoing criminal case against one of President Donald Trump’s ex-campaign attorneys who helped orchestrate the 2020 false elector scheme.
Jim Troupis, along with fellow attorney Kenneth Chesebro and former Trump campaign aide Mike Roman, face 11 counts of felony forgery for allegedly making false documents claiming Trump won the 2020 election. The documents were signed by 10 Wisconsin Republicans posing as presidential electors. The charges were filed by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul in 2024.
The matter is ongoing in Dane County Circuit Court. But Troupis alleged in December that the Judge initially presiding over the case was guilty of misconduct because one of his opinions was ghostwritten by a different, retired judge.
In February, Troupis filed motions asking the Supreme Court to review his judicial misconduct claim, and demanding that liberal Chief Justice Jill Karofsky and liberal Justice Rebecca Dallet recuse themselves from that decision.
Troupis pointed to comments Karofsky and Dallet made on the bench in 2020 when he was representing Trump’s attempt to get the Supreme Court to toss out hundreds of thousands of votes over claims that absentee balloting procedures weren’t properly followed. He said those and subsequent comments “establish not only the appearance of bias but actual bias — especially because both justices have doubled down.”
“In short, the tempers from that infamous oral argument haven’t cooled. Not only have they said that, in service to his ‘king,’ he brought a ‘racist’ lawsuit: they’ve maintained that position,” said Troupis, who argued his due process rights will be violated if they stay on.
In identical orders, Karofsky and Dallet said they “find no basis” in the Constitution’s due process clause, state law or Supreme Court ethics rules that would require them to step aside from the case. The court’s liberal majority, along with conservative swing Justice Brian Hagedorn, denied Troupis’ petition to review his misconduct claim against the Dane County judge. Outgoing conservative Justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley dissented.
Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet is seen after Gov. Tony Evers’ first State of the State address in Madison, Wisconsin, at the state Capitol building on Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Emily Hamer/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Liberal Supreme Court justices won’t step away from Troupis forgery case was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
