Vos Disciplines Trump-Backed Legislator
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos stripped Rep. Timothy Ramthun of his legislative staff.
State Representative Timothy Ramthun and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has stripped a GOP lawmaker of his lone staff member after the lawmaker repeatedly blamed Vos for not doing more to overturn the results of Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election.
The move by Vos, R-Rochester, to punish Rep. Timothy Ramthun, R-Campbellsport, was first reported Thursday morning by WisPolitics.com. Several hours later, the rest of the Assembly GOP leadership team and all Assembly Republican members of the Legislature’s budget committee issued a written statement supporting the decision.
Ramthun gained national attention in November when he sponsored a resolution calling for the Legislature to decertify President Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin, citing widely discredited reports of fraud. Former President Donald Trump issued a statement praising the move, calling the resolution “powerful and very popular” and encouraging the Wisconsin Legislature to pass it.
Vos has been critical of the way the 2020 election was run, approving what has turned into a sweeping investigation by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. But Vos has rejected calls to decertify the 2020 race, a move the Legislature’s nonpartisan attorneys have said is legally impossible.
In recent weeks, Ramthun has issued a series of press releases under the heading “Let There Be Light” from his state Capitol office. On Jan. 14, the day after a Waukesha County judge ruled drop boxes are not allowed under state law, Ramthun accused Vos of acting illegally when his attorney endorsed the use of drop boxes in the 2020 election.
Ramthun’s press release also criticized Vos’ role at the National Conference of State Legislatures, where the speaker is a past president, suggesting the conference’s support of drop boxes had led to their use in Wisconsin. According to WisPolitics, Vos said Ramthun falsely accused Republicans of signing a deal with Hillary Clinton‘s lawyers to authorize drop boxes.
Vos, who is the longest-serving speaker in the history of the Wisconsin Assembly, has faced criticism before from the GOP base. At the 2021 State GOP Convention, some Republican activists circulated a petition calling for his removal as speaker, but the measure never received a vote.
At a press conference Thursday in Madison, Vos was asked about facing criticism from some Republicans for removing Ramthun’s staffer.
“I think I’m in pretty good shape,” Vos said. “I think most people appreciate what we’re doing, and that we need to focus on the future, not on trying to decertify the election and focus on the past.”
Ramthun did not return a message left at his state Capitol office seeking comment.
The written statement from GOP leaders, including Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, backed Vos and criticized Ramthun.
“Rep. Ramthun and his staffer are spreading misinformation,” reads the statement. “We support Speaker Vos’ actions. No matter how much Rep. Ramthun and his staffer believe what they are saying is true, it does not make it so.”
Still, Vos’ move hardly put an end to false claims among some Wisconsin Republicans that the 2020 election was stolen. Gableman’s investigation showed no sign of letting up, having been formally endorsed again this week by the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections.
“And what action awaits Gableman for similar behavior?” said Gov. Tony Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback in a tweet. “Just your perennial reminder that Vos could end that circus today just as he could have on any given day before now. He’s still choosing not to.”
Ramthun and Gableman both attended an event symposium last year in South Dakota by MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, who has repeatedly falsely claimed Trump won the 2020 election.
Biden defeated Trump by about 21,000 votes in Wisconsin, a victory that withstood a partial recount and multiple legal challenges in state and federal courts.
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker disciplines GOP lawmaker who criticized Republicans for not trying to overturn 2020 election was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Contrary to what the ex-president believes, Gableman’s Folly is the only real “witch hunt” going on in the country.
Perhaps Wisconsin taxpayers, in order to be repaid for the loss of their tax money on this fiasco, should file a class action suit against Vos and his hired gun seeking compensated for their monetary damages and their pain and suffering for enduring this charade.
Holey Moley – – I did not know that both Vos and Gabelman attended whatever stupid thing the Pillow Man was holding in S. Dak.
And on MY TAXPAYER money no less.
These guys are so far beneath contempt it is genuinely hard to find words to describe their grifting.
PLEASE let’s vote these power and money hungry jerks out of office soonest! I have no problem disagreeing on one issue with a decent person and still voting for them. But the entire repub. party in this state has no concern for the welfare of the people (ALL OF THE PEOPLE!) of this state, nor do they care about the future of the state in general. To wit: Foxconn
Note that Vos did nothing about Ramthun until it got personal. Ramthun has been spreading lies for months; Vos didn’t care until he was personally accused.
Is anything else going to happen besides losing a staffer? Seems pretty minor considering the lies and falsehoods Ramthun’s been spreading. This ‘punishment’ looks more like Vos pretending to do something but in reality he’s not doing a thing about it.
Vos disciplining Ramthun is like The Joker disciplining The Penguin. But in comic book cultures that’s not unusual stuff.
Perhaps one day we’ll find our way out of this dystopian Wonderland and find leaders who believe in things being right-side-up.