Justice Protasiewicz Won’t Recuse From Gableman Disciplinary Case

Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz said Thursday she won’t step aside from disciplinary proceedings against Michael Gableman, the conservative former justice accused of committing 10 ethical violations during his investigation into President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss in Wisconsin.

A court-appointed referee recommended Gableman lose his law license for three years, but the Supreme Court will have the final say. Among other things, Gableman is accused of refusing to tell a judge about his attempts to compel mayors in Green Bay and Madison to provide records and testimony. He’s also accused of making demeaning statements about a female attorney in court, of accusing a Dane County judge of bias during a hearing and of withholding public records.

Gableman has said he “cannot successfully defend against the allegations.” But he’s also tried to get liberal justices on the Supreme Court, including Protasiewicz, to recuse themselves from the case. Gableman argued Protasiewicz shouldn’t participate because, as a Supreme Court candidate in 2022, she issued a press release calling his investigation “disgraceful” and said Gableman was “not fit to be on the bench.”

Recusal decisions are up to the justices themselves. On Thursday, Protasiewicz refused to step aside and stood by her previous comments. She said her press release expressed her opinion “about the importance of judicial independence” and did not say how she’d rule on a hypothetical disciplinary hearing against Gableman, which didn’t start until two years later.

“I am confident that I can, in fact and appearance, act impartially in this attorney disciplinary proceeding,” said Protasiewicz. “Michael J. Gableman has failed to carry his burden of proving that I must recuse myself from this attorney disciplinary proceeding.”

All told, Gableman has filed motions demanding Protasiewicz and fellow liberal Justices Rebecca Dallet and Susan Crawford recuse themselves from the case. Dallet refused, but in October, Crawford announced she wouldn’t participate because she worked closely with the Dane County judge Gableman criticized and may have been exposed to factual allegations beyond what is in the court record.

Without Crawford, the Supreme Court is left with a 3-3 split of liberals and conservatives to decide the case.

The entire saga stems from Gableman’s time heading the Office of Special Counsel, which was tasked with investigating the 2020 election. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, hired Gableman in 2021 after intense scrutiny from Trump, who was making false claims about widespread voter fraud in swing states, including Wisconsin.

Gableman issued an initial report in 2022 and suggested state lawmakers “take a very hard look” at decertifying the 2020 results, which was widely panned as legally impossible. Gableman later turned on Vos and supported efforts to recall him from office. After Vos won his recall election, he fired Gableman, calling him an “embarrassment” to all lawyers and saying he hoped the former justice is disbarred.

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Janet Protasiewicz won’t recuse from Michael Gableman disciplinary case was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.