Election probe hits snag over attorney
Lawyer Gableman hired had no Wisconsin license
MADISON – Wisconsin Republicans have accused state and municipal officials of dodging their questions about the 2020 election, but a newly obtained transcript shows they botched an opportunity to conduct an interview in February.
The document raises fresh questions about how diligent the team hired by the state Assembly has been in conducting its election review. State taxpayers have spent nearly $900,000 on the review so far.
Michael Gableman, the former state Supreme Court justice leading the probe, last fall began issuing dozens of subpoenas to state officials and leaders in the state’s five largest cities.
Most officials rebuffed Gableman, in part because they said he didn’t have the authority to interview them behind closed doors, as he planned.
Kenosha’s city administrator, John Morrissey, took a different tack and agreed to appear for a deposition in February in Gableman’s office in Brookfield. Morrissey showed up but the interview didn’t take place because Gableman planned to have it conducted by an attorney who isn’t licensed to practice law in Wisconsin, according to a transcript of what happened that day.
Wrong address on subpoena
Gableman has put much of his focus on grants Kenosha and other Wisconsin communities received from the Center for Tech and Civic Life to help them run their elections during the coronavirus pandemic. Courts have repeatedly found the grants were legal, but Gableman has portrayed them as problematic and sought to find out more about them.
For the February deposition, Morrissey and attorney Bryan Charbogian came to the Brookfield address listed on the subpoena but were told Gableman’s office was actually in a nearby building, according to Morrissey.
There, they met with Clint Lancaster, an Arkansas attorney Gableman hired last fall.
Charbogian told Lancaster the subpoena for Morrissey had not been properly served, was too vague and was overly broad, according to a copy of the
Lancaster contended state rules allowed him to conduct the interview even though he is not licensed to practice law in Wisconsin. He said he was acting as an investigator, not an attorney.
transcript obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He offered a litany of other objections as well, saying the interview should be conducted before a legislative committee at the state Capitol instead of a private office.
Despite those concerns, Charbogian said he was willing to let Morrissey talk to Gableman’s team — as long as the interview was conducted by an attorney licensed in Wisconsin.
Lancaster contended state rules allowed him to conduct the interview even though he is not licensed to practice law in Wisconsin. He said he was acting as an investigator, not an attorney.
“I work for the Legislature, and there is no requirement that I be licensed if I work for the Legislature,” Lancaster said, according to the transcript.
Charbogian said he had consulted with the State Bar of Wisconsin about the deposition and determined that he would be putting his own law license in jeopardy if he allowed Morrissey to answer questions from Lancaster.
“If you’re not willing to make the assertion that you’re authorized to practice law, then I can’t assist you in the unauthorized practice of law,” Charbogian told Lancaster.
The two sides took a break so Lancaster could confer with Gableman, who wasn’t in the office. Afterward, Lancaster said he and Gableman disagreed with Charbogian but said Gableman would be there in 20 minutes so he could conduct the interview.
Charbogian decided he and Morrissey wouldn’t wait for Gableman. Charbogian said Gableman’s team wasn’t ready at the time and place listed on the subpoena.
“We’ve tried very hard to be cooperative, and our position is we’ve complied with the subpoena,” Charbogian said. “And if you don’t have a lawyer here that’s ready to question us at 9, if you want something further in regards to this subpoena, you need a new one, and we’re going to end.”
Lancaster expressed disappointment at the decision.
“I would say that I would not consider the City of Kenosha to be as cooperative as I initially thought, but that’s — that’s your decision and not mine,” Lancaster said.
Lancaster also told Charbogian he could report him to the state Office of Lawyer Regulation if he wanted.
“If you feel compelled or the need to report me to your licensing authority in Wisconsin, you are not going to offend me, OK?” Lancaster said. “I’m not going to be like: Let’s go find out where Bryan lives so I can throw eggs at his windshield or his wife’s car or whatever. I’m not that kind of person.”
Charbogian said he didn’t plan to report Lancaster, according to the transcript.
If Gableman issued a follow-up subpoena to try again for an interview, Morrissey hasn’t seen it, Morrissey said Monday. Gableman and Lancaster didn’t respond to questions from the Journal Sentinel.
Gableman missed the chance to question Morrissey after complaining for months that others would not talk to him. With a lawsuit he filed in November he is seeking to jail election officials and the mayors of Madison, Green Bay and Racine because they have not met with him.
In January, a month before the planned deposition, Morrissey visited Brookfield to deliver records Gableman had requested. No one from Gableman’s office was at the address listed on the subpoena, Morrissey said.
After a phone conversation, Lancaster stopped by to pick up the records, he said.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, RRochester, hired Gableman last summer to oversee the review of the presidential election.
Gableman has turned up little new information but has called on lawmakers to consider revoking the state’s 10 electoral votes — a move that scholars says is legally impossible. Vos recently put Gableman’s review on hold while Gableman pursues his lawsuit against election officials and defends himself in litigation filed under the state’s open records law.
Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in Wisconsin by nearly 21,000 votes. Recounts, court rulings and independent reviews have confirmed the results.