DOJ subpoenas man who fraudulently sought absentee ballots
MADISON - A Racine County man who illegally requested absentee ballots says he has been subpoenaed by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Harry Wait, a leader of a Racine County-based group known as H.O.T. Government that promotes false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, fraudulently obtained absentee ballots for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason to show violations of the law are possible.
On Wednesday, a post on H.O.T. Government’s Telegram channel included a photo of Wait holding paperwork with the caption “(Wait) visited today the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Wait has been subpoenaed to felony court September 9th.”
When reached by phone, Wait declined to comment and asked a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter to “read between the lines” about why he was unable to be interviewed. But he later told WISN-TV in a televised interview he had received a subpoena “seeking all the data that we have” and that he was under a gag order.
“DOJ does not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, except in unique public safety circumstances,” a spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice said in a statement.
The state DOJ launched an investigation in July into the scheme to commit election crimes by Wait and others who believe former President Donald Trump did not lose the 2020 election and fraudulently requested absentee ballots to prove voter fraud exists.
Wait freely spoke about the crime and contacted Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling and others about his actions.
In one email to Schamling, Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson, Vos and others, Wait said, “I stand ready to be charged for exposing these voting vulnerabilities when I ordered Mason’s and Vos’s absentee ballot online, all without providing a photo I.D. or identifying myself.”
Schmaling did not arrest Wait and instead publicized the plot on social media as being helpful in rooting out vulnerabilities in the state election system and blamed the Wisconsin Elections Commission, calling on commissioners to remove a way voters can easily request ballots online.
Wait told the Journal Sentinel in July he “put in the name Robin Vos, clicked his address and hit absentee, then I selected a new address and successfully ordered it.”
Wait said he then called 10 more people across the state and asked if he could order absentee ballots using their names. That also worked.
“Basically, I committed a crime when I ordered them,” Wait said. “I emailed Sheriff Schmaling, asked if he was going to arrest me and he said ‘hell no.”’