BURSTWisconsin state prosecutors filed 10 additional felony charges against two of President-elect Trump’s lawyers and one of his aides, who in 2020 allegedly advised Trump to falsely claim he won the state’s election as part of a “fake elector” scheme.
In a filing Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court, the Wisconsin Department of Justice filed felony charges against Jim Troupis, who was Trump’s attorney in Wisconsin, Kenneth Chesebro, who advised the 2020 campaign, and Mike Roman, who was Trump’s 2020 Election Day director.
Each of the three men were previously charged with one felony forgery charge in June. The new filing comes just days before they were scheduled for initial court appearances on Thursday, The Associated Press reported.
The new charges, prosecutors say, are for using forgery to attempt to defraud the 10 Republican electors who voted for Trump in 2020. Each charge against the men carries a fine of $10,000 and six years in prison.
After the 2020 election, the defendants were involved in the “fake elector” scheme, planning to send slates of pro-Trump electors to Congress in various battleground states where Trump lost the race to President Biden.
Related charges have been brought against Trump allies for similar schemes in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada.
Chesebro has pleaded guilty in the case in Georgia, but sought to invalidate the plea deal last week, following Trump's election victory. Trump was also charged in Georgia, but has pleaded not guilty.
The Wisconsin complaint alleges how the three men created a document that falsely claimed Trump won all 10 of the state's Electoral College votes in 2020.
Trump won Wisconsin in 2016, lost it in 2020, but won it again in the most recent 2024 presidential election.
Since the initial charge was filed, Troupis has filed four motions to dismiss ahead of Thursday’s first hearing.
Attorneys for the defendants did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.