Wisconsin
False electors' communications counter 'contingency' argument
For months, participants in Wisconsin’s false electors scheme — in which 10 Republicans signed official-looking documentation attesting that former President Donald Trump won Wisconsin in 2020, although he had lost — have maintained that they were developing a contingency plan in the face of pending legal action.
But documents cited in the criminal complaint brought against three alleged masterminds behind that scheme, filed by Attorney General Josh Kaul earlier this week, appear to contradict that claim.
Attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and James Troupis exchanged emails suggesting that they weren’t depending on court cases to grant them cause to submit false slates of electors from certain key swing states on January 6, 2021, the Constitutionally mandated date for certifying an election.
Stay informed on the latest news
Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.
And political operative Michael Roman used colorful language when rejecting the idea of including a qualifier on the false elector sheet that it should be treated as a backup.
“There’s a lot more documentation that the Attorney General here in Wisconsin has been able to sort of comb through to see the communication that this was intentional, and that there was a plan,” said Lily Goren, a political scientist at Carroll University in Waukesha. “It wasn’t, you know, a kind of like, ‘Oh, let’s just try this and see if it works.”
That’s the argument Kaul put forward when he charged Chesebro, Troupis and Roman with one felony charge each of forgery on Tuesday. Chesebro and Roman have also been indicted elsewhere for their alleged role developing and executing the strategy, which was first developed in Wisconsin.
Troupis, then the lead Wisconsin attorney for Trump’s campaign, and Chesebro appeared to have used Wisconsin as a testing ground for a novel legal strategy arguing that courts, state legislatures or even the Vice President — acting in his role as president of the U.S. Senate — could determine a state’s election results.
In a Dec. 8, 2020 email cited in Kaul’s criminal complaint, Chesebro tells Troupis that providing alternate electors could be a way of exerting “leverage” on Congress.
“Court challenges pending on Jan. 6 really not necessary,” Chesebro wrote.
In a Dec. 12, 2020, a text message between Roman and Chesebro, Chesebro said he thought that language should be appended to the electors documents clarifying that they are not official.
“I don’t,” Roman responded. “f— these guys”
Roman, a longtime conservative opposition researcher and later Trump White House staffer, is alleged to have delivered the false documentation to Congress on January 6, 2021, the day of the deadly U.S. Capitol riots.
The criminal complaint says that Pennsylvania’s false elector documents did include that distinguishing language.
“And so there’s some discussion about whether some of the electors were aware” that they weren’t creating a contingency, said Goren, the political scientist. “One of the other persons casting one of the fake elector votes noted that they knew that the court had finished its decision that morning, in fact, and that there were no more pending legal issues in Wisconsin.”
State electors — both true and false — met on the Constitutionally determined date of December 14 to cast their electoral college votes. Earlier that same day, before anyone signed documents at the Wisconsin state Capitol in Madison, the Wisconsin Supreme Court had rejected a lawsuit filed by Troupis asking for Biden’s victory in the state to be overturned.
Former Wisconsin Republican Party Chair Andrew Hitt, who was one of the false electors, has said the group, acting on the advice of lawyers, had been “tricked.”
Roman, Troupis and the Trump campaign did not respond to WPR’s requests for comment. Chesebro could not be reached for comment.
False electors scheme allegedly led to Jan. 6 violence
In civil and criminal complaints against false electors in multiple states, prosecutors have argued their actions paved the way for the deadly day of chaos at the U.S. Capitol when pro-Trump rioters stormed the building.
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, who chairs a U.S. House committee investigating the events of that day, has said the “alternative” slates of electors were intended to delay or block certification of the election that day.
Wisconsin now joins four other states — Nevada, Georgia, Arizona and Michigan — where criminal charges have been filed against people involved in false electors schemes.
On Friday, Roman pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges in Arizona. He and Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, along with others, have been charged in Phoenix for allegedly working across states to enact the scheme.
Chesebro and Roman have also been charged in the election interference case in Georgia, where Chesebro has pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents.
In March, Chesebro and Troupis also settled a Wisconsin civil lawsuit brought against them in 2022. As part of that agreement, the two men admitted no “liability or culpability,” but said they would not submit false electors in the future.
The ten individuals who acted as electors, which included sitting Wisconsin Elections Commissioner Bob Spindell and Hitt, the former GOP Chair, also separately settled that lawsuit. In the settlement, the group admitted no wrongdoing but said their actions had been used to lay the groundwork for the deadly attempted insurrection of Jan. 6.
That lawsuit, brought by the progressive law firm Law Forward, led to the release of a trove of documents, some cited in Kaul’s complaint. It included an email from Chesebro to Troupis just days after the election, suggesting that they could create a “cloud of confusion” that would remove Wisconsin’s votes, and potentially votes from Michigan and Pennsylvania, from consideration — thus “throw(ing) the election to the (U.S.) House.”
Chesebro, Troupis and Roman’s first court appearance in the Wisconsin case will be on Sept. 19. The charges carry a potential fine of up to $10,000 and imprisonment of up to six years.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shares his biggest spring takeaway
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shared his biggest takeaway from the spring following the Badgers’ four-set win over Northern Illinois.
MADISON – Kelly Sheffield has coached All-Americans, national players of the year, national champions and future Olympians in his 13 years as Wisconsin volleyball coach.
So Sheffield’s unique praise of Decelise Champion – a star pin-hitter from Puerto Rico who committed to the Badgers last fall – carries a lot of weight.
“Her highest-end potential is certainly as high as about anybody we’ve ever brought in,” Sheffield said. “She’s got a lot of work to get to where she’s capable of, and that’s on us as coaches and on her to help reach those dreams and goals. But when you’re watching people around her age, she’s different.”
That work is beginning earlier than initially expected after Wisconsin announced that Champion will reclassify from the 2027 recruiting class and join the Badgers as a freshman for the 2026 season.
Champion – currently 16 years old and turning 17 in September – will arrive with a resume that includes experience on Puerto Rico’s senior national team and the elite Italian club Volleyro Casal de Pazzi. That’s all while being strong enough academically to earn a GED degree and the necessary NCAA waiver for a few missing core classes.
“What made it really a lot better is that all of her grades at the different schools she’s been at have been fantastic,” Sheffield said. “She’s an excellent student. Was crushing it at a really, really good academic school in Italy in her third language.”
The timing of the June 12 announcement accounted for the second-last open roster spot for the 2026 season, but Champion and UW’s efforts to make the reclassification possible go back much earlier than that.
“We’ve known she’s wanted to do this since February,” Sheffield said. “We told our team in February that was the plan. And then we didn’t let anybody know publicly until she was done with her season. She just didn’t want to be a distraction for her team.”
Badgers have even more competition at pins
Wisconsin already had plenty of competition at the pin-hitting positions before Champion’s move to the 2026 class.
Grace Egan had a major role on the 2025 Final Four team, and Eva Travis had an impressive spring after transferring from UC-Santa Barbara. Others include Grace Lopez, Madison Quest and the highly-touted freshman duo of Halle Thompson and Audrey Flanagan.
Even with the upcoming addition of one more pin-hitter – and one with such a high potential – UW did not lose any players in the spring transfer portal cycle. Even the idea of someone leaving seemed outlandish to Sheffield.
“If they’re just going to get up and leave because somebody came, I would say that that person is probably chicken s—,” Sheffield said.
Sheffield’s praise of Champion’s proposal obviously does not come with a guarantee of playing time either at the crowded pin-hitting positions.
“I would say, yeah, she does have a chance of being out on the court for us this year,” Sheffield said. “But we’ve also got some other really talented people that play the pins.”
The outside and right-side hitters already on UW’s spring roster will have at least one key advantage over Champion in her freshman season – time.
Egan, Lopez and Quest are returning players (although Egan and Lopez spent their spring recovering from injuries). Travis, Thompson and Flanagan all enrolled in time to spend the spring with the Badgers and impressed in UW’s spring matches.
Champion’s arrival, on the other hand, will follow her participation in an Olympic-qualifying event for Puerto Rico. Sheffield expects that to be Sept. 2, which is the day before fall classes begin and already after UW’s first four matches of the season.
“She’ll be drinking out of a fire hose early on, no doubt about it,” Sheffield said. “Even though she’s been playing with her senior national team this summer, it will be a lot of things coming at her in her secondary language at 16, so there’ll need to be some patience along the way.”
His advice to Champion when she was on campus earlier in June was to “be where your feet are.”
“When she’s with her national team – even though we will have started our preseason, playing matches – don’t worry about us here,” Sheffield said. “Be where your feet are. Be the best you can be for your team there. … Then when you get here, you’re not thinking about your national team.”
Champion’s NCAA eligibility clock starts earlier
Champion’s reclassification comes with the drawback of beginning her NCAA eligibility one year earlier in her volleyball career.
Had she stayed in the 2027 recruiting class, she theoretically would have begun her college career shortly before her 18th birthday and exhausted her eligibility at age 22. Instead, she will begin her college career shortly before her 17th birthday and likely exhaust her eligibility at age 21.
Those scenarios take into account the NCAA Division I Cabinet’s unanimous approval on June 23 of a new eligibility model that will give players five seasons of eligibility in five years. (That replaces the current system with four seasons, redshirts and other waivers.) The NCAA noted that its decision is not final, however, until the meeting concludes on June 24.
“We’re certainly excited to have her this year, but if you kind of think over the course of five years, it’s probably worse for us that she comes a year early,” Sheffield said. “You expect her to be better at 20 and 21 than what she is at 16 or 17. … It really wasn’t something that we were pushing for, but she was ready.”
Of course, volleyball at age 16 or 17 looks different for someone like Champion who has been competing against much older players as a senior national team member and studying halfway across the world from her hometown of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
“When you talk to her, she doesn’t come across as somebody who’s 16,” Sheffield said. “She’s very mature, very easy to talk to, very driven. She’s independent. … She’s had a lot more life experience than most people her age, and that certainly comes across when you’re around her.”
Wisconsin
Cult-classic filmed in central Wisconsin returns to big screen, with enhancements, this weekend
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) – A giant spider isn’t actually invading central Wisconsin this weekend.
But an enhanced, big-screen version of the cult-classic 1975 film The Giant Spider Invasion is crawling back into local theaters — and it’s bringing some central Wisconsin nostalgia with it.
The movie was famously filmed in Merrill and Stevens Point, and the updated 2026 release adds enhancements designed for a modern theatrical experience.
What’s new in the 2026 enhanced version?
Executive Producer J.B. Thompson says the team took the original 1975 film and enhanced it for the big screen in 2026, giving audiences a refreshed way to experience a movie that’s long been a Wisconsin oddity — and a point of pride.
Actor and Producer Dan Davies is featured in newly filmed scenes created specifically for this updated release.
Stevens Point’s role in the original film
While much of the film is associated with Merrill, Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza says Point also played a major role in the production — another reason the film’s return matters to local history buffs and movie fans alike.
Why does this movie still capture attention 50 years later?
Whether it’s the over-the-top creature feature story, the uniquely Wisconsin filming locations, or the nostalgia of seeing familiar places on screen, the group says the film’s staying power is real — even five decades later.
Screenings this weekend
The enhanced version of The Giant Spider Invasion is set for local screenings this weekend in Central and North Central Wisconsin. To purchase tickets for showings in Stevens Point, Marshfield or Waupaca, click here.
Click here to download the WSAW news app or WSAW First Alert weather app.
Click here to submit a news tip or story idea.
Copyright 2026 WSAW. All rights reserved.
-
Health3 minutes agoFormer reality star opens up about new diagnosis after years-long health ordeal
-
Sports10 minutes agoTerrion Arnold, Lions’ 2024 first-round pick, charged with kidnapping and armed robbery in Florida
-
Business18 minutes agoAn electric truck for less than $25,000? Deliveries begin this year
-
Entertainment25 minutes agoKylie Jenner hit with third lawsuit as former chef claims Palm Springs party led to miscarriage
-
Politics33 minutes agoTrump refuses to sign landmark housing bill, demanding Congress pass voter ID law
-
Sports43 minutes agoMexico celebrates magical World Cup win over Czechia at rowdy Azteca Stadium
-
World55 minutes agoVenezuela rocked by 7.5 and 7.2 earthquakes: What we know
-
News1 hour agoWith a Round of 32 spot already clinched, the U.S. takes on Turkey in the World Cup
