MADISON, Wis. — The bipartisan U.S. House of Representatives select committee investigating the January 6 criminal conspiracy will begin to make public much of what they have learned over the course of their months-long investigation in a televised hearing tonight. While the committee will be in Washington D.C., their investigation and the need for accountability for MAGA perpetrators attacking our freedom to vote will hit home in Wisconsin.
“The event of January 6, 2021 wasn’t an attack perpetrated by a MAGA faction just on our nation’s Capital building on just that day,” said A Better Wisconsin Together Deputy Director Mike Browne. “It’s part of a criminal conspiracy undermining the integrity of our elections and intended to overthrow the will of the American people expressed in our votes in Wisconsin and across the country. That’s why accountability and this committee’s work is so important.”
Part of the conspiracy to overthrow the will of the people who elected Joe Biden President was a push for Congress not to recognize the electoral votes of the states. Wisconsin Representatives Scott Fitzgerald and Tom Tiffany voted to object to the certification of electoral votes in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Prior to the Congressional vote, 15 Wisconsin state legislators signed a MAGA faction letter to then Vice-President Pence urging him to reject the will of the voters and refuse to certify the results of the election Donald Trump lost.
This refusal would set the stage for the next part of the plot to unfold: fraudulent slates of electors who had already conveneved in key states including Wisconsin would be used to overthrow the will of the people. Among the 10 fraudulent Wisconsin Trump electors were individuals with close ties to Republican gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch and Republican Attorney General candidate Adam Jarchow.
The conspiracy to undermine elections continues to this day in Wisconsin. Right now, a sham inquiry into the 2020 election in our state – conceived as a right-wing political stunt by Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and run by Michael Gableman – is still unfolding. To date, the Republican review has produced no results, yet has cost Wisconsin taxpayers nearly $900,000 with no end in sight. On the taxpayers’ dime, Gableman has appeared at partisan political events, advocating for the election of right-wing political candidates and promoting the rhetoric and rationale that fueled the events of January 6.
Republican Tim Michels’ gubernatorial campaign was recently endorsed by Donald Trump, after Michels publicly promoted 2020 election falsehoods and called for the elimination of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission.
Rebecca Kleefisch has been particularly corrosive to democracy with her rhetoric, in addition to four individuals who were involved in the coordinated plot to submit fraudulent slates of Donald Trump electors to the Electoral College having either donated thousands of dollars to her campaign or advised on her other political projects.
These facts, coupled with a web of right-wing groups fueled by massive sums of cash from wealthy individuals and foundations – like the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation – have fueled the chaos that broke out in Washington D.C. on January 6.
Browne concluded, “What exploded into the public eye as MAGA militants attacked our freedoms on January 6 isn’t just an historical event. It’s a criminal conspiracy to undermine our freedom to choose our leaders and it continues to this day and right here in Wisconsin.”
