The Wisconsin Assembly Speaker announced on Tuesday that he was keeping Michael Gableman on, although Vos had vowed to shut down Galbleman’s office by the end of April. Actually, Vos initially said he hoped Gableman would wrap things up by last October, then last December, then this February, and then by the end of this month, but he keeps giving Gableman an extension.
And the reason he does so is because Vos is afraid of Trump and Trump’s supporters here in Wisconsin.
On Monday, Representative Janel Brandtjen, whom Vos himself foolishly appointed as the head of the Assembly Committee on Elections, warned Vos not to shut it down.
Then Trump himself issued a threatening comment aimed at Vos, as Molly Beck reported at the Journal Sentinel.
“Anyone calling themselves a Republican in Wisconsin should support the continued investigation in Wisconsin without interference,” Trump said. “I understand some RINOs have primary challengers in Wisconsin. I’m sure their primary opponents would get a huge bump in the polls if these RINOs interfere.”
Vos doesn’t want to be primaried by a Trumpite. And he wants to minimize the amount of flak he’s getting from the far right. So he did what he’s gotten used to doing now: He just goes along with this Gableman circus, which he brought to town in the first place.
Vos issued a press statement on Tuesday that said, “The Office of Special Counsel will remain open as we guarantee the legal power of our legislative subpoenas and get through the other lawsuits that have gridlocked this investigation.”
This is the epitome of weak leadership.
Vos must know that Gableman has been peddling a pile of lies about the November 2020 elections, and that Gableman’s claim that the legislature should look into decertifying elections is toxic to our democracy, as even Vos’s deputy, Jim Steineke, has acknowledged.
But not Vos.
He won’t tell the truth about the elections.
And he won’t send Gableman packing.
Because to do either would jeopardize his own power.
And sadly, that’s all he cares about.
