Former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman countered a state regulator’s contention he had selfish motives in reviewing the 2020 election, arguing the “reality is more nuanced.”
In making his argument, Gableman is hoping to avoid a harsher penalty than the three-year suspension of his law license that the former justice negotiated with the Office of Lawyer Regulation to settle the discipline case against him.
OLR last month filed a justification for the proposed settlement in the case, which stems from Gableman’s taxpayer-financed review of the election.
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Among other things, the justification accused Gableman of selfishly using the contract he signed with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to “indulge his personal desire” to overturn the election results, to profit financially by prolonging the work and then to help the failed effort to recall Vos, R-Rochester.
But Gableman’s attorney countered in a filing Friday argued Vos was not personally the former justice’s client and “there’s nothing inherently selfish about supporting the recall of the politician who installed Attorney Gableman in the position, only to undermine it later.”
“Attorney Gableman submits that an equally valid gloss of the facts is that the Assembly changed direction, and when Attorney Gableman did not, there was friction and he was fired,” attorney Peyton Engel wrote.
Engel wrote Friday’s filing wasn’t meant to contest the agreement Gableman reached with OLR. Instead, he sought to provide additional context and to address some of the allegations in the hopes “the tone and the sheer volume of OLR’s Opening Submission do not persuade the Referee that a greater sanction is required.”
After reaching the agreement to settle the case, OLR attorney Donald Schott was required to submit a justification to the agency before a referee makes a recommendation to the state Supreme Court, which has ultimate authority in the case. In that 87-page filing, Schott argued Gableman’s conduct and dishonesty justified the three-year suspension.
“Attorney Gableman does not dispute the facts of OLR’s narrative, but he did not set out to commit misconduct,” Engel insisted in Friday’s response.
Vos signed a contract with Gableman in mid-2021 to review the 2020 election that saw Joe Biden top Donald Trump in Wisconsin by less than 21,000 votes. Gableman then persuaded Vos to sign extensions to that original five-month deal that kept him on the Assembly’s payroll for 14 months. The relationship between the two soured, and Gableman endorsed Vos’ GOP opponent in the August 2022 primary. Vos fired Gableman not long after, calling him an embarrassment to the state.
Gableman later participated in the failed efforts to recall Vos.
