Thread by @benwikler

Wisconsin Republicans are ramping up toxic and baseless attacks on our free and fair election. Their specious charges on Green Bay’s process, already debunked in court, are an attempt to build on the Jan 6 insurrection by other means. 1/

In January, a group of Wisconsin Republican state legislators called on Mike Pence to torpedo the Constitution and refuse to certify the legitimate results of the election. This group was rightly dubbed Wisconsin’s “sedition caucus.” The group is expanding.

In Wisconsin, municipalities administer elections. The Republicans on the Wisconsin Assembly’s Committee on Campaigns and Elections held a sham hearing on Green Bay’s election yesterday, in which they didn’t invite a single city employee to testify.

Instead, the GOP committee invitation to testify went to a hard-right conspiracy-mongering Republican, former Brown County GOP Chair Sandy Juno, who is also the former County Clerk. So who is Sandy Juno? Someone who likes posting Q-y, Trumpy stuff.

The GOP’s star witness Sandy Juno, as Brown County Clerk, was responsible for printing ballots and canvassing countywide results. But she had no role in actually administering the election. And she’s pushing discredited hokum.

Another GOP witness, Erick Kaardal, is currently subject to a disciplinary inquiry recommended by a federal judge for filing a lawsuit so frivolous as to be “risible were its target not so grave; the undermining of a democratic election for President." kstp.com/news/minneapol…

Judge re Kardaal’s lawsuit: “Plaintiffs’ theory that all of these laws are unconstitutional and that the Court should instead require state legislatures themselves to certify every Presidential election lies somewhere between a willful misreading of the Constitution and fantasy.”

The Republicans’ claims are a mash of falsehood, innuendo, and guilt by association. This election has been scrutinized and investigated six ways to Sunday. The GOP’s fear of the truth is evident in their refusal to look at the actual evidence.

Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich called the GOP’s bluff—and actually posted the city’s election records online so that the public could see the truth for themselves. The Republicans freaked out and, with no way to respond, called for Genrich’s resignation.

https://twitter.com/GBstreetwise/status/1370479951372288006

The frenzy of election denial and conspiracy-mongering that we’re seeing from the Wisconsin Republican legislators is an illustration of their hollowness. They have no principled agenda, they have no explanation for their failure, and they have no tether to the truth.

Wisconsin’s Republicans sought to disenfranchise voters before the election, they sought to throw out legitimate votes after the election, and now they seek to punish those who conducted a fair election in order to discourage democracy in the future.

The story here isn’t about repeatedly-debunked slanders against local election administrators. The story is about Republican abuse of public office in order to undermine confidence in legitimate elections.

I’d be curious to see the records of the legislators involved in the sham hearing, if they haven’t already deleted them in order to hide the truth. Did they coach witnesses? How did they select them?

If you’re represented by the Republicans on this committee—@RepJanel, @JoeSanfelippo, @Ron_Tusler, @Thiesfeldt, @davemurphy56, @DonnaRozar—take a second to give them a call and share your views on democracy and its enemies.
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2021/legislato…

Reps. Joe Sanfelippo, Jeremy Thiesfeldt, and Dave Murphy all called for Pence to overturn the election, and now have called for Genrich to resign for administering the election. It’s pretty simple: they oppose the Constitutional system of Wisconsin and the United States.

Meanwhile, Republican Senate President Roger Roth—who previously said “One thing I know for certain in watching this presidential [election], we do it right in Wisconsin,” also tried to grab the far-right spotlight by calling for the mayor’s resignation.

It’s almost laughable bad faith. It’s also dangerous for the country. But one thing’s for sure: it’s rotten politics. The public doesn’t like sore losers. The Republican Party is coming apart at the seams, and this is why.