In a slip, Sen. Ron Johnson calls his opponent, Mandela Barnes, "Sen. Barnes" during their second and last debate. He quickly corrects himself and refers to him as the lieutenant governor. Both are feisty in this debate.

Johnson says he drives himself around the state, hits Barnes for the State Patrol driving him around at taxpayer expense.

Barnes responds by noting a tax benefit for Johnson's family got for a private plane.

A judge today revoked the ability of attorney James Bopp Jr. and others in his firm to continue to represent the arm of the Wisconsin Assembly that spent the last year investigating the 2020 election. The agency had been headed by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman until the Assembly speaker, @repvos, fired him last week.

The attorney hired by Wisconsin Republicans to review the 2020 election performed his initial work on a computer at the New Berlin public library because he didn’t have a computer of his own.

He was paid $11,000/month by taxpayers soon afterward. The attorney, former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, disclosed his work habits in court this morning.

BREAKING: A Waukesha County judge bars the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Mark Bohren ruled Thursday absentee ballot drop boxes can't be used in Wisconsin, potentially upending aspects of the spring elections and the fall's high-profile contests for governor and U.S. Senate.

An attorney for Green Bay refused Thursday to provide Assembly Republicans with private information about voters and questioned their ability to legally continue their review of the 2020 election.

bit.ly/33w1EUG Daniel Lenz, an attorney for Green Bay, questioned whether Gableman can continue his review given that his contract with the state appears to have expired at the end of December.

Dane County Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn declines to consolidate two open records cases over the GOP's election review.

She says she wants to make sure the cases don't slow down.

"We need to move these cases. They're urgent cases," she says. The liberal group @weareoversight has filed three open records lawsuits against @repvos and other Republicans.

Two are being handled by Bailey-Rihn and one by Judge Frank Remington.

BREAKING: On a 4-3 vote, the Wisconsin Supreme Court denies @repvos' request to avoid a deposition.

He is slated to take questions under oath on Wednesday from @weareoversight.

Story coming soon. @repvos @weareoversight bit.ly/3zMd1Ug

On the Assembly floor, Democratic Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez says maps drawn by @GovEvers' commission were "a con." @GovEvers She criticizes @EricHolder, @DemRedistrict and @NationPR, saying they put getting Democratic seats ahead of drawing Black and Hispanic majority districts.

"How did a national agenda get into these maps?" she says.

More here: jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is calling on Wisconsin lawmakers to take over elections and tell local officials to ignore the work of the bipartisan state Elections Commission.

jsonline.com/story/news/pol… — via ⁦@BillGlauber⁩ and me .@SenRonJohnson: "I think the state Legislature has to reassert, reclaim this authority over our election system.”

In his opening testimony, Michael Gableman goes after Democrats as he reviews the 2020 election for Assembly Republicans.

"Whoever Tony Evers and Josh Kaul are serving in this matter, it is certainly not the public," Gableman says. Gableman tells the Assembly Elections Committee that his interim report has been posted on wifraud.com.

The report so far has not been uploaded.

.@SenRonJohnson just went into a meeting with @SenatorDevin and @jimsteineke in the Wisconsin Capitol. The meeting is closed to the public. .@SenMarklein just walked into the meeting too.

Wisconsin election officials may not set rules on ballot drop boxes bit.ly/31FQ5ZX Today's hearing on Wisconsin's election audit is streaming here: wiseye.org/?p=25601

On “Upfront,” @vos says @deanknudson made a “bad decision” with the policies he set on nursing home voting along w/ other members of @WI_Elections.

Vos appointed Knudson to the commission.

Vos is calling for the resignation of commission director Meagan Wolfe but not of Knudson .@WI_Elections was created in 2015 by Vos and other Republican lawmakers.

Asked by @AdriennePed if it should be disbanded, @repvos says, “I don’t know if disbanding is the right word, but we have to reform it.”

State Sen. @KathleenBernie8 says her committee will conduct a review of an election audit in public.

That differs from an election review by Assembly Republicans and Michael Gableman that is being done in secret.

Bernier made her comments to @AJBayatpour on “Capital City Sun.” Bernier says “that’s not for me to say” when asked if she thinks @WI_Elections broke the law regarding how it advised clerks on voting in nursing homes.

“I don’t necessarily agree with that but my opinion doesn’t matter,” Bernier says, noting lawmakers don’t enforce laws.

@repvos signals he won't back off on his subpoenas for his election review, even though attorney Michael Gableman has already scaled back some of them.

“In order to restore confidence in our election system, Justice Gableman will continue his investigation," Vos said.

https://twitter.com/patrickdmarley/status/1447667781672087555

@repvos .@repvos, con't: "The subpoenas have been issued correctly – a fact backed up by the nonpartisan Legislative Council in a memo requested by Assembly Democrats."

AG @JoshKaulWI tells reporters there are several flaws with former Justice Michael Gableman's subpoenas to election officials.

He says lawmakers are purporting to act as prosecutors, which they are not allowed to do. @JoshKaulWI Kaul says Gableman can't interview officials in private, as he has suggested he would. Kaul says Gableman has to conduct interviews in front of the Assembly Elections Committee.

Kaul calls the subpoenas "dramatically overbroad."

“If what comes to my desk is gerrymander 2.0, I’ll veto it,” @GovEvers tells @mattsmith_news.

Evers says he’s doubtful he and Republican lawmakers will reach a deal on redistricting but leaves open the possibility. .@GovEvers calls the last wolf hunt “a disaster.”

Turning his sights on Evers, Gableman in new video makes election allegations without offering evidence jsonline.com/story/news/pol… Gableman is going after @GovEvers for comments the governor made nearly two weeks ago.

Gableman is putting attention on Evers after facing criticism from the left and right for subpoenaing election officials and then walking back those subpoenas.

Top Assembly Republican Robin Vos is leaving it to an investigator to decide on subpoenas for the election investigation jsonline.com/story/news/pol… .@repvos says:
— won’t sign @RepJanel’s subpoenas; will let Gableman come up with his own
— will let Gableman choose investigators and “cyberforensic” team
— scope of investigation is being finalized
— will spend up to $680K in taxpayer funds; won’t allow use of private funds

Wisconsin election investigator Vos hired has partisan past bit.ly/3wIXnGr In 2008, then-Milwaukee Police Detective Mike Sandvick wrote a report on the 2004 election that prompted a partisan brawl.

His supporters used his findings to highlight the threat of voter fraud, while his detractors noted his report was disavowed by prosecutors.

Republican lawmakers plan to earmark a new $500 million for schools but then set $350 million of it aside.

That means schools would be guaranteed of getting $150 million.

https://twitter.com/mollybeck/status/1397935121492230149

.@JonErpenbach said lawmakers were planning to put $350 million into a “Republican slush fund.”