Law Forward asks DA Ozanne to go after false electors

Exactly one year after filing a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission over the actions of the 10 false electors who claimed to represent Wisconsin at the Electoral College, the two lead attorneys at Law Forward wrote a letter to Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, urging him to prosecute these false electors.

The 10 false electors are Carol Brunner, Mary Buestrin, Darryl Carson, Bill Feehan, Scott Grabins, Andrew Hitt, Kathy Kiernen, Kelly Ruh, Robert Spindell, and Pam Travis. (Spindell is a member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and has not recused himself from Law Forward’s complaint to the commission about the false electors.)

The letter, dated Feb. 15 and signed by Jeffrey Mandell and Mel Barnes, noted that “at least one of the fraudulent electors resides in Dane County, and all 10 convened in Dane County to carry out their antidemocratic and unlawful plan to undermine the election outcome, thereby disenfranchising the voters of Dane County, the State of Wisconsin, and the entire nation.”

That’s why they believe that “Dane County is the proper venue … for any criminal prosecution of the fraudulent electors,” they wrote.

Mandell and Barnes spelled out the grounds for such a prosecution. They listed several possible felonies, including forgery, falsely assuming to act as a public officer, misconduct in public office, and simulating legal process.

“We respectfully suggest that it is within the duties of your office to promptly investigate and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law the apparently felonious acts described here,’ Mandell and Barnes wrote. “What is most important is that the unbridled and unlawful attacks perpetrated … against the fundamental precepts of American democracy, both here in Wisconsin and more broadly, never recur. Unfortunately, developments over the past year clearly establish that the only way to ensure that these attacks do not recur—or worse, become a routine part of our presidential election cycle—is to hold the fraudulent electors and anyone else responsible for their conduct accountable. We are determined to see that happen. “

Mandell and Barnes urged DA Ozanne to get back to them by the end of the month. They added if they didn’t hear back from him by then, they would ask a circuit court judge to appoint a special prosecutor.