Election officials from the WEC, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Madison all confirmed with the State Journal they received subpoenas signed by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, as well as an accompanying letter from former conservative Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who is leading the partisan investigation. Racine and Kenosha have also received subpoenas signed by Vos, according to reporting from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Racine Journal Times. 

The five cities served with subpoenas all received private grants from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, to help administer the 2020 presidential election. Under the grant, Milwaukee was allocated $2.2 million, Madison $1.3 million, Green Bay $1.1 million, Kenosha $863,000 and Racine $942,000. CTCL says the group seeks to modernize elections and make them more professional, inclusive and secure.

The subpoenas signed by Vos were issued to WEC administrator Meagan Wolfe; Claire Woodall-Vogg, the director of the Milwaukee Election Commission; and election officials in Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine. 

The subpoenas ask for the election officials to appear in person before Gableman or his associates at an address in Brookfield on Oct. 15 to give evidence and testimony related to “potential irregularities and/or illegalities related to the Election.” The address is listed as Regus, a provider of office spaces, co-working environments and meeting rooms.

The cover letter of the subpoenas served to the WEC and Milwaukee asks for those officials to produce information related to the city of Green Bay. It’s not clear whether the information is a typo or whether Gableman intends to collect testimony as part of a focus on election administration in Green Bay specifically. 

Green Bay in particular has been the subject of scathing criticism from Republicans for accepting grant money from the Center for Tech and Civic Life. Republicans have claimed the private group essentially took over administration of the 2020 election, but the city has said the allegations are completely without merit, and that it followed state and federal laws. 

A federal judge found nothing in the law to prohibit use of the grant money.

Allegations against Green Bay

A 2021 report from the conservative Wisconsin Spotlight that grant money from the CTCL led to “Democrat activists infiltrating the November presidential election” prompted some Republican legislators this year to call for Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich’s resignation.

The city of Green Bay and Democrats, however, have said the Wisconsin Spotlight report made “egregious and false accusations” about the integrity of the November election in Green Bay, that the city followed state and federal laws, and that the allegations are “completely without merit.”

Green Bay officials have said the presidential election was run exclusively by city staff, and that no ballots were ever in the care or custody of consultants.

One of the specific allegations against Green Bay was that Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein, a former Democratic operative, “in many ways became the de facto city elections chief,” citing emails Spitzer-Rubenstein sent the Green Bay city clerk asking whether he could help correct ballots missing a signature or witness signature or address; and a hotel checklist that said the doors to the hotel ballroom where absentee ballots were to be counted shouldn’t be unlocked until requested by Spitzer-Rubenstein.

The Spotlight report states Spitzer-Rubenstein was working for the National Vote at Home Institute, one of the subcontractors with close ties to the Center for Tech and Civic Life.

The city of Green Bay rejected the claim that employees of private election groups assisting with the election ever had any decision-making power.

The Spotlight report also references a claim by former Brown County Clerk Sandy Juno that a contract stipulated Spitzer-Rubenstein would have four of the five keys to the hotel ballroom “several days before the election.” However, the emails referenced in the Spotlight report do not support such a claim.

The city’s statement said absentee ballots were kept at city hall until city staff delivered them to the KI Convention Center at 6 a.m. on Election Day using a “clear, documented chain of custody made up exclusively of city staff.”

The statement said a livestream of Green Bay’s central count facility was made available for the public.

Vos says subpoenas necessary

Vos initially held off on issuing subpoenas as part of his partisan election review, but now says they’re necessary. 

“Ensuring the 2020 election was conducted fairly and legally is critically important to maintaining faith in our election system,” Vos said in a statement. “Justice Gableman is dedicated to finding the truth and has determined subpoenas are necessary to move forward in his investigation. Assembly Republicans will continue to work with Justice Gableman to ensure confidence is fully restored in our elections.”

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Specifically, the subpoena issued to Woodall-Vogg by Vos and Wisconsin State Assembly Chief Clerk Edward Blazel asks for information including: 

• All documents pertaining to election administration related to interactions with city of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee Election Commission members Stephanie Findley, Carmen Cabrera and Jess Ripp.
• All documents and communications between the Milwaukee Election Commission and the Wisconsin Elections Commission regarding the election.
• All documents and communications between the Milwaukee Election Commission and officials or employees of the cities of Green Bay, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Madison and Racine regarding the election.
• All documents and communications between the commission and employees of any private corporations regarding the election.
• All documents or communications between the commission and the Center for Tech and Civic Life. 

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Wisconsin officials have not found any widespread fraud during the November elections.

Democrats blasted GOP lawmakers for issuing the subpoena, charging that Vos “is using every power available to him to placate far-right extremists.”

“Questions still remain — are these subpoenas themselves valid or are they more of the same from Republicans who clearly do not understand how our state statutes work?” said Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, ranking member of the Assembly elections committee. “Do these subpoenas require presentation of information to the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections in open meetings — or is former Justice Michael Gableman trying to bully public officials into giving documents and testimony behind closed doors to a shadowy group of former Trump officials whose names we don’t even know?”

In August, Assembly elections commitee chair, Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, attempted to issue subpoenas for election materials to Brown and Milwaukee counties, but the subpoenas were not valid because they lacked a signature from Republican leadership. 

That doesn’t appear to be a problem with Friday’s subpoena, signed by Vos. 

Vos has said he is confident in the ongoing partisan election review, though Gableman had sent county clerks a suspicious email with an attachment created by a former Trump administration official.

The email was signed by Gableman but came from a Gmail address from someone with the name “John Delta” and contained a letter that was created by Andrew Kloster, a Republican attorney who worked in former President Donald Trump’s administration and falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen in Wisconsin. The email and letter alarmed some clerks, who raised concerns about their authenticity and questioned what measures would be taken to protect sensitive information requested.

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said he doesn’t think the subpoenas are necessary at this point, and that Vos and Gableman should have asked for the information first without resorting to subpoenas. 

“It’s all public record,” McDonell said. “You could just ask, and if they don’t produce something that’s an open record, then I suppose a subpoena would make sense.”