Wisconsin GOP ‘audit’ attorney caves on subpoenas and interviews of local election clerks: report

The effort by Wisconsin Republicans to conduct an Arizona-style audit of the state's 2020 presidential election reversed course on controversial subpoenas issued to local elections officials.

"In a dramatic turnaround, an attorney reviewing the 2020 election for Assembly Republicans on Thursday canceled interviews with mayors and city clerks and backed off on subpoenas he issued to them days ago," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelreports. "Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman over the last week demanded the officials give him every election record they have and sit for interviews with him this month. The request comprised hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of pages of records."

Instead, Gableman is only asking for copies of public records already made available to others.

Gableman was also ridiculed for his competence in sending the subpoenas.

And on Wednesday, Gableman admitted he doesn't know how elections work.

"Joe Biden won Wisconsin by more than 20,000 votes, or 0.6 points. Recounts and court rulings have confirmed his victory over Donald Trump," the newspaper noted. "Despite those findings, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester hired Gableman to review the election. He gave him a taxpayer-funded budget of about $680,000."

Marc Elias, the top lawyer for Democratic lawsuits challenging GOP voter suppression efforts, publicly mocked Gableman's competence on Twitter.

"What if Gableman is actually less competent than Cyber Ninjas?" he asked.

Madison's city attorney confirmed the report, WISN-TV reported.