Ex-Trump aides' felony forgery charges allowed to proceed in 2020 election scheme

A state judge in Wisconsin ruled Monday that a criminal forgery case can proceed against former aides to President Donald Trump, in connection with the 2020 plot to stand fake electors and overturn the presidential election.

It's one of the last remaining pieces of litigation pending over the 2020 election, as other cases against Trump and his acolytes around the country have either been pleaded out, dismissed, or resolved in other ways. Another such case is still advancing in Nevada, as well.

According to The Associated Press' Scott Bauer, "Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland ruled that there was probable cause to proceed with the 11 felony forgery charges against Jim Troupis, who was Trump’s campaign attorney in Wisconsin, and Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020." Specifically, per the report, "the judge said communication from the defendants showed their intent to present as legitimate a certificate awarding Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes to Trump, not a document to be accepted only if a court ruled that Trump won the state."

Troupis and Roman maintain they committed no illegal activity and were simply trying to pursue legal options to challenge the election in the event of uncertainty.

"The preliminary hearing of a third person charged, former Trump attorney Ken Chesebro, was postponed amid questions about what statements the man made to prosecutors that could be admitted in court," the report noted. "The judge said he wanted to hold a separate hearing on whether comments Chesebro made in an agreement with Wisconsin investigators were allowed to be admitted at trial."

Chesebro, who notoriously provided legal guidance on how to overturn legitimately confirmed electors, has already pleaded guilty to charges against him in Georgia, and in June of this year, he was disbarred from practicing law in New York.