MADISON, Wis. — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos effectively ended the embattled Gableman election investigation Friday by withdrawing subpoenas to Wisconsin mayors that compelled them to testify in the investigation.
The subpoenas were also the subject of a Waukesha court case in which election investigator Michael Gableman sought to imprison the mayors of Madison, Green Bay and Racine for failing to comply with the subpoenas.
The officials broadly said they would testify, but would only do so publicly. Gableman requested the testimony be taken privately.
In a notice sent to Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Vos gave no explanation for the decision to withdraw the subpoenas. WisPolitics.com reported Friday that similar notices were sent to the Green Bay mayor and the state’s chief elections official Meagan Wolfe — who also received a subpoena as part of the investigation.
Here’s the short notice that was sent to @MayorOfMadison from the speaker indicating that she is no longer obligated to comply with the subpoena. pic.twitter.com/7fnKotvbIx
— Will Kenneally (@willkenneally) August 26, 2022
Madison City Attorney Mike Haas, who represented Rhodes-Conway in the suit, applauded Vos’ decision.
“Despite wasting over one million dollars of taxpayer funds, the Special Counsel has only fanned false conspiracy theories and harmed public confidence in Wisconsin elections,” he said. “Speaker Vos has finally recognized that this cynical and divisive exercise should be ended.”
There is still a status conference in the case on the books for Tuesday, and Haas said the “only reasonable step at this point” is for Vos to end the lawsuit as well.
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