Attorney who oversaw Wisconsin fake electors scheme suspended from judicial ethics panel

A lawyer who advised Wisconsin Republicans on using fake electors after the 2020 election has been temporarily suspended from a state panel that advises judges on ethics.

Longtime GOP attorney Jim Troupis was charged last week with a felony for his role overseeing the fake elector scheme. Troupis was the lead attorney for former President Donald Trump’s campaign in Wisconsin after the 2020 election.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s previous conservative majority reappointed Troupis in March of 2023 to a term on the Judicial Conduct Advisory Committee. The panel gives informal advice to judges and judicial officers governed by Wisconsin’s Code of Judicial Conduct.

The court, which is now run by a 4-3 liberal majority, issued a brief order Tuesday announcing it was suspending Troupis from that role. No justices dissented from the order, although conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley did not participate in the decision.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul charged Troupis, attorney Kenneth Chesebro and political operative Michael Roman with one felony count each last week for their roles in the fake elector scheme, which involved signing official-looking documentation claiming that Trump won Wisconsin in 2020, even though he had narrowly lost.

Kaul alleges Troupis and the others acted knowingly when they worked to collect and submit the false elector documentation. If convicted, Troupis and the others could face fines of up to $10,000 and up to six years in prison.

Troupis’ involvement in Wisconsin politics predates Trump. For years, he was a go-to expert for Republicans on redistricting, helping them draw the legislative map in 2011 that cemented GOP power for a decade. In 2015, former Republican Gov. Scott Walker appointed Troupis to a judgeship on the Dane County Circuit Court, and in 2016, Troupis applied to Walker for a vacancy on the state Supreme Court.

According to the state Supreme Court’s website, the Judicial Conduct Advisory Committee “was created to render formal advisory opinions and give informal advice to judges and judicial officers governed by the Code of Judicial Conduct.” The panel includes nine members, including six from the judiciary, one court commissioner, one attorney and one public member.

Troupis’ term is set to expire on March 7, 2026. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.