Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul signaled on Tuesday he might not represent the state in a new lawsuit that challenges GOP-backed action during December’s extraordinary session.
Lawmakers passed a number of bills during that lame-duck session aimed at limiting the power of then-incoming Gov. Tony Evers. The measures also limited Kaul’s power to do things like join and leave multi-state lawsuits challenging federal actions.
Speaking with reporters at an event in Madison, Kaul declined to say if his office would defend the state in a lawsuit announced earlier this week by a coalition of union groups. But he did cite his previous decision to not defend the state in a similar lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters last month.
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“In another case in which the extraordinary session was challenged, we made clear that the Wisconsin Department of Justice has a substantial interest in that case because the authority of the Department of Justice was impacted,” Kaul said. “We view that as a conflict with defending the law, so we took the position that we wouldn’t be defending the law in that case.”
Former Wisconsin Solicitor General Misha Tseytlin, who worked for the DOJ under former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, is representing Republican lawmakers as a private lawyer in the League of Women Voters case.
Another lawsuit that challenged early voting restrictions passed during the lame-duck session has already received a favorable ruling for plaintiffs in federal court.
U.S. District Judge James Peterson blocked those early voting restrictions last month, ruling they were similar to laws he overturned in a 2016 ruling. That case is currently pending appeal before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Milwaukee.
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