Fake Trump Electors In Wisconsin Settle Civil Suit, Acknowledge Biden Won In 2020

Ten Wisconsin Republicans who signed inaccurate documents in 2020 purporting to show that Donald Trump won the battleground state have settled a civil lawsuit brought as a result of their actions.

As part of Wednesday’s agreement, the fake electors acknowledged that Joe Biden won the presidency that year, withdrew their own fraudulent filings, and agreed not to serve as electors in 2024 ― or any other election with Trump on the ballot.

Additionally, a statement accompanying their retracted filings acknowledges the group’s actions were “part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results.”

While the suit, brought by Biden’s Democratic electors, originally asked for $2.4 million in damages, no money is involved in the settlement.

The Washington Post, which first reported the development, notes that it marks the first time that pro-Trump electors have publicly revoked their own filings.

One of the fake electors, former Wisconsin Republican Party Chair Andrew Hitt, told The Associated Press that they didn’t fully realize the scope of what they’d signed up for.

“The Wisconsin electors were tricked and misled into participating in what became the alternate elector scheme,” he said in a statement, “and would have never taken any actions had we known that there were ulterior reasons beyond preserving an ongoing legal strategy.”

Similar groups convened and advanced fraudulent electoral documents in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel asked for a federal investigation of the plot in January 2022, saying the groups were “obviously” acting as “part of a much bigger conspiracy.”

Prosecutors in Michigan and in Georgia have pursued criminal charges against fake electors, with Nessel pushing felonies for 16 Republicans accused in her state.