The 2020 elections were administrated using more than just taxpayer money—funding also came from 3rd party groups, including the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL). Wisconsin may be ground zero for investigations into exactly how it was done, what political motivations were behind that money, and to what extent it was criminal.
Former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman was named Special Counsel by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and has been responsible for investigating potential election crimes in Wisconsin. Subpoenas have been sent to Mayors and officials in the 'Big Five' Wisconsin cities that received the most' Zuckerbucks,' seeking all records related to grants by CTCL. As Gableman explained on Dan O'Donnell's radio show:
"How much did Mark Zuckerburg's employees or agents take over administration on behalf of a private individual or a private group? How deeply and how substantively did they actually administer public elections? And, equally important, to what extent did their clear preference for one candidate, that's Joe Biden, influence their conduct?"
Green Bay, for one, received millions in grant money for administration and election expenses from groups like CTCL and The Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR). The Federalist reported that their analysis found that the money resulted in a significant benefit to Joe Biden. Attorney Erick Kardaal, who has clients challenging the five largest recipients of grants in Wisconsin, including Green Bay, told Steve Bannon in July:
"They were targeting minorities, low-income people, and they were targeting certain geographies. That's all Unconstitutional."
'The Free Market Voice for Wisconsin' MacIver Institute said in March that at least five laws had been violated and that Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich "may have personally committed felony misconduct in public office." State Representative Janel Brandtjen's April 20 e-update describes potential criminality alleged by Kardaal's lawsuit further by saying, "It appears the third party group took over the election and followed their own processes and procedures. In doing so, election laws may have been violated."
Emails from election day showed skepticism toward involvement by outside consultants from CTCL and other 3rd parties—in Green Bay and elsewhere. Those emails prompted a committee hearing led by Brandtjen that Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich called a "Stalinist show trial." Genrich complained that he was not allowed to participate, but the city attorney responded that she would be unavailable to appear on his behalf when invited.
The emails were highly publicized in March and would surely be a focus of any honest Special Counsel investigation—some show that Democrat political activist Michael Spitzer Rubenstein from New York was hired with 3rd party funds and granted access to counting rooms in Green Bay. Rubenstein's group, the National Vote at Home Institute, shares executives with CTCL.
A Brown County clerk is the one who had voiced concerns about the involvement of outside consultants, and an email by a Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) staff attorney shows prior knowledge through discussions with the City of Green Bay. An election day email says:
"DO NOT UNLOCK GRAND BALLROOM UNTIL MICHAEL SPITZER-RUBENSTEIN REQUESTS."
Brandtjen's March press release announced the emails that were the subject of her hearing —they are hosted on her website along with other emails from Milwaukee / Kenosha, Wauwatosa, and Madison. Brandtjen's June 23 press release thanks three Wisconsin Congressmen for a subsequent push to open the books on CTCL's financials:
"With less than 1% of the CTCL money spent on PPE, I'd like to thank Congressmen Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman, and Tom Tiffany for demanding CTCL immediately publish their full financial 990s for review. Congressmen Fitzgerald, Grothman, and Tiffany realize how third-party money has damaged voter confidence in Wisconsin. CTCL grant dollars were a quid pro quo, inserting democrat operatives into election offices such as in Green Bay. CTCL then had the ability to claw back dollars if they were not satisfied with the municipalities' cooperation."
There have even been accusations of corruption in the decision of legal representation for the City of Green Bay. A citizen spoke up about it during a Green Bay Common Council meeting in October:
"I think they're known for being a very left progressive Democratic firm, and I'd like to know what went into making that decision that they're going to be handling a case for the city of Green Bay where my tax dollars are going to go to pay for it. And if my tax dollars are not paying for the representation, why is that? Why? Is it going to be another donation from a group like the Centers for Tech and Civic Life that's gonna come into my little town, where I've grown up, and take over?"
The comment came during the same Common Council meeting that Special Counsel Gableman attended to announce Mayor Genrich as a subpoena recipient.
There have been no publicly announced developments to the Special Counsel investigation since the last reporting and no video updates to the video account for the office of Special Counsel since October 14. There have been multiple significant updates to election integrity efforts elsewhere.
The Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) released its final report for a limited review that was conducted on many aspects of the election, including registration, absentee ballots, electronic voting machines, and administration—all of which had irregularities that may indicate votes that should not have counted. The Racine County Sheriff held a press conference to announce that an investigation that found the State Attorney General Josh Kaul ignored voter fraud in March—and a referral for criminal charges was sent to the county District Attorney soon after.
