Wisconsin judge orders former Chief Justice to release impeachment panel records

MADISON, Wis. — The Dane County Circuit Court today ordered former Wisconsin Chief Justice Patience Roggensack to turn over records related to her work on the panel of former state Supreme Court justices that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos created to advise on the potential impeachment of sitting Justice Janet Protasawiecz. The order, which was made in American Oversight’s ongoing lawsuit to bring transparency to Wisconsinites about the panel’s work, requires Roggensack to release the records within 30 days. 

American Oversight’s litigation previously revealed the names of all three former state Supreme Court justices that formed the panel Vos tasked with advising the legislature about impeachment. The watchdog organization obtained records from former Justices David Prosser and Jon Wilcox, the other two members of the panel, in response to public records requests about the group’s formation and scope of work. 

Those records revealed that Prosser had advised Vos against impeaching Protasiewicz, writing that it would “be viewed as unreasonable partisan politics.” Wilcox publicly confirmed that he also advised Vos against impeachment.

Roggensack, the third member of the panel, has continued to resist transparency and refused to provide any records. During the hearing on Friday, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Frank Remington noted Roggensack’s apparent efforts to evade service of a subpoena to attend today’s hearing.

Statement from American Oversight Executive Director Heather Sawyer:

“It is concerning to see a former official of such high public office go to such great lengths to avoid answering questions about their actions. Judge Remington has now ordered former Chief Justice Roggensack to turn over records regarding her work on Speaker Vos’s once-secret impeachment panel. Judge Remington’s order confirms Wisconsin’s longstanding commitment to government transparency and we look forward to getting more information to the public about Speaker Vos’s impeachment efforts.”

In addition to the records provided by Prosser and Wilcox, On Nov. 3, Vos released more than 20,000 pages of documents in response to American Oversight’s request for records related to the impeachment considerations. Those records include text messages that raise concerns about potential ethics violations regarding solicitation of gifts.

In an exchange between Vos and someone who appears to be his chief of staff, Vos suggested asking an outside group called the Institute for Reforming Government to conduct a poll on whether Protasiewicz should recuse herself from a redistricting-related case in an effort to “try to affect the discussion” about his threats to impeach Protasiewicz. “Ask them to pay for it and make it public if it helps us,” he said, adding that they should “use their $.”

Such a request for an outside entity to pay for a poll that could be used for Vos’ political benefit may constitute a violation of Wisconsin’s gift statute, which says that “no state public official may solicit or accept from any person, directly or indirectly, anything of value if it could reasonably be expected to influence the state public official’s vote, official actions or judgment, or could reasonably be considered as a reward for any official action or inaction on the part of the state public official.”

American Oversight has sent a letter to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission asking that it ensure that Vos is complying with Wisconsin’s standards of ethical conduct for public officials. On Thursday, American Oversight also filed a request for records that could shed additional light on Vos’s efforts to obtain free polling from IRG.

The court set an additional hearing for December 19 at 8:30 a.m. CST to assess the completeness of Vos’ production of records.