Wisconsin Regulators Recommend 3-Year Law License Suspension for Michael Gableman Over Election Investigation Misconduct

On Friday, September 26, 2025, Courthouse News reported that Wisconsin state regulators have recommended a three-year law license suspension for Michael Gableman, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, concerning his conduct as special counsel to the Wisconsin Assembly.

The recommendation stems from a formal complaint filed in 2024 by the state’s Office of Lawyer Regulation, which alleges Gableman violated the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s professional conduct rules for attorneys on ten separate occasions.

Gableman, known for his staunch denial of the 2020 election results and his alignment with President Donald Trump, was appointed as special counsel in 2021 by Republican Speaker Robin Vos. His role was to lead one of four investigations into the 2020 election results in Wisconsin. He served in this capacity for one year before being terminated by Vos in late 2022 after endorsing Vos’s primary election challenger.

During his tenure, Gableman received $117,294 in compensation from the Assembly. The Assembly also spent $2.3 million on expenses related to his work, including rent, travel, consultants, outside lawyers, and court fines and penalties, according to the Office of Lawyer Regulation.

The charges against Gableman include lying under oath and threatening to jail the mayors of Madison and Green Bay without justification.

James Winiarski, the Office of Lawyer Regulation referee, submitted a report to the Wisconsin Supreme Court recommending the three-year suspension of Gableman’s law license. Winiarski argued that a significant level of discipline is necessary to safeguard the public, the courts, and the legal system.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court typically adopts the referee’s recommendation in attorney discipline cases. However, Gableman’s case is highly public and unique, making the court’s final decision uncertain. Justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley, the longest-serving members of the court’s conservative wing, previously served alongside Gableman, who was elected to the court in 2008 and served a full term.

The ten Supreme Court Rules violations Gableman is charged with relate to his subpoenas of the mayors of Madison and Green Bay, his public testimony to the Assembly regarding those subpoenas, his conduct towards opposing counsel and sitting judges, his mishandling of public records as special counsel, and his manipulation of the Assembly to advance his personal goal of decertifying the 2020 election results.

Gableman has entered a plea of no contest and has not disputed the facts presented in the report. Winiarski described the violations as “most serious,” emphasizing Gableman’s repeated and deliberate falsifications and disinformation as justification for the disciplinary recommendation.

In 2021, Vos assigned Gableman the task of conducting a fact-finding investigation into potential legislative changes for future election administration. The investigation was initially planned for four months, with Gableman receiving $11,000 per month. An amendment to the agreement allocated Gableman a budget exceeding $600,000 and extended the deadline by one month, though the report was not completed even five months later. Gableman has since testified that he did not approach the investigation objectively and intended from the outset to find a way to decertify the election results in Wisconsin, according to the Office of Lawyer Regulation.

Despite multiple recounts, lawsuits, a nonpartisan audit, and a review by a Republican law firm confirming President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Wisconsin, Gableman included a “decertification appendix” in his final report. His primary evidence for the debunked stolen election conspiracy is a donation from the Center for Tech and Civil Life, funded by Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.

The organization donated $8.8 million for election administration in Wisconsin’s largest and most liberal cities: Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Kenosha, and Green Bay. Gableman alleged that the funds were used to bribe Black voters in these cities. He also claimed that the Wisconsin Elections Commission intentionally and illegally failed to send voting deputies to nursing homes during the 2020 general election, despite officials stating that COVID-19 restrictions prohibited visitors from entering those facilities.

Gableman’s report recommended dismantling the Wisconsin Elections Commission and urged legislators to decertify Wisconsin’s electors for the 2020 election.

Following the submission of the referee report, the parties have 20 days to appeal before the Wisconsin Supreme Court decides whether to accept or deny the three-year suspension.

Peyton Engel, Gableman’s attorney, stated that he is pleased with the referee’s recommendation and is unlikely to appeal any parts of the report. He also suggested that state Supreme Court justices could and should recuse themselves from the final order in Gableman’s case.