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Ethics complaints over WI Justice Protasiewicz’s campaign statements rejected

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A state judiciary disciplinary panel has rejected several complaints lodged against Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz that alleged she violated the judicial code of ethics for comments she made during the campaign. It's a setback to Republicans who argued those remarks could warrant impeachment.

Protasiewicz on Tuesday released a letter from the Wisconsin Judicial Commission informing her that "several complaints" regarding comments she had made during the campaign had been dismissed without action.

The commission's actions are private unless released by one of the parties involved. Protasiewicz received permission from the commission to release its May 31 letter to her, which she then provided to The Associated Press.

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Protasiewicz’s win in April flipped majority control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court from conservative to liberal for the first time in 15 years. Democrats heavily backed her campaign, during which Protasiewicz criticized Republican-drawn electoral maps and spoke in favor of abortion rights.

In recent weeks, Republican lawmakers have been floating the possibility of impeaching Protasiewicz over her comments calling the legislative maps they drew "unfair" and "rigged."

Protasiewicz never promised to rule one way or another on redistricting or abortion cases.

She took office in August, and in her first week, two lawsuits seeking to overturn the Republican-drawn legislative electoral maps were filed by Democratic-friendly groups. The Supreme Court has yet to decide whether to hear the cases, and Protasiewicz has not responded to a motion from the Republican-controlled Legislature that she recuse herself from the cases.

Protasiewicz sent the commission’s order Tuesday to attorneys in the redistricting cases, ordering them to respond by Sept. 18 on how it affects the request that she recuse herself from the lawsuits.

A lawsuit in a county court seeking to overturn Wisconsin's 1849 abortion ban was filed before Protasiewicz won election. That case is expected to eventually reach the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The Wisconsin Republican Party in February released one complaint filed against Protasiewicz by Randall Cook, a Republican supporter. His complaint alleged that Protasiewicz had declared how she would rule on cases related to abortion and redistricting, in violation of provisions of the state judicial code.

"Wisconsin has never seen a Supreme Court Justice so brazenly declare how she would rule on a case before it ever came to the Court, and we had hoped the principles of equal justice would be seriously considered by the Judicial Commission, despite their liberal bias," Wisconsin Republican Party Chairperson Brian Schimming said in a statement. "It was clearly asking too much."

In the letter to Protasiewicz, Judicial Commission Executive Director Jeremiah Van Hecke referred to "several complaints" it had received and dismissed without action. The letter said the complaints pertained to comments she had made at a Jan. 9 candidate forum and several interviews in December and January.

The complaints also alleged that she had made false comments about her opponent, Republican-backed Dan Kelly, in two campaign ads and in social media posts, according to the commission's letter.

The commission did not give a reason for why it dismissed the complaints, but Van Hecke said that it had reviewed her comments, the judicial code of ethics, state Supreme Court rules, and relevant decisions by the state and U.S. supreme courts.

In one of the cases cited, a federal court in Wisconsin ruled there is a distinction between a candidate stating personal views during a campaign and making a pledge, promise or commitment to ruling in a certain way.

Protasiewicz declined to comment on the commission’s action.

The nine-member Judicial Commission is one of the few avenues through which people can challenge the actions of Supreme Court justices. It is tasked with investigating judges and court commissioners who are accused of violating the state’s judicial code of conduct. Its members include two lawyers and two judges appointed by the Supreme Court and five non-lawyers appointed by the governor to three-year terms.

Republican members of the state Senate judiciary committee on Tuesday and last month grilled judicial ethics commissioners up for reappointment about when justices and judges should recuse themselves from cases, especially if they call a case "rigged," a clear allusion to Protasiewicz’s campaign remarks.

Republicans, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, allege Protasiewicz has prejudged redistricting cases pending before the Supreme Court because of comments she made during her campaign. They also say she can't fairly hear the cases because she took nearly $10 million in campaign donations from the Wisconsin Democratic Party, which did not file the lawsuits but has long pushed for new maps.

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Vos said Protasiewicz must recuse herself from any Wisconsin redistricting case and the commission's letter only "muddies the waters."

"The Judicial Commission decided Justice Protasiewicz could not be sanctioned for what she said on the campaign trail," Vos said in a statement. "The Commission did not address whether she can sit on a case after accepting $10 million in campaign funds from the Democrat Party — the interested party in the redistricting case. Nor did they address whether she may sit on a case having made commitments for how she would rule that are inconsistent with the obligation to be impartial."

The legislative electoral maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011 cemented the party’s majorities, which now stand at 65-34 in the Assembly and a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate. It would take only 50 votes to impeach. It takes 22 votes to convict in the Senate, the exact number of seats Republicans hold.

If the Assembly impeaches her, Protasiewicz would be barred from any duties as a justice until the Senate acted. That could effectively stop her from voting on redistricting without removing her from office and creating a vacancy that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers would fill.

WI GOP-dominated Legislature asks new Democratic-backed justice to recuse herself from redistricting case

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Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature asked that the newest Democratic-backed justice on the state Supreme Court recuse herself from lawsuits seeking to overturn GOP-drawn electoral maps, arguing that she has prejudged the cases.

Republicans argue in their motions filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday and made public Wednesday that Justice Janet Protasiewicz can't fairly hear the cases because during her campaign for the seat earlier this year she called the Republican-drawn maps "unfair" and "rigged" and said there needs to be "a fresh look at the gerrymandering question."

"Justice Protasiewicz’s campaign statements reveal that her thumb is very much on the scale in this case," Republicans argue in their motion with the court.

Protasiewicz, who was backed by Democrats in her winning election in April, never said how she would rule on a redistricting lawsuit. She never committed to recusing herself from hearing the case. Her win gave liberals a 4-3 majority on the court.

Protasiewicz did promise to recuse herself from any case brought by the Wisconsin Democratic Party because it donated nearly $10 million to her campaign. There are two pending redistricting lawsuits, neither of which was brought by the Democratic Party.

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However, the Republican-led Legislature argues that because Democrats would benefit from a redrawing of the maps, Protasiewicz must recuse herself from hearing the case. Staying on the case would violate Republicans' constitutional due process rights, they argue.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said that if Protasiewicz does not recuse herself from the redistricting case, he would look into pursuing her impeachment. Republicans have a two-thirds majority in the state Senate, which would be enough votes to remove Protasiewicz from office should the Assembly vote to impeach. However, her replacement would be named by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Protasiewicz began her 10-year term in August. That week, two similar redistricting lawsuits were filed. The Legislature is seeking to intervene in both lawsuits and have Protasiewicz recuse herself from both.

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Protasiewicz declined to comment when asked for her reaction to the request and whether she would step away from the cases.

"I appreciate your interest in the Wisconsin Supreme Court," she said via email. "I do not wish to comment, but thank you very much for reaching out to me."

Attorneys who brought the two redistricting cases had no immediate comment.

Wisconsin’s Assembly districts rank among the most gerrymandered nationally, with Republicans routinely winning far more seats than would be expected based on their average share of the vote, according to an Associated Press analysis.

Both lawsuits ask that all 132 state lawmakers be up for election that year in newly drawn districts. In Senate districts that are midway through a four-year term in 2024, there would be a special election, with the winners serving two years. The regular four-year cycle would resume again in 2026.

One lawsuit was filed on behalf of voters who support Democrats by Law Forward, a Madison-based liberal law firm, the Stafford Rosenbaum law firm, Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School, Campaign Legal Center, and the Arnold & Porter law firm.

The other case was brought by voters who support Democratic candidates and several members of the Citizen Mathematicians and Scientists. That group of professors and research scientists submitted proposed legislative maps in 2022, before the state Supreme Court adopted the Republican-drawn ones.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose fires top aide for criticizing Donald Trump on social media

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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the most prominent Republican in the race to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown next year, has fired one of his top aides after social media posts surfaced in which the staffer criticized Donald Trump.

LaRose's office confirmed press secretary Rob Nichols's departure on Wednesday. A longtime Republican operative in the state, Nichols held a similar position with then-Republican Gov. John Kasich before he ran for president and became a vocal Trump detractor.

The abrupt dismissal followed Trump political allies on X, formerly Twitter, discovering and posting a cache of old tweets from Nichols' personal account that took aim at the former president, including for his impeachments, indictments and appearance.

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In one tweet, Nichols is quoted replying to a Trump supporter: "it’s been an incredible indictments race to the bottom for your guys and hunter biden...the daytona 500 of felonies and misdemeanors."

His interim replacement, Mary Cianciolo, confirmed that Nichols no longer works for LaRose, but said she could not comment further on a personnel matter.

Reached by phone, Nichols declined comment on the matter. He had deleted the offending account before the tweets were brought to light.

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The dismissal comes just a month after LaRose joined what is expected to be one of the most closely watched contests of 2024 and one where Trump's endorsement could again prove crucial — as it did last year.

After holding out for months, Trump endorsed venture capitalist and memoirist JD Vance for the seat vacated by the GOP's Rob Portman in 2022, helping Vance handily beat a crowded field to win the GOP primary and then the seat.

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A previous critic of Trump himself, LaRose endorsed him for president in 2024 a week after entering the Senate race. That marked a reverse in position from 2020, when he said it was inappropriate to take political sides when you were running elections.

LaRose faces state Sen. Matt Dolan and Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno for the Republican Senate nomination. Dolan, whose family owns baseball's Cleveland Guardians, has distanced himself from Trump, while Moreno — also a past critic — has seen Trump encourage his run.

Texas lawmakers focus on property taxes in second special legislative session

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called state lawmakers into a second special legislative session Tuesday with no talks of border security and immigration on the agenda, just hours after the first one wrapped up with the Republican-led Legislature in a stalemate over property taxes.

Abbott’s first special session agenda focused on property taxes and border security. It ended Tuesday afternoon with no deals on either issue and bitter disagreement among the chambers on how to cut property taxes and by how much.

The third legislative session of 2023 continues a series of rough patches for the GOP in America’s most populous red state, most notably with the impeachment of Republican Attorney General, Ken Paxton. Paxton is to be tried in the Texas Senate in September.

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Abbott further tightened the agenda for the second round to only property taxes, adding that he'll keep calling lawmakers to the Capitol "until property tax cut legislation reaches my desk."

Although the governor can add agenda items later in the 30-day special session, the second session's agenda marks at least a temporary pivot away from immigration and border security issues that have flared again nationally ahead of the 2024 election.

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On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the Texas-Mexico border to unveil an immigration policy proposal — his first as a 2024 presidential contender — that included ending birthright citizenship and completing a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, among other GOP immigration priorities. He also echoed Abbott's claims of an "invasion" along the southern border.

"I think the state of Texas has the right to declare an invasion," DeSantis, a Republican, told an audience member at an event in Eagle Pass on Monday.

During the state's regular biennial session, which ended May 29, Texas lawmakers allocated over $5 billion for border security. Days later, Abbott unveiled a new initiative — floating marine barriers that will be deployed at "hotspots along the Rio Grande River."

According to a June announcement from Abbott's office, the first 1,000 of the water-based border security device will be deployed near Eagle Pass — the same region where nine migrants died while attempting to cross the river in September.

Former Indiana congressman convicted of insider trading seeks to avoid prison ahead of upcoming sentencing

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A former Indiana congressman should spend no time in prison after his insider trading conviction, his lawyers told a judge Wednesday.

Steve Buyer, 64, of Noblesville, Indiana, was convicted by a jury in Manhattan federal court in March of four securities fraud charges after a two-week trial for stock trades he made while working as a consultant and lobbyist after he finished serving in Congress from 1993 to 2011.

He was convicted in connection with insider trading involving the $26.5 billion merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, announced in April 2018, and stock purchases he made at a later time in the management consulting company Navigant when his client Guidehouse was set to acquire it in a deal publicly disclosed weeks later.

Federal sentencing guidelines call for him to serve a prison sentence of about three years, though judges frequently depart downward from the recommendations.

FORMER GOP REP. STEVE BUYER CONVICTED OF INSIDER TRADING

His lawyers wrote in a submission ahead of a July 11 sentencing that the Republican should face only home confinement and community service.

The lawyer and Persian Gulf War veteran once chaired the House Veterans’ Affairs committee and served as a House prosecutor at former President Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment trial.

Buyer's attorneys told the judge who will sentence their client that Buyer has suffered substantially as a result of the prosecution and conviction.

The case has "irreparably damaged his reputation, tarnished his achievements and lifetime of service, and continue to bring shame and humiliation to him and his family," the lawyers said.

They said he lost all of his consulting clients after he was indicted and his two businesses "crumbled," erasing average yearly gross income of about $2.2 million that existed from 2018 to 2021. Now, they produce no income, the lawyers said.

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As a result of the conviction, he will lose his Virginia and Indiana bar licenses, and he can never again consult for and advise Fortune 500 companies or any others where he could have access to insider information, they said.

"The cost of litigation has also been substantial, causing Mr. Buyer and his wife to sell most of their assets, including their home, condo, and two cars," the lawyers said. His wife will have to go back to work at age 65, they added.

In addition, four financial institutions have closed or frozen his bank accounts, including his investment accounts, and two credit card companies have closed his accounts, the lawyers said.

The attorneys said a sentence that does not include prison time would not be unusual because more than a third of individuals convicted of insider trading charges who previously had a clean record faced no prison time. And over 70 percent of the sentences were less than two years in length, they said.

At trial, prosecutors said his clients were motivated to share lucrative secrets with him because they wanted his help as a consultant.

Defense lawyers contended that he was a stock market buff who did research that led to legal profitable trades. Buyer testified on his own behalf.

Buyer made over $320,000 illegally for himself, relatives and a woman with whom he had an affair, authorities said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hires prominent lawyer for impeachment trial

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A new lawyer for Ken Paxton on Wednesday raised skepticism that the embattled Texas attorney general's impeachment trial could be done quickly and attacked the case that could lead to the Republican's permanent removal from office as a sham.

Tony Buzbee is a prominent Houston attorney whose high-profile client list includes former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and women who accused NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual harassment and assault. His hiring sets up a clash between some of the state’s most well-known lawyers over Paxton's political future.

"The impeachment articles that have been laid out by the House are baloney," Buzbee said during a news conference at the Republican Party of Texas’ Austin headquarters. "The allegations are untrue."

The impeachment trial in the Texas Senate is set to begin no later than Aug. 28. "If we're really going to have a trial, it's going to take a lot longer than that," Buzbee said.

TEXAS HOUSE VOTES TO IMPEACH REPUBLICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN PAXTON

Buzbee joins several member of the attorney general's staff who are set to square off against two high-profile lawyers the House brought in to present the case against Paxton, who was suspended from office following his impeachment on 20 articles including abuse of public trust and bribery.

Buzbee and one of Paxton's longtime criminal defense attorneys, Dan Cogdell, criticized the House's rapid impeachment process as rushed and secretive. Lawmakers allied with Paxton mounted similar complaints in May before 60 of the House’s 85 Republicans, including Speaker Dade Phelan, voted to impeach.

"There was no due process before the House," said Cogdell, who represents Paxton in a long-stalled securities fraud case and a separate FBI investigation into many of the same allegations that led to his impeachment.

The case for Paxton's impeachment is set to be presented by Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin, who over decades in Texas have become practically as recognizable in courtrooms as the politicians and famous figures they have represented.

Buzbee said the current timeframe would not give Paxton's legal team enough time to take testimony from more than 60 witnesses and review thousands of documents. He suggested the trial might need to be put off until next summer.

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The trial date start, as well as a June 20 Senate meeting to consider trial rules, were set by a Senate vote. It was not immediately clear if those dates could be changed without a similar vote by the 31 senators.

Paxton has been under FBI investigation for years over accusations by members of his own staff that he used his office to help a donor. He was separately indicted on securities fraud charges in 2015, though he has yet to stand trial.

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Buzbee didn't directly address the substance of most of the allegations against Paxton during the 40-minute news conference. But he did contest that the donor, real estate developer Nate Paul, bribed the attorney general by paying for renovations to his Austin home. The lawyer showed images of receipts that he suggested disproved the claim.

Buzbee declined to say who was paying for his services, save that "I'm not being paid by the public."

West Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Hutchison to retire next year

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A West Virginia Supreme Court justice who joined the bench following a 2018 corruption and impeachment scandal said Thursday that he will retire after his term ends next year.

Justice John Hutchison was appointed by Gov. Jim Justice to the seat vacated by convicted former Justice Allen Loughry, then won a 2020 special election to finish the remainder of Loughry's term, which ends in December 2024.

Hutchison said he looks forward to spending time with his wife, son and grandchildren.

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"When I came to the Court in January 2019 the judicial system was starting to come out of a very dark place," Hutchison wrote in a letter to Chief Justice Beth Walker. "In the last five years the New Court has made amazing strides in reestablishing the integrity of the third branch of government."

Hutchison served as a circuit judge in Raleigh County for 24 years prior to his appointment to the five-member Supreme Court. He and Justice attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley and played on the basketball team together. Hutchison swore in Justice as governor in January 2017.

Loughry was suspended from his seat over allegations that he repeatedly lied and used his public office for personal gain. He resigned after a federal jury convicted him on 11 charges, most involving mail and wire fraud over his personal use of state cars and fuel cards. He was released from prison in December 2020 after serving 20 months of a two-year sentence.

Loughry and three other justices were impeached in August 2018 over questions involving lavish office renovations that evolved into accusations of corruption, incompetence and neglect of duty. Some of the justices were accused of abusing their authority by failing to rein in excessive spending.

One justice retired after the House of Delegates approved impeachment charges against her and another retired prior to the impeachment hearings.

Walker was cleared of an impeachment charge at her Senate trial. Then, a temporary panel of justices ruled the impeachment efforts violated the separation of powers doctrine and that the Legislature lacked jurisdiction to pursue the trials. The U.S. Supreme Court in October 2019 left the ruling in place.

TX Gov. Greg Abbott names John Scott as temporary attorney general following Ken Paxton’s historic impeachment

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Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday picked a longtime ally who oversaw Texas' elections in 2022 to temporarily serve as attorney general following Republican Ken Paxton's historic impeachment on allegations of misconduct and crimes.

John Scott, who stepped down as Texas Secretary of State last year, takes over as the state's top lawyer on an interim basis while Paxton awaits a trial in the state Senate that could result in his permanent removal. The trial is set to begin no later than Aug. 28.

Paxton was impeached last weekend by the Texas House of Representatives, triggering his immediate suspension from office.

Abbott has kept silent about Paxton in the week since House Republicans began impeachment proceedings. The governor announced Scott's appointment in a statement that did not mention Paxton or comment on the accusations against him.

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"John Scott has the background and experience needed to step in as a short-term interim Attorney General during the time the Attorney General has been suspended from duty," Abbott said.

Scott has been a trusted hand of Abbott's for more than a decade. He served as a state litigator when Abbott was attorney general, and when Abbott's pick for secretary of state in 2019 was derailed after a bungled review of voter rolls, the governor turned to Scott instead.

At the time, the appointment alarmed voting rights groups over Scott's brief stint as a member of President Donald Trump’s legal team that challenged the 2020 election results. Scott withdrew from the case after only a few days and has said he does not dispute that President Joe Biden won the election.

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Paxton weathered years of scandal and maintained his party’s support to win three statewide attorney general’s races before the vote in the Republican-controlled House abruptly swept him from power.

The vote came after a monthslong House investigation into the attorney general that resulted in 20 charges alleging sweeping abuses of power, including obstruction of justice, bribery and abuse of public trust.

Paxton has criticized the impeachment as an attempt to "overthrow the will of the people and disenfranchise the voters of our state." He has said the charges are based on "hearsay and gossip, parroting long-disproven claims."

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Texas' senators will serve as "jurors" in Paxton's upcoming trial — one of whom could be his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who has not said whether she will participate in the proceedings.

During his yearlong stint as Texas' election chief, Scott was tasked with trying to give voters confidence about election results and the ability to cast a ballot after Republicans passed a sweeping new voting law. Those efforts got off to a bumpy start during Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary as voters struggled to navigate new mail voting requirements, resulting in counties throwing out nearly 23,000 mail ballots.

Vermont Gov. Scott vetoes Democratic Legislature’s self-imposed pay raise

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Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have raised the salaries for members of the state's part-time legislature and made them eligible for the state employees' health benefit plan.

VERMONT GOV. SCOTT VETOES $8B BUDGET THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN STATE'S LARGEST EVER

Scott wrote in his veto letter to lawmakers that the Legislature passed several pieces of legislation that he said will significantly increase costs for Vermonters through new and higher taxes, fees and penalties.

"In my opinion, it does not seem fair for legislators to insulate themselves from the very costs they are imposing on their constituents by doubling their own future pay," the governor wrote.

VERMONT LEGISLATURE FORMS IMPEACHMENT COMMITTEE FOR FRANKLIN COUNTY OFFICIALS

The bill would have raised the weekly salaries for senators and House representatives over several years to $1,210 with adjustments. They currently make about $812 a week now for the session that usually runs from January to mid-May, according to Vermont Public.

Scott has vetoed five bills this year. The legislature has overridden one of his bills and is returning to the Statehouse on June 20 to try to override others, including his veto of the state budget.

Vermont Legislature forms impeachment committee for Franklin County officials

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A special committee of the Vermont House of Representatives formed to investigate the possible impeachment of the Franklin County sheriff and state’s attorney will be meeting over the summer, the speaker of the Vermont House says.

Democratic Speaker Jill Krowinski says if the committee she named earlier this week determines the House should hold an impeachment vote she will call the chamber back into session.

VERMONT LAUNCHES IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATIONS INTO FRANKLIN COUNTY PROSECUTOR, SHERIFF

"That is a committee of seven, with Democrats, Republicans and an independent with each a different background that they bring that I really think helps to form a really thoughtful group of members to lead this investigation," Krowinski said Wednesday.

She promised a public process that will be scheduled over the next week or so.

Franklin County State’s Attorney John Lavoie is accused of harassing and discriminating against employees. Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore is facing an assault charge for kicking a shackled detainee, as well as a financial investigation.

Lavoie has acknowledged some inappropriate humor but doesn’t think his actions warrant him stepping down. Grismore has defended his actions.

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Emails were sent Thursday to Lavoie and Grismore.

The Vermont Constitution gives the House of Representatives the power to impeach "state criminals." If someone is impeached by a two-thirds vote in the House, that person would be tried in the Senate, which also requires a two-thirds vote for removal from office.

The Vermont Secretary of State says the last time impeachment proceedings took place in the Vermont House was in 1976 when the Washington County Sheriff was impeached by the House but, acquitted in the Senate. The last impeachment to end in a conviction and removal from office was in 1785.