MADISON – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate a Wisconsin judge overseeing a case involving felony charges against President Donald Trump’s former campaign attorney over his role in the 2020 scheme to overturn the election result.
Jim Troupis, a former Dane County judge and former campaign attorney for Trump, faces felony forgery charges over his role in a plan to get slates of false Trump electors to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to persuade Pence to reject Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.
Troupis this week sought to compel all Dane County judges to recuse from his case, citing past grudges, and accused a retired judge of secretly drafting an order issued by Dane County Judge John Hyland, the judge overseeing the case — an allegation the retired judge called “a fantasy.”
Johnson’s appeal to Bondi to review the allegation comes days before Troupis is scheduled to appear in court over the charges.
“Mr. Troupis represented President Donald Trump in Wisconsin in the 2020 election and, because of his role as the president’s attorney, his life has been upended by unceasing political persecutions currently led by Wisconsin’s attorney general,” Johnson wrote in the letter.
“Mr. Troupis fittingly described this anti-Trump lawfare as ‘the Jack Smith case being tried in Wisconsin and President Trump is going to be tried in absentia.'”
In his order, Hyland said Troupis claimed without evidence “that every judge in Dane County harbors some personal animus toward him and, as a result, recusal of the entire bench is required.”
“Nothing in his submissions support this claim,” Hyland wrote.
Hyland also noted six of the eight judges Troupis accused of harboring ill will against him, including Hyland, were not judges when Troupis was on the bench for less than a year between 2015 and 2016.
In a statement, Troupis said “I am pleased that Senator Johnson recognizes the gravity of the misconduct by the Dane County Court.”
“It is long past time for the United States Department Justice to enter the proceedings and bring an end to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul’s obvious political witch hunt.”
Troupis attorney accused retired judge of ghostwriting for law clerk son
Troupis filed a motion to compel Hyland to recuse after the legal firm representing him hired a Georgetown linguistics professor to determine whether retired Dane County Judge Frank Remington wrote an order in the case under Hyland’s name. She concluded he did.
The firm sought the analysis after learning Remington’s son, who is a law clerk for Hyland, was involved in the drafting of the order, according to Troupis’ attorney.
Remington became a target of some Trump allies when he oversaw a case involving former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman and Gableman’s fruitless taxpayer-funded review of the 2020 election. He also oversaw a civil case involving Troupis over the effort known as the 2020 fake elector scheme.
Remington told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he has never spoken to Hyland or his son about the case, nor did he write or help write any decisions issued in the case.
“I’ve never talked to Judge Hyland about this case either before I retired or after. I did not write any of his decisions or opinions − not one word, not one paragraph.”
Remington said his son is “very careful to respect the confidences of his employment and have no discussions with people outside the court system.”
Troupis attorney Joe Bugni told Hyland in a Nov. 25 letter that after two people told him the writing in an August order issued by Hyland denying motions to dismiss charges resembled Remington’s language style, he pursued analysis.
“A quick review of your writing shows it’s always in the third person, it’s always measured, and it’s very straightforward and easy to grasp,” Bugni wrote. “In contrast, Judge Remington writes in the first person, and his orders sometimes lack those admirable qualities.
“What’s more, Judge Remington’s orders carry a sardonic tone coupled with a habit of recycling distinct phrases — many of which appear in the August 22 order.”
In a separate motion, Bugni noted Remington’s son, who is a law clerk in Dane County, was involved in the drafting of the order.
“Here, the defense believes that the law clerk has passed off the retired Judge’s work as his own,” Bugni wrote.
Remington said the professor “can have her opinion, but I did not ghostwrite.”
“I did not have any discussions. I didn’t review any drafts with anyone in the courthouse,” he said.
“John Hyland is a gentleman and a scholar and he doesn’t need my help doing his job. What they’ve done is besmirched the character of a fine judicial officer,” Remington said.
Johnson said in his letter to Bondi that “it is difficult to understand how Judge Hyland can make an impartial decision about Mr. Bugni’s allegations when he is directly implicated.”
“Therefore, I respectfully request that the Department of Justice review Mr. Troupis’ case to determine whether any wrongdoing has occurred.”
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