DA Toney Asks Governor To Remove 5 From Elections Commission

With the Wisconsin Assembly Parlor as the backdrop, Fond du Lac District Attorney, and State Attorney General candidate, Eric Toney, asked Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to remove five members of the the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

In the letter sent to the Governor, Toney requests the “removal of Marge Bostelmann, Julie Glancey, Ann Jacobs, Dean Knudson and Mark Thomsen, for cause based on their actions in knowingly exceeding their statutory authority by violating Wisconsin laws during the August and November elections in 2020.”

Toney said the basis for this verified compliant is his review of a copy of the Racine County Sheriff’s Office investigation into election-related activity at the Ridgewood Care Facility in Racine County, including the WEC directives that Special Voting Deputies be suspended and not dispatched to nursing homes and care facilities during 2020 elections.

In the letter, District Attorney Toney says those actions are a violation of the SVD requirement in Wis. Stat. §6.875.

The letter goes on to say, “The purpose of my review of these materials was to investigate whether criminal charges should be filed in Fond du Lac County against the WEC board members for violations of: Wis. Stats. §§ 6.875, 5.05(6a)1, 5.05(6a)2, 12.13(2)(b)7 and §946.12(2) as a criminal conspiracy pursuant to §939.31.

Fond du Lac County election clerks relied upon this same guidance as SVDs were not dispatched in Fond du Lac County for the August and November elections in 2020. Based upon my review of the Racine County Sheriff’s investigative file, which includes WEC documents, conversations with the lead investigator and Fond du Lac County Clerk Lisa Freiberg, City of Fond du Lac Clerk Margaret Hefter, along with statutory and case law research. it is apparent the WEC had no legal authority to suspend SVDs and numerous Wisconsin criminal law violations have been committed by the WEC.”

Toney also said he is not asking that the sixth board member, Robert Spindell, be removed based upon his public abandonment of the conspiracy and subsequent votes against suspending SVDs.

He also felt removal is necessary “in order to hold the WEC accountable and restore confidence in our election process because our elections are the cornerstone of democracy and must be defended at every turn.”

A copy of the Verified Complaint can be viewed here: