Voss’ move to end the investigation came days after he survived a primary challenge from an opponent backed by Trump and Gableman. “After several members of our caucus have contacted me over the past few days, it is clear to me that we have only one option in this matter, and that is to close the Office of the Special Counsel,” Voss said in a statement. . CNN reached out to Gableman’s office and his attorney. The Associated Press first reported Gableman’s firing. In total, the cost of the research exceeded 1 million dollars. The partisan review, part of a nationwide effort by Republicans to challenge Biden’s victory, drew criticism from the start. Months before he was hired, Gableman appeared at a rally on November 7, 2020 and said he believed the Wisconsin election had been stolen. Gableman’s blunders and the extreme legal measures taken during the investigation led to calls to end the review. During the investigation, he threatened to jail local officials who refused to answer his questions in private interviews. And a memo uncovered by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this year appeared to show Gableman’s team investigating the background of public employees. One case — part of a document titled “Cross Pollinators” and posted on the special counsel’s website — concluded that a Milwaukee city clerk was likely a Democrat because she “has a weird nose ring,” plays video games, “loves nature and snakes” and lives with her boyfriend, although they are not married. Gableman’s investigation has also faced several lawsuits over open records requests. State Sen. Melissa Agard, a Democrat who sits on the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee, said there should be a formal audit of the probe, which she said was authorized to spend more than $1.3 million. “After several other analyzes of the 2020 Wisconsin election, there was no evidence of widespread or significant fraud that affected the outcome of our election,” Agard said in a written statement. “Gableman has been on the taxpayer dime for over a year now.” Biden won Wisconsin by nearly 21,000 votes in 2020, a victory that has survived multiple lawsuits and election reviews. (A recent ruling by a conservative majority on the state Supreme Court concluded that most ballots — which were widely used in 2020 elections during the height of the pandemic — are prohibited. But the ruling did not change the outcome of that year’s contests. .) Wisconsin is a key battleground state with high-stakes races on the ballot in November. The state’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, is seeking a second term amid a challenge from Trump-backed GOP candidate Tim Michels. And in a race that could help determine which party controls the Senate, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson will face Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democrat. Evers has repeatedly vetoed bills passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that sought to overhaul the state’s voting rules. In his statement Friday, Vos said Gableman’s investigation — along with a separate report from the legislative audit office — “clearly showed concerns and problems with the 2020 election.” But he said Republicans should focus their efforts on electing “a Republican governor in November so we can pass the bills that were vetoed by Governor Evers.” This story has been updated with additional background information. CNN’s Andy Rose and Natalie Anders contributed to this story.
