Is the Milwaukee City Attorney’s Office gearing up for a possible legal storm tied to the 2020 election?
The answer: most likely.
With no public discussion, the city’s Common Council unanimously voted June 2 in favor of authorizing the City Attorney to hire outside counsel for election-related needs.
Late last month, the city’s judiciary and legislation committee took up the substitute resolution authored by Alderman DiAndre Jackson. No public report was available and council members discussed the item in closed session, voting to approve its passage to full council.
City Attorney Evan Goyke declined to comment on the basis for the request.
The move comes after the Federal Bureau of Investigation has interviewed a high-ranking election official in recent weeks about the 2020 presidential election.
The FBI has also sought multiple Milwaukee Police Department officers for interview who were at the City of Milwaukee’s central count location as well as polling places on Election Night as part of its investigation into the 2020 election.
The FBI’s investigation is in a preliminary phase, and no ballots had been seized in Wisconsin, sources have told the Journal Sentinel.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed that he won the 2020 election in Wisconsin. A recount in Milwaukee and Dane Counties, paid by Trump’s campaign, court rulings, a state audit as well as a review by a law firm that pursues conservative interests have all confirmed that Trump lost.
Joe Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes.
For the last year, election officials have been on high alert since the start of the year when federal investigators seized hundreds of boxes tied to the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia. Concerns have also grown after FBI issued a grand jury subpoena in March for voting information in Maricopa County, Arizona.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Council OKs election legal counsel in wake of FBI inquiry
Reporting by Vanessa Swales, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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