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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has called on former President Donald Trump and others to foot the bill for their failed legal challenges to overturn the state's 2020 election results.
In motions filed Wednesday by Evers' attorneys, Trump and La Crosse County Republican Party Chairman William Feehan were asked to pay a total of $250,000 for cases brought to federal court in the wake of the presidential contest: $144,000 from Trump and $106,000 from Feehan.
The governor's legal team deemed the litigation "meritless" and argued in court documents that it was "built on inscrutable conspiracy theories."
"Although Trump's claims were bereft of legal or factual basis, the stakes were immense. Governor Tony Evers had no choice but to defend zealously against the claims and to engage with Trump's scattershot litigation tactics," Evers' attorneys wrote.
"The litigation imposed significant costs on the taxpayers of Wisconsin. Those costs were needless, because Trump's suit never had any merit, this litigation was precluded by exclusive state-court proceedings, and the costs were exacerbated by strategic choices made by Trump and his lawyers.
After flipping red as a key swing-state victory for Trump in the 2016 election, Wisconsin turned blue again for Joe Biden in the 2020 contest. Biden won the Midwest state by roughly 20,000 votes.
Last month, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected taking up Trump's case in Wisconsin—officially marking an end to four months of election-related litigation.
The suit alleged election officials in Wisconsin failed to abide by the rules for the election set forth by the legislature and therefore invalidated thousands of ballots. Trump's team asked the court to allow the Republican-controlled state legislature to determine a remedy.
Trump and his Republican allies filed dozens of legal challenges to election results in key swing states such as Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin—all of which were won by Biden.
Despite the losses in court and a declaration from his own Justice Department that there was no widespread voter fraud or irregularities, Trump has continued to make baseless allegations that the race was stolen since leaving office on January 20.
In his first major post-presidency appearance, headlining the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, Trump again revived the narrative.
"This election was rigged," Trump said.
In a reference to the Supreme Court's refusal to take up his election cases, the former president added: "They didn't have the guts or the courage to make the right decision."
Newsweek reached out to the Office of the Former President for comment on the motion filed by Evers but did not receive a response before publication.
About the writer
Alexandra Hutzler is currently a staff writer on Newsweek's politics team. Prior to joining Newsweek in summer 2018, she was ... Read more