A lawsuit filed against individuals who cast fraudulent electoral college votes for former President Donald Trump in the state of Wisconsin has been partially settled, with the defendants formally acknowledging their actions as part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The settlement, announced on Wednesday, addresses the ten Republicans who posed as electors and includes certain provisions for future elections involving Trump.

The false electors have agreed not to serve as presidential electors in any future elections featuring Trump, who is currently considered the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Additionally, they have pledged to cooperate with investigations into the deadly January 6th riots at the U.S. Capitol, which were alleged to be related to their actions.

The lawsuit, filed in May 2022, claimed that the Wisconsin Republicans who posed as electors contributed to the events that led to the January 6th riots. It named ten Republicans and two attorneys, with the settlement solely addressing the ten electors. Legal action against lawyers Jim Troupis and Kenneth Chesebro, who were involved in devising the GOP electors strategy for Trump, is still pending.

On December 14, 2020, the group of false electors gathered at the state Capitol in Madison to cast votes for Trump, while Democratic electors cast official electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden. In a joint public statement, the defendants now acknowledge that they were not lawful electors and that the document they signed on that day was improperly used to try and overturn the 2020 presidential election results. They support the affirmation that Joseph R. Biden, Jr. won the election and oppose any attempts to undermine the public's faith in the results.

The false electors had previously argued that they signed the document to maintain legal avenues as challenges to Wisconsin's electoral outcomes were being pursued in the courts. It is important to note that under the terms of the settlement, the defendants do not admit any liability or culpability.

The lawsuit was filed by law firms Law Forward and Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, as well as Georgetown University Law Center's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. Attorney Jeff Mandell, in a statement announcing the settlement, emphasized that the false electors violated fundamental principles of electoral democracy. He expressed the need for accountability and to prevent similar attempts to subvert democracy from happening again.

Wisconsin was not the only state where false electors were submitted in 2020, as other swing states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, and Pennsylvania saw similar actions taking place. Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro reportedly devised the strategy for a slate of "alternate electors" as a legal challenge to Trump's losses in key states. Chesebro has since pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy charges related to election interference in Georgia and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in Nevada and Arizona.

Although the Wisconsin Department of Justice has not publicly announced a criminal investigation into the false electors, a spokesperson stated that the agency believes those who committed crimes to unlawfully subvert the election outcome should be held accountable.

The settlement concludes the case against the ten Republicans who acted as false electors. Calls have been made for the resignation of certain individuals involved, including Bob Spindell, who serves on the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and attorney Jim Troupis, who worked to facilitate the plot. Advocacy groups have urged Spindell's removal from the commission and Troupis' resignation from Wisconsin's Judicial Conduct Advisory Committee.

The settlement is seen as an important step towards upholding the integrity of the 2020 presidential election results and ensuring accountability for those involved in attempting to subvert democratic processes.