Waukesha County DA won't pursue charges against Rep. Janel Brandtjen in alleged fundraising scheme
MADISON – A local prosecutor is declining to pursue charges against a state lawmaker accused of being involved in a scheme to evade campaign finance laws surrounding an effort to unseat one of the most powerful Republicans in Wisconsin, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper said Friday she would not be filing felony charges recommended by the bipartisan Wisconsin Ethics Commission but noted her decision did not "clear" state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls.
“I am simply concluding that I cannot prove charges against her. While the intercepted communications, suchas audio recordings may be compelling in the court of public opinion, they are not in a court of law," Opper said in a statement. "This decision does not clear Rep. Brandtjen of any wrongdoing, there is just not enough evidence to move forward to let a fact finder decide."
The state Ethics Commission alleges former President Donald Trump's Save America political action committee, Brandtjen, county Republican party officials and the campaign committee of Adam Steen, who ran against Vos in 2022, conspired to avoid state fundraising limits for Steen's bid to replace Vos.
The alleged scheme to flood donations to Steen's campaign materialized as Trump and Brandtjen pressured Vos to take illegal and impractical steps to decertify the 2020 election when President Joe Biden defeated Trump by about 20,000 votes.
In a release announcing her decision, Opper noted the ethics commission "was able to authorize an investigation based on reasonable suspicion and then probable cause" to refer charges to her office.
"These burdens are substantially lower than proof beyond a reasonable doubt which is necessary for a criminal conviction," Opper wrote, adding that the commission could also pursue a civil violation.
Opper is the latest prosecutor to decline to pursue charges, with three others citing personal conflicts with the matter at issue because of ties to their local Republican parties.
The commission, made up of three Republicans and three Democrats, in February referred the alleged violations to several county prosecutors. Commissioners noted if the prosecutors do not initiate charges within 60 days, the panel will take the referrals to another district attorney or the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
The recommended charges stem from a scheme allegedly orchestrated by Steen and a handful of county Republican parties to funnel donations to Steen's campaign above the individual limit of $1,000 to the county party instead. County parties may give candidates unlimited amounts of donations under state law.
"Friends of Adam Steen advised people that wanted to give more than allowed under Wisconsin’s contribution limits to send it to the Langlade County Republican Party with '63' in the memo line of the check," referring to the Vos' district number, commissioners wrote in their orders.
In August 2022, Steen and his campaign workers arranged for Trump's Save America PAC to donate $5,000 to be sent to the Chippewa County Republican Party and then transferred to Steen's campaign, the commission alleges.
The commission alleges Brandtjen was one of several people providing advice to Steen's campaign, discussed the scheme with Steen and played a role in facilitating donations from Trump's PAC to the GOP parties in Chippewa, Florence and Langlade counties.
"There was at least one recorded conversation where she was discussing getting money from Save America (PAC) to a county party," the commissioners wrote in the order. Brandtjen also donated $3,000 to the Langlade County GOP ahead of the primary.
"As a representative to the Assembly since 2014, Representative Brandtjen was well aware that she could not give more than $1,000 to Friends of Adam Steen," commissioners said. "It is also clear that she was supporting Mr. Adam Steen and was aware of the arrangement between Friends of Adam Steen and the Republican Party of Langlade County."
Just days before the 2022 Republican primary during which Vos defeated Steen by fewer than 300 votes, Trump held a rally in Waukesha County during which he leveled condemnation at Vos and revealed to the crowd that the former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, hired by Vos to review the 2020 election, had endorsed Steen in the primary. Brandtjen also spoke at the rally.
Molly Beck can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha DA declines to pursue charges against Rep. Janel Brandtjen
