STATE OF WISCONSIN IN SUPREME COURT IN THE MATTER OF DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST MICHAEL J. GABLEMAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW. CASE CODE 30912 OFFICE OF LAWYER REGULATION, CASE NO. 2024AP Complainant; MICHAEL J. GABLEMAN, Respondent. COMPLAINT NOW COMES the Supreme Court of Wisconsin - Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) by Retained Counsel, Donald K. Schott, and alleges as follows: 1. The OLR was established by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin and operates pursuant to Supreme Court rules. This Complaint is filed pursuant to SCR 22.11. 2 Michael J. Gableman (Gableman) was admitted to the practice of law in Wisconsin on November 23, 1994, State Bar No. 1024325. The most recent address furnished by Gableman to the State Bar of Wisconsin is P.O. Box 510145, New Berlin, WI 53151-0145. 3 Gableman has no previous disciplinary history with OLR. Overview Of The Complaint 4 In June 2021, the Wisconsin State Assembly (Assembly), through Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (Vos), retained Gableman toassist the Assembly’s Committee on Campaigns and Elections in conducting an investigation of election administration in Wisconsin. Gableman remained in that position until he was fired by Vos in August 2022. 5. During the course of his representation of the Wisconsin Assembly, Gableman violated several of the Court’s Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys. 6. Gableman violated SCR 20:3.3(a)(1) and SCR 20:3.3(d) (Candor toward the tribunal), and SCR 20:8.4(c) (Misconduct) when he filed petitions seeking writs of attachment against the mayors of Green Bay and Madison. These petitions contained false statements and failed to inform the tribunal of material facts known to Gableman that would enable the tribunal to make an informed decision. These violations are described in Counts 1 and 2 of the Complaint. 7. Gableman violated SCR 20:4.1(a) (Truthfulness in statements to others), SCR 20:4.4(a) (Respect for rights of 3rd persons) and SCR 20:8.4(c) (Misconduct) when, during his public testimony to an Assembly committee, he made false statements about the responses of the Mayors of Madison and Green Bay to subpoenas issued to them. These violations are described in Count 3 of the Complaint. 8. Gableman violated SCR 20:3.4(c) (Fairness to opposing party and counsel), SCR 20:3.5(d) (Impartiality and decorum of 2tribunal), SCR 20:8.4(g) (Misconduct) and SCR 40:15 (Attorney’s oath) when he deliberately disobeyed an order of the court and engaged in disruptive behavior at a court hearing on June 10, 2021. These violations are described in Count 4 of the Complaint. 9. Gableman violated SCR 20:8.2(a) (Judicial and legal officials), SCR 20 -4(g) (Misconduct) and SCR 40:15 (Attorney's oath) when he made statements about the integrity of a judge when he knew those statements to be false or acted in reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity of the statements. These violations are described in Count 5 of the Complaint. 10. Gableman violated SCR 20:8.4(g) (Misconduct) and SCR 40:15 (Attorney's oath) when he made false, derogatory and demeaning public statements about opposing counsel. This violation is described in Count 6 of the Complaint. 11. Gableman violated SCR 20:1.1 (Competence) when he, in his capacity as Custodian of Records for the Office of Special Counsel, committed several violations of Wisconsin’s Open Records Law and Records Retention Law. This violation is described in Count 7 of the Complaint. 12. Gableman violated SCR 20:1.2(a) (Scope of representation and allocation of authority between lawyer and client) and SCR 20:1.7(a) (2) (Conflicts of interest current clients) when he accepted the representation with the undisclosed intent to pursue personal interests and objectives in the investigation and to 3enlist public pressure to force Vos to expand the objectives, expense and time frame of the investigation, and then proceeded to do exactly that. These violations are described in Count 8 of the Complaint. 13. Gableman violated SCR 20:1.6 (Confidentiality) and SCR 20:1.9(c) (2) (Duties to former clients) when he appeared as a guest on video programs promoting an effort to recall Vos from his Assembly seat and revealed information about the representation. These violations are described in Count 9 of the Complaint. 14. Gableman violated SCR 20:8.4(h) (Misconduct) and SCR 22:03(6) (Investigation) when he, in response to OLR’s investigation of one of the grievances against him, submitted to OLR an affidavit falsely stating that during his representation of the Assembly (1) his duties did not include giving legal advice, (2) he did not represent the Assembly in court and (3) none of the parties involved considered that his appointment as Special Counsel established an attorney-client relationship. These violations are described in Count 10 of the Complaint. Regarding All Counts Gableman/Consultare 15. Consultare LLC (Consultare) is a Wisconsin limited liability corporation Gableman formed in 2019. 16. Gableman is the sole member and president ofConsultare. ? Creation of the Attorney-Client Relationship 17. After the 2020 Wisconsin General Election, public questions arose regarding the manner in which the state’s election was administered by the WEC and local election officials. There were also allegations of fraud and questions about the legitimacy of President Joseph Biden’s victory. 18. In March 2021, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed Resolution 15, directing the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections to “investigate the administration of elections in Wisconsin, focusing in particular on elections conducted after January 1, 2019.” 19. On May 28, 2021, the Committee on Assembly Organization passed a resolution authorizing Vos “to hire legal counsel and hire investigators to assist the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections in investigating the administration of elections in Wisconsin”. 20. In June 2021, Vos contacted Gableman to determine his interest in serving as legal counsel to assist the Assembly Committee in its investigation. 21. At that time, Gableman was not employed as an attorney. " OLR’s investigation revealed that, before accepting the representations, Gableman failed to file the annual registration and pay the filing fee required of lawyers or law firms organized as limited liability organizations. See SCR 20:5.702)().22. Gableman had previously worked as a state and federal employee. He had also served as a Wisconsin assistant district attorney, a Wisconsin district attorney, a Wisconsin circuit court judge, and a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice. 23. Gableman had also previously worked as an adjunct professor of law at the Hamline University School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, teaching professional responsibility. 24, Gableman had, by his own admission, no employment experience in private practice. 25. Gableman had, by his own admission, no understanding of how Wisconsin elections worked. 26. On June 25, 2021, Vos (on behalf of the Wisconsin Assembly) and Gableman (on behalf of Consultare) signed the Coordinating Attorney Independent Contractor = Agreement (Coordinating Attorney Agreement). The Coordinating Attorney Agreement retained Gableman/Consultare to serve as coordinating attorney to assist the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections. 27. The Coordinating Attorney Agreement specified the services Gableman would render, including: (1) coordinating the day to day investigative work relating to potential irregularities and/or illegalities connected to the 2020 November election in Wisconsin; (2) analyzing and delegating to investigators leads and allegations; (3) keeping a weekly report of investigative findings: 6(4) compiling all investigator and attorney reports into a final report related to the election investigation; and (5) submitting that report to Vos. 28. The Coordinating Attorney Agreement became effective July 1, 2021, continuing until October 31, 2021 29. Under the Coordinating Attorney Agreement, Gableman would receive a fee of $11,000 a month for each of the four months covered by the Agreement. 30. Under the Coordinating Attorney Agreement, Gableman was responsible for paying for equipment, supplies, mileage, hotel stays and other expenses required to perform the services set forth in the Agreement. 31. On August 20, 2021, the parties to the Coordinating Attorney Agreement prepared a First Amendment to the Agreement (first Amendment). This Amendment “approve(d] and provide[d additional resources ... in order for Gableman to perform the Services required under the IC Agreement [.]” 32. The First Amendment also “confirm[ed] that Gableman shall act as the Custodian of Records with regard to the investigation that is the subject of the IC Agreement.” 33. The First Amendment also established “[t]he Office of the Special Counsel (the Office) for the investigation .. [and provided that] Michael J. Gableman, as Special Counsel, shall control such Office...”