Top Wisconsin Republican using thousands in taxpayer money to investigate 2020 election: report

Two retired police officers hired by Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) to investigate the state’s 2020 vote count are being paid thousands of dollars in taxpayer money.

The Associated Press reported details of the contracts on Thursday, citing documents it obtained. News of the hires was first announced last month.

The contracts show that the investigators hired so far, Mike Sandvick and Steve Page, are each being paid $3,200 per month over three months, or about $9,600 total, to look into “potential irregularities and/or illegalities” in last year’s presidential election, the AP reported.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had reported in May that the state’s top Republican would be hiring retired police officers to look into specific areas of the 2020 election. The AP reports that Vos plans on hiring a third investigator and an attorney to handle the investigation.

The move to investigate the election results follows similar efforts in other states across the country and as former President Trump’s repeats false claims that widespread voter fraud cost him the November election.

According to the AP, only 27 cases of voter fraud out of over 3 million ballots cast were identified by election officials in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Elections Commission chair Ann Jacobs (D) last month criticized the move to examine the election results, noting they had already been investigated.

“I think it’s unfortunate that the Legislature is using its resources to investigate what has already been thoroughly investigated and it is my hope that instead they could work toward expanding opportunities and ease of voting for Wisconsin voters,” Jacobs told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in May.

The Hill has reached out to Vos’s office for comment.