Wisconsin GOPer Facing Voter Fraud Charges Claims Amnesia
Well this is a unique defense.
A Scott Walker supporter facing multiple charges of election fraud is claiming amnesia as a defense:
A supporter of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has been charged with over a dozen counts of election fraud — though he reportedly claims a form of temporary amnesia has left him unable to recall his actions.at bestn Milwaukee County court on Friday, Robert Monroe, 50, of Shorewood, Wis., was charged with 13 felony counts of election fraud, each of which could carry up to three and a half years in prison, or a $10,000 fine, upon conviction. Monroe is accused of registering to vote in more than one place, voting where he didn’t live, voting more than once in the same election, and providing false information to election officials.
The indictment said that Monroe, a health insurance executive, “became especially focused upon political issues and causes” in 2011 and 2012, and was particularly invested in the recall elections that followed the state’s fight over public employees’ collective bargaining rights. Monroe allegedly cast at least two ballots in three elections (an April 2011 Supreme Court election, an August 2011 state Senate recall election, and the 2012 presidential election) and cast five ballots in the state’s June 2012 gubernatorial recall.
Monroe’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment from TPM on Tuesday.
According to WisPolitics.com’s Marie Rohde, who first reported about the Monroe indictment on Saturday, investigative documents that were recently released indicate Monroe was a supporter of both Walker and state Sen. Alberta Darling (R). (Wisconsin campaign finance records show that Monroe has given small amounts of money to Walker and Darling’s campaign efforts in recent years.) Rohde also reported that when Monroe was confronted by investigators, he “claimed to have a form of temporary amnesia and did not recall the election day events.”
According to the indictment, Monroe voted five separate times in the 2012 recall election that sought to unseat Governor Walker:
• On May 23, Monroe allegedly cast an in-person absentee ballot in Milwaukee using his mother’s old Milwaukee address.
• On May 31, the Shorewood Clerk’s Office received an absentee ballot in Benjamin Monroe’s name — which Benjamin later denied filling out. (Investigators said they later found Robert Monroe’s DNA on the absentee envelope.)
• On June 2, the Shorewood Clerk’s Office received an absentee ballot in the name of Grant Mueller, the son of Robert Monroe’s girlfriend — which Mueller later denied filling out. (Investigators said they later found Robert Monroe’s DNA on the absentee envelope.)
• On June 5, election day, Robert Monroe voted under his own name in Shorewood.
• The same day, Monroe voted under his own name in Milwaukee.
There’s plenty to be bemused about here, not the least of them being the fact that one of the most blatant cases of voter fraud that we’ve actually seen in some time was committed by a member of the party that is claiming that voter fraud is a serious problem that aids the opposition in elections. In reality, of course, voter fraud such as this is at best something that happens anecdotally and, at least in modern times, not on a scale that actually has the ability the influence the outcome of elections in the manner some conservatives claim. When it is found as it apparently has been in this case, it should be prosecuted obviously, but the claim that it is a widespread problem simply isn’t supported by the facts.
Monroe’s defense of amnesia, meanwhile, is creative to put it mildly and doesn’t strike me as something that is going to be taken seriously by any Court. It does, however remind me of an old Steve Martin routine:
What could possibly go wrong?
Did he have a letter from his doctor? That’ll get you out of anything.
Get Timothy Ray Murray on the case, obviously this is not Robert Monroe but a Pod Person created by the President to ruin the Republican brand.
I see that Republicans are so desperate to prove that voter fraud is real that they’re actually going out and committing it themselves….
Once his temporary amnesia is over I’m pretty sure he’ll shift the blame to ‘Obamacare.’
@al-Ameda: He’s qualified to run for governor of Florida.
Yeah, yeah, that’s it, that’s it! And it was also all the fault of my wife — Morgan Fairchild!
amateur, there’s way better ways to do this- he should have pretended to be a democrat and got on the bus!
@bill:
Amateur, there’s a better wing nut response – you should have said false flag.
Actually, I find his defense very reasonable. I’ve spent the last six years trying to forget I voted for Obama in 2008.
Are zombies involved? I am pretty sure that Obama is working with zombies to deprive patriotic Americans of their freedoms.
Finally! We caught one case of in person voter fraud, which, from what I can tell, was not caught because of voter IDs.
Clearly my concerns about the social good of disenfranchising thousands of people were unfounded.
My apologies to all Republicans.
I’m waiting for his defense attorney to show the jury the film Memento.
@edmondo: I know! Just think, your vote could have gone to Gary Johnson or Bob Barr!