MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission is accusing the two highest-ranking Republicans in the Legislature of slander.
Elections Commission head Michael Haas sent a letter late Thursday to Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Speaker Robin Vos. In it, Haas says statements they've made that there was evidence he and other staff at the former Government Accountability Board were potentially committing crimes has "no factual or legal basis."
His letter came shortly after Fitzgerald joined with two other Republicans in voting to allow the attorney general to open a wide-scale investigation into former employees of the GAB related to their work on secret John Doe investigations.
Haas says they have been defaming and slandering his personal and professional reputation as well as that of other former GAB staff. He says, "I am requesting that you stop trashing my name and reputation."