- Net worth
- Unknown
- Crimes
- fake electors, obstruction, other
- Convicted of
- Preemptive pardon for potential federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election
- Original sentence
- N/A (preemptive pardon; no federal conviction)
- Time served
- N/A
Background
James Troupis is a lawyer who served as Trump's Wisconsin attorney in 2020 and was one of the architects of the false electors scheme alongside Kenneth Chesebro.
The Case
Troupis was never federally charged or convicted, but received a preemptive federal pardon from President Trump in November 2025 as part of a batch of 77 pardons for allies involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The pardon was described as "full, complete, and unconditional" but was largely symbolic since presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes and Troupis had no federal convictions.
Troupis and Chesebro designed a strategy in which Republican electors would submit fraudulent certificates claiming Trump won Wisconsin and other swing states, using Wisconsin as a testing ground. In December 2020, 10 Wisconsin Republicans gathered at the state Capitol and signed false electoral documents attesting to a Trump victory, despite Biden winning the state. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul charged Troupis with 21 felony counts, including uttering forged writings and fraud, each carrying up to six years in prison and $10,000 fines. A Dane County judge found probable cause for his trial to proceed. He previously settled a related civil lawsuit in 2024, agreeing not to create alternate elector slates again. The federal pardon does not affect his Wisconsin state charges, which remain pending.
The Pardon
On November 9, 2025, President Trump granted James Troupis a full pardon along with 76 other allies tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The pardon was issued preemptively, before any federal charges were filed. The proclamation covered conduct "relating to the advice, creation, organization, execution, submission, support, voting, activities, participation in, or advocacy for or of any slate or proposed slate of Presidential electors" in connection with the 2020 election.