- 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
Robert F. Spindell Jr. is a Wisconsin Elections Commission member (since 2019) who was one of 10 Wisconsin fake electors who participated in the scheme to overturn the 2020 election results.
The Case
Spindell 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 Spindell had no federal convictions.
Spindell was one of 10 Wisconsin fake electors who signed official-looking documents falsely declaring Trump the winner of Wisconsin, despite Biden's narrow victory in the state. In December 2020, he and nine other Wisconsin Republicans signed false electoral documents as part of a broader scheme in which Republican-backed electors would submit alternate slates to the Electoral College in swing states Trump had lost. In 2023, he and the other electors settled a civil lawsuit, admitting their actions were "part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results" and agreeing never to serve as electors again. He continued serving on the Wisconsin Elections Commission and refused to recuse himself from the Commission's decision not to investigate the wrongdoing—a Wisconsin circuit court later ruled this violated due process rights. Wisconsin's criminal investigation into the fake elector scheme remains ongoing, with state-level charges potentially continuing.
The Pardon
On November 9, 2025, President Trump granted Robert F. Spindell Jr. 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.