Candidate for Attorney General Josh Kaul says investigation is "yet another waste of our tax dollars by our current AG".

MADISON, WI - In response to Brad Schimel’s announcement that he will conduct an expanded investigation into the activities of the Government Accountability Board, former federal prosecutor and candidate for Attorney General Josh Kaul made the following statement:

“Brad Schimel’s decision to take ‘a more expansive look’ into the activities of the GAB is yet another waste of our tax dollars by our current AG. At a time when we face real challenges—when we have an opioid epidemic to fight; rape-kit, DNA, and toxicology backlogs to eliminate; and a shortage of prosecutors—investigating an agency that no longer exists based on Schimel’s deeply flawed, transparently politicized report on the John Doe leak is not justifiable.”

Several articles have documented errors or misleading statements in Schimel’s report, and the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Wisconsin Ethics Commission wrote that the “report contains omissions and inaccuracies.”[1] Kaul has pointed out that, “[a]fter a nearly year-long investigation, the one person who we know released information that should have remained confidential is—Brad Schimel.” And the judge who authorized the release of the confidential information in the report on the John Doe leak said that, “if he faced charges related to the release of the ethics investigation details, ‘[he] would have to plead guilty.’”[2]

Kaul also spoke out against the calls for the administrators of the ethics and elections commissions to resign. He said, “Trying to end the careers of hard-working, nonpartisan public servants based on claims of guilt by association is just plain wrong. And what makes this even worse is that it was motivated by Brad Schimel’s error-ridden report.”

Kaul served as a federal prosecutor in Baltimore, one of America’s most violent cities. There, Kaul prosecuted murderers, gang members, and drug traffickers, taking dangerous criminals off the street and making communities more secure. He grew up in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac in a family of law enforcement professionals and teachers. He is running for Attorney General in 2018.

For more information on Josh Kaul, please visit www.joshkaul.org.

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[1]Patrick Marley & Jason Stein, “Attorney general says he will fix error in court filing about Journal Sentinel reporter,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 7, 2017;

Matthew DeFour & Mark Sommerhauser, “Ethics Commission: John Doe leak report requires ‘significant factual clarifications,’” Wisconsin State Journal, Dec. 9, 2017;

Patrick Marley, “Dem and GOP ethics regulators clash with Attorney General Brad Schimel over John Doe report,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 12, 2017;

Matthew DeFour, “Ethics, Elections commissions respond to Attorney General report on John Doe leak,” Wisconsin State Journal, Dec. 13, 2017;

Matthew DeFour, “DOJ report reveals previously unknown ethics investigation, now closed,” Wisconsin State Journal, Dec. 17, 2017;

Bruce Murphy, “17 Biggest Mistakes by Brad Schimel,” Urban Milwaukee, Dec. 19, 2017.

[2] Matthew DeFour, “Judge acknowledges he shouldn’t have authorized release of ethics probe details,” Wisconsin State Journal, Dec. 19, 2017.