Wisconsin GOP: ‘We are at war’ with Democrats, news media and federal government control

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Wisconsin Republicans said they are at war with Democrats, the mainstream news media and federal government control at a Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign event for Dan Kelly on Sunday in Mount Pleasant.

There has been a stark difference among the campaign events Democrats and Republicans have been holding across the Badger State in anticipation of April 4’s election.

On Saturday, former Attorney General Eric Holder, who was stumping for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz, made it clear why the election was so important, discussing collective bargaining, abortion, gerrymandering, voter’s rights and more.

On Sunday, several Wisconsin Republican officials from local, state and federal offices stumped for Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Dan Kelly.

At Sunday’s event, Wisconsin GOP party chair and former lobbyist Brian Schimming showed off his conceal and carry card. The next speaker, Andrew Docksey, another Racine GOP official, said Republicans are “at war” with Democrats, the news media and the federal government who “exert too much control.”

“We need volunteers to help us fight this war,” said a GOP official.

In his opening remarks, Republican Rep Brian Steil said, “And so the good news is we took away the speaker’s gavel from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”

Rep. Steil talked about his interview on FOX News discussing Trump’s indictment, arguing that the federal tax dollars used in the investigation should instead be used to keep the streets of New York safe.

However, in the wake of Trump’s indictment, more law enforcement have been called to the street in anticipation of protests creating a strain on resources.

“There are more police out there today because they are getting ready for the rivals of Trump,” said Johns Hopkins Political Science Professor Matthew Crenson during an interview with the Wisconsin Law Journal on Monday.

“Trump’s arrival has preoccupied a large amount of police resources. This may reduce police protection in other areas of New York, so perhaps it’s Trump who is contributing to decline in safety in our streets,” Crenson added.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office said in a written response to Congress that “… as you are no doubt aware, former President Trump has directed harsh invective against District Attorney Bragg and threatened on social media that his arrest or indictment in New York may unleash ‘death & destruction.’”

Additionally, District Attorney Bragg’s office has spoken up against Republican congressional interference with a local prosecution. In the past, Republicans have complained about federal government interference with local matters.

“Congress has no warrant for interfering with individual criminal investigations,” The Manhattan District Attorney’s said in the written statement provided to the Wisconsin Law Journal.

The statement also made clear that Manhattan District Attorney’s office only uses limited federal funds to “effectively fight crime and help victims.” In the case of Trump’s prosecution, only around $5,000 in federal money was used, according to the district attorney’s statement.

“Our review of the Office’s records reflect that, of the federal forfeiture money that the Office helped collect, approximately $5,000 was spent on expenses incurred relating to the investigation of Donald J. Trump or the Trump Organization,” the statement said.

Rep. Steil said Democrats want to radicalize the judicial system and are not interested in equal treatment under the law.

“If you look back at DA Bragg what you will see it’s the far left radical people that support the man and you’ll look see it’s the same cast of characters that are pouring money into the state of Wisconsin in what the far left wants to do. They want to radicalize the judicial system to implement their goals and objectives,” Steil said.

In response, a Protasiewicz campaign spokesperson said, “We know what kind of justice Dan Kelly will be, because we’ve already seen it. Instead of following the law, he brought corruption and extremism to the bench, ruling in favor of his special interests friends in case after case. This is a someone who even un-recused himself after receiving $20,000 in campaign contributions from a litigant and his family. Dan Kelly will manipulate the law and the court to fit his own political agenda. Judge Janet Protasiewicz is the only candidate who has spent three decades upholding our laws and following the constitution, and she’s the best choice to bring fairness and impartiality back to the court.”

A Wisconsin Law Journal investigation also revealed that a significant amount of out-of-state money has been added to Kelly’s campaign war chest, including $20,000 from Northern Virginia attorney Leonard Leo, who served as past vice president of the Federalist Society and was instrumental in the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Additionally, Steil said that Republican’s core objectives are to treat everyone equally. However, the Republican-controlled state Legislature has Wisconsin ranked as one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation.

Republicans took issue with a comment allegedly made by Protasiewicz that if elected to the state Supreme Court she would be open to reviewing gerrymandered maps to determine if they were fair and balanced.

“Janet Protasiewicz admitted she wanted to get another look at the maps. … That’s why I was saying to the media the more Janet Protasiewicz talks, the better it is, because she keeps talking about what she is going to do unethically,” said Schimming, the Wisconsin GOP chair.

He said that it would unethical for the Supreme Court to review the legality of gerrymandered maps. Those maps were created by former Gov. Scott Walker and implemented in 2011. Kelly defended the maps when the Republican party was his client.

However, the Wisconsin Supreme Court could be faced with deciding if a lower court erred in a prior ruling pertaining to legislative maps.

At the Kelly campaign event in Mount Pleasant on Sunday, the topics of abortion, voter rights, education, the environment, gerrymandering, the environment were not discussed much, a stark contrast to Protasiewicz’s event Saturday.

Instead on Sunday, Republican elected officials continued their attacks against the media, Democrats and the federal government.

As Kelly took the stage on Sunday and began discussing how his opponent would take away liberties, at the same time Wisconsin Republicans began to censor the press. Andrew Docksey, a Racine Republican Party executive board member told the Wisconsin Law Journal that photography and videography were no longer allowed, despite several others in the room taking pictures and recording video.

After the Wisconsin Law Journal ceased taking photos and video Docksey  then told the Wisconsin Law Journal to stop sending text messages and “stop taking notes,” as this was not permissible during the public event.

In contrast to Saturday’s event for the Wisconsin Democrats attended by Holder, the media was allowed to record video, take photographs send text messages, and take notes without issue.

At the Democrats event Saturday, voter rights and voter suppression were key topics of discussion.

“Wisconsin is probably the most gerrymandered state in the country,” Holder said, noting that Democrats only have about 35% of the Wisconsin Legislature, which Holder said is a direct result of the gerrymandering political lines that were redrawn in 2011 under Walker and defended by Kelly.

In the last 20 minutes of Sunday’s GOP event, Kelly took his opponent to task on many of her views.

“And there Protasiewicz was asked about the scales of justice. You’ve probably heard about that before, right?”

Kelly added that Protasiewicz will be making decisions for the people because “she doesn’t trust you.”

Meanwhile, Holder said during Saturday’s event, “People around the country looked to Wisconsin for how democracy should be perfected. And now, people are looking at Wisconsin yet again, to see how democracy can be saved.”