MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican-backed candidate in Wisconsin's pivotal state Supreme Court race said Monday that he thinks anyone convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers should serve their entire sentence, but he also didn't object to President Donald Trump using his power to pardon.
Trump has received bipartisan criticism for granting clemency last week to about 1,500 rioters who were convicted of crimes related to Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Presidents have the power to pardon,” said Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County judge and former Republican attorney general on a press conference call. “President Biden has issued pardons. President Trump has now issued pardons as he’s come in and presidents over history have done that. It’s a power they have. I don’t object to them utilizing that power.”
Schimel made that comment when asked about Trump's pardons of those convicted in connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. In a follow up statement to The Associated Press, Schimel appeared to disagree with Trump's pardons of those who attacked police.
“Anyone convicted of assaulting law enforcement should serve their full sentence, attacking our men and women in uniform is never acceptable in our society," Schimel said. He stopped short of specifically saying Trump should not have pardoned those who attacked police.
Schimel faces Democratic-backed Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford in the April 1 election. The winner will determine whether the court remains under 4-3 liberal control or flips to a conservative majority.
Within hours of taking office last week, Trump issued a sweeping clemency order covering around 1,500 rioters for their role on the Capitol attack that attempted to block congressional certification of Joe Biden ’s 2020 election victory on Jan. 6, 2021.
Those pardons have generated pushback from some Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who was on the call with Schimel to announce his endorsement. Van Orden told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he did not support pardoning those who attacked police officers.
A former U.S. Capitol police officer who was there the day of the attack in 2021 was coming to Wisconsin on Tuesday to criticize Schimel for saying on conservative talk radio earlier this month that some Jan. 6 defendants did not get a “fair shot” in the courts.
Schimel is endorsed in the race by more than 70 sheriffs in Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Police Association and the Waukesha County Police Chiefs Association.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court race has garnered national attention, including a post on the social media platform X by Elon Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO who is a close ally of Trump. Musk referenced a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling from last year legalizing absentee ballot drop boxes and said, “Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!”
Schimel said the message caught him by surprise.
“I don’t know what’s in Elon Musk’s mind,” Schimel said. “I’ve never spoken with the world’s richest man. It was a surprise to me when he tweeted out something recognizing that I exist, so I don’t know where he’s coming from.”
Schimel made the comments during a news conference where he was endorsed by Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and the state’s six other Republican members of Congress. Crawford has been endorsed by the Wisconsin Democratic Party and many Democratic office-holders, including U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Johnson said Crawford represents the “radical left” and if she wins she will vote to overturn the state’s voter ID law and the Act 10 law passed in 2011 that effectively ended collective bargaining for most state workers. Crawford worked as an attorney on lawsuits challenging both of those laws.
Abortion rights is also a major issue in the race while the current court considers cases challenging the state's 1849 abortion ban.
There is no pending lawsuit challenging voter ID, but a question on the April 1 ballot would elevate the requirement from state law to the Wisconsin Constitution. Republicans say that will inoculate it from future legal challenges.
A Dane County judge in December found the Act 10 law to be unconstitutional but put the ruling on hold pending appeal. Teachers unions who filed the lawsuit have asked the state Supreme Court to take the case directly, bypassing the court of appeals.
Crawford's campaign, when asked whether she would recuse herself from cases involving those issues if they come before the court, did not commit either way.
“Judge Crawford always will look at every case that comes before her on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, examine the facts and questions presented, and make a determination as to whether it’s appropriate for her to sit on that case," her spokesperson, Derrick Honeyman, said.
