[Appleton, WI] – The Republican Party of Wisconsin filed two separate lawsuits against Tony Evers, his administration, and the City of Milwaukee related to failures to respond to separate open records requests. The RPW filings come on the heels of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filing a lawsuit Monday on behalf of Wisconsin Right Now, against Evers’ administration for failing to comply with open records requests.
The first RPW lawsuit requests a Waukesha County court judge to compel the Evers administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs to release information related to the treatment and care of veterans at the veteran’s home at Union Grove. RPW has been requesting records from Evers, his Chief of staff Maggie Gau and administrators at Union Grove since June. Congressman Bryan Steil began sounding the alarm in 2020 about treatment of veterans at Union Grove.
The second RPW lawsuit is related to the lack of response from Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s office related to the “Milwaukee Votes 2022” initiative. RPW requested communications between the mayor, Milwaukee Elections Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg and GPS Impact, a communications firm that works to elect Democrats “in red states”.
In May and September Mayor Johnson noted the city would be working to get more eligible voters to turn out in November. However, Johnson also alluded to city resources like the city website being used to push the partisan effort. Johnson also seemed to indicate city staff could also be participating in the effort with GPS Impact, which is illegal.
RPW requested the records nearly two weeks ago and have not yet received any. Timing related to the request is critical because absentee ballots are already being mailed to voters in Milwaukee, and courts have indicated less willingness to intervene closer to an election.
“Democrats in the Evers administration and in the City of Milwaukee are withholding crucial information that the public has every right to see and they’re doing it for political gain with just weeks before the election,” said RPW Executive Director Mark Jefferson. “Between hiding what is happening to our veterans, hiding potential communications with Democrat organizations and hiding what violent criminals Tony Evers and his parole board are releasing into our communities in 2022, it is clear Democrats don’t want voters to know what is happening behind closed doors.”
The lawsuit filed by WILL on behalf of Wisconsin Right Now in Washington County, alleges the Evers administration and his parole board have not responded to repeated requests for the list of parolees that have been let out of Wisconsin prisons in 2022. Wisconsin Right Now has been featuring stories about the dangerous criminals that have been released back into our neighborhoods.
