New acting U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel told WisPolitics-State Affairs that Attorney General Pam Bondi had no alternative but to appoint someone to the position after the commission established by Wisconsin’s U.S. senators failed to agree on any candidates for the vacant post.
The former GOP AG said in the phone interview he hopes to persuade districts judges in the Eastern District to sign off on extending his appointment, which is for 120 days, after proving he’s in this “for the right reasons, for public service, that I’m not going to be a political bomb thrower, that I’m not interested in politics at all.”
Schimel told WisPolitics he originally applied for the post through the Federal Nominating Commission that U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, use to identify candidates for appointments such as U.S. attorney. But Schimel said he failed to get the required support from five of the six commissioners to be advanced to the White House for consideration.
Commission proceedings are typically private, and Schimel declined to say who told him he didn’t have enough support of the members to advance and the body failed to agree on anyone else. Schimel said he was told all three of Johnson’s appointments backed him as a candidate.
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Johnson in a statement yesterday confirmed the commission didn’t agree on any candidates for the Eastern District, as well as for the Western District, which is based in Madison.
“Luckily for Wisconsinites, Brad Schimel is a man of integrity and will serve Wisconsin well as our interim U.S. Attorney,” Johnson said. “I sincerely hope the District Court votes to make Brad’s appointment last for the length of President Trump’s term.”
Baldwin’s office shared with WisPolitics a letter the commission co-chairs sent Aug. 14 notifying the senators they were unable to recommend anyone from either U.S. attorney appointment.
Schimel, 60, was a local prosecutor before he was elected Waukesha County DA in 2007. He served in that role for eight years before serving a single term as attorney general. After losing his reelection bid as AG in 2018, then-Gov. Scott Walker, who also lost his reelection bid that fall, appointed Schimel to the Waukesha County Circuit Court. Schimel gave up that seat for a run at the state Supreme Court this spring, losing by 10.1 percentage points.
Baldwin on Monday accused Trump of blowing up the Federal Nominating Commission process and slammed Schimel’s appointment, pointing to his losses in 2018 and this spring as she said he had been “soundly rejected twice by Wisconsinites because they knew he would play politics with the law, not deliver justice fairly for everyone – and he has no business being a top prosecutor in Wisconsin.”
Schimel yesterday called Baldwin’s comments disappointing, saying his experience from the campaign trail is that the “general public would like to see less vitriol, and they would like us to play better in the sandbox.” Schimel argued he gave AG Josh Kaul “room to do his job without any ankle-biting coming from me” after his Dem rival won in 2018. He also said he accepted his loss to liberal Susan Crawford right away in the spring Supreme Court race while saying he hopes she succeeds.
“If you run for office, then you’re branded a failed politician and you can’t do public service in any other way?” Schimel said. “I don’t think that’s really what anyone intended.”
Schimel said a four-month appointment prevents him from getting too deep into any case work. Instead, he plans to take the coming months to advocate for the office financially, saying it is short-staffed currently and needs additional resources to avoid burning out high-performing staff. He also planned to work on building relationships with partners in law enforcement.
Schimel told WisPolitics he has ruled out a future run for public office.
“One of the things appealing about this position is I am out of politics,” Schimel said. “No more endorsing judges. No more going to anybody’s events. I’m out of that, and I’m going to enjoy that break.”
