MADISON, Wis. — Today, Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and board member of Democracy Defenders Action, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker, candidate for Wisconsin Treasurer Yee Leng Xiong, and Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan held a press conference to discuss the importance of fighting back against the Trump administration’s corruption and illegal use of taxpayer dollars during a time in which people are struggling to afford basic needs. The Trump administration has already spent $20 million airing partisan political ads across the country, including in Wisconsin.
Last week, Democracy Defenders Action and Hecker Fink LLP filed a lawsuit on Friday against the Trump administration on behalf of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and candidate for Wisconsin Treasurer, Yee Leng Xiong, challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful use of taxpayer dollars for partisan political advertisements.
Watch the press conference hereand see what speakers had to say, in part, below:
Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.):
“There’s a variety of laws that are being transgressed here. We felt it was very important because while elections can be national affairs, they’re administered at the state and local [level]. So we felt it was very important, even though other litigation was going on, to have a state party that was speaking out, to have a state candidate that was speaking out, and that’s how the defendants in this case answered the call of the Constitution and the rule of law to fight corruption.”
Candidate for Wisconsin Treasurer Yee Leng Xiong:
“Across Wisconsin, Wisconsinites are telling me that they’re worried about how they’re going to pay next month’s rent or putting food on the table. Healthcare and life-saving prescriptions and groceries are costing way too much. The irresponsible war in the Middle East is driving gas and diesel prices even higher. Families need relief, not political ads during a Brewers game paid for with their own money. That’s an insult to the people that Wisconsin leaders and leaders across the country here are supposed to serve. Public money should work for the public. It should help build safer roads, stronger schools, lower property tax, and more opportunities to earn a good living, not advance the political interests of those in power.”
Rep. Mark Pocan:
“[The corruption] also goes to the very members of the Wisconsin delegation that are rubber-stamps for Donald Trump on a regular basis. That they allow him to continue to do this corruption. But it’s also the corruption that we see at the congressional level.”
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker:
“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has never backed down. Whether it was the richest man in the world trying to buy an election, whether it was the three billionaires that are trying to top him this time by pouring tens of millions of dollars into Tom Tiffany’s account, we have to make sure that we call out what we are seeing.”
