Recording in progress.
All right? And we can't kick it off
when you're ready.
Great. Well, thank you, Hayley.
Thanks to the state party for
organizing this.
I am Josh Kaul.
I want to thank you all for for
joining us today.
And the reason that
I want to speak to folks today was
to respond to
some of the discussion that we've
seen recently in the
discourse regarding the state
Supreme Court race.
As a lot of you know, I ran against
Brad Schimmel in 2018
and defeated him.
When I was first elected attorney
general.
And there's been a lot of discussion
during the course of the current
state Supreme Court race about
some of the topics that were
discussed then, including Brad
Hamill's record as attorney general.
And in particular, his handling
of a backlog of thousands
of untested sexual assault kits.
I thought it was important, given
some of the comments that we have
seen. To set the record straight
on some of the issues that have been
discussed.
So first, I just want to highlight
that in 2018,
there was only one incumbent
attorney general in the country who
was defeated.
That was Brad Sham, and he was
defeated in part because he
had a failed record as
Wisconsin attorney general.
Now he's trying to rewrite that
history, and it's been several
years, so folks haven't seen
the headlines about Brad and most
failed record recently
like they had when the 2018 election
happened.
So I want to speak out and make sure
that we're setting the record
straight.
The reality is that, as Attorney
General Brad Sham will had an
abysmal record on issues that were
critical to Wisconsinites.
And yet, he was essentially on speed
dial for special interests.
Now, one of the issues that has come
up in this race and that came up in
the 2018 election, is
the backlog of untested sexual
assault kits.
I think it's important for folks to
know the context for this.
In 2014, JB
Van Hollen, when he was in his last
year as attorney general, his
administration did a survey
and they identified thousands of
previously untested sexual assault
kits.
Again, that was 2014.
So the next year, Brad Schimmel came
into office with this information
that there were thousands of
untested sexual assault kits.
And what the record shows is that
Brad Schimmel failed to respond with
urgency.
His administration tested just nine
of the thousands of backlog kits
in his first two years in office.
Now, Brad Schimmel has been spinning
this issue really since it occurred,
but he continues to spin it to this
day. But I want to highlight that
fact, because this is a fact that
Brad Schimmel does not and cannot
dispute.
In his first two years in office,
just nine of the thousands of
backlogged kits were tested.
And it's not that he couldn't have
tested those kits more quickly
in two other places, Portland
and the state of Nevada.
Those those locations received
grant funding right around the same
time as Wisconsin, and they tested
kits much more quickly
in those first few years.
And I encourage those reporters
who are on the line to go back to
the news articles from that time,
and you can see that Brad Schimmel
simply was not focused on the
details of this issue.
In early 2017, for example,
at one point, Schimmel said that a
few hundred kits had been tested,
but a couple of days later, his
administration had to acknowledge
that the number was not a couple
hundred. It was nine kids that
had been tested.
Brad Schimmel said that this was not
a backlog.
PolitiFact reviewed that claim,
and they rated that claim pants on
Fire, and they pointed to
a letter from Brad Schimmel himself
that had referred to this as a
backlog.
Then, in May of 2017,
Brad Schimmel was unable to verify
the number of tested, backlogged
kits that his office had given out.
His office had told the press that
63 kits had been tested,
and a reporter asked Schimmel about
the number that only 60 kits had
been tested, and she said he didn't
know where that number came from.
His office then tried to spin that,
saying that he was being very
precise and was confused
about 63 versus 60.
But it's part of a pattern that we
saw with Brad Schimmel of not even
knowing the details of this
significant issue.
At that point, more than two years
into his term as attorney general.
So when I got into the AG's race,
which was in April of 2017,
fewer than 100 of those thousands
of backlogged kids had been
tested.
Now, testing did finally start
picking up amid that campaign.
But even with the progress that was
finally made, Schimmel
claimed in 2018 that he had gotten
that mission accomplished because
the kits were finally tested.
But even then, he really
misunderstood why this work was so
important.
For one thing, while Schimmel had
said all the kids were tested,
he had not disclosed publicly that
there were about 300 kids
that remained to be tested.
I acknowledged that those were
different types of kids.
Those were kids in cases where there
were convictions.
But Schimmel didn't inform the
public that he was leaving behind
work to be done with 300 more kids
to be tested.
But far more importantly, the reason
for testing these kids wasn't just
to test them. It was so that follow
up could happen in the cases where
testing occurred.
So when Schimmel left office, there
were hundreds of cases left behind
to be reviewed.
Now, I'm proud that my
administration worked through those
cases, and we work to get
information to law enforcement where
appropriate.
But that's work that Brad Schimmel
left behind and wasn't completed
when he left office.
Richard Mille also didn't accomplish
any legislative to prevent
a future backlog of sexual assault
kits, and it's not because he didn't
have the opportunity.
There was a Republican legislative
majority and a Republican governor,
but Brad Schimmel didn't proposed
reforms to our sexual assault kit
laws until shortly before
the 2018 election.
So again, he left that work for us
to do. Now, fortunately, I
did advocate for changes in the law,
and Governor Evers was ultimately
able to sign those into law.
But again, on this issue, Brad
Schimmel didn't deliver
for the people of Wisconsin.
And it's not just sexual assault
kits where this issue has arisen.
Another great example is holding
pharmaceutical companies accountable
for their role in the opioid
epidemic.
Schimmel never filed suit against
Purdue Pharma, the company that
we've allege was largely responsible
for ushering in the opioid epidemic
within several months of my taking
office.
We had filed suit.
Bradshaw also didn't have Wisconsin
join the investigation into
opioid distributors.
Again, within several months of my
joining taking office, we
joined that investigation that
has now been resolved.
And there are hundreds of millions
of dollars coming to Wisconsin
because of the resolution with those
opioid distributors.
So, again, on that issue, Brad
Schmidt did not deliver for
Wisconsinites, but it's not because
he wasn't doing anything.
He was delivering for special
interests.
He created a Solicitor General's
office with taxpayer money.
Early on in his tenure, and that
office got the Wisconsin Department
of Justice involved in a variety
of highly Partizan litigation.
One of the cases that office got
involved in was a suit
that tried to take healthcare away
from millions of Americans and
eliminate protections for people
with a preexisting condition by
trying to end the Affordable Care
Act, a lawsuit that my
administration ultimately withdrew
from.
Brad Chin will also put out an
opinion that barred the DNR
from considering the cumulative
impacts of high capacity wells,
which was a great benefit to
corporate farms that wanted to use
water from those wells, but not the
other folks who wanted to use that
water.
My administration withdrew that
opinion. It ultimately went to the
state Supreme Court, and the state
Supreme Court ruled against the
position Schimmel had taken for two,
with Justice Ziegler in the
majority.
Likewise, Richard will put out an
opinion that prevented DSPs,
a state agency, from enforcing
a rule that required fire
sprinklers be installed on a number
of residences where there were four
or more different residences within
a building.
We withdrew that opinion, and it
hasn't even been challenged since
then. And when we were through that
opinion, fire chiefs, a handful
of fire chiefs in the state were
clear that that was going to help
save lives.
The Bradshaw Mill took the opposite
position.
Jim said he was proud that there was
a case called Planned Parenthood
versus Schimmel, and at one point he
went to Mar a Lago for a conference.
And another point, he went to a
fancy resort in California for a
conference with Alliance Defending
Freedom.
And so, as I said earlier,
Brad Schimmel had a poor record on
critical issues impacting
Wisconsinites.
But he was essentially on speed dial
for special interests.
I think those facts are critical for
Wisconsinites to know where the key
states Supreme Court election coming
up. First, we've seen Elon
Musk put huge amounts of money into
that campaign.
I, in support of Brad Kimmel's
candidacy, and I think it's vital
that Wisconsinites know about this
record and know how important it is
that we have a justice on the court
who is going to decide cases fairly
based on the facts and the law,
and not be somebody who has
consistently taken the side of
special interests and failed
to stand up for Wisconsinites where
we need it.
So with that, I'm happy to open up
to questions.
I see Todd's hand up, but I can't
hear him.
Josh, can you hear me?
Yep. Can now.
So there's a big difference
between being the AG and being
a Supreme Court justice.
Really? What is any
thing with with the sexual assault
case have to do with being a justice
on the Supreme Court?
Well, I think there are a couple of
things I would say, first of all,
Branch Amla has been spinning this
record, and I think one thing we
need from our justices is for people
to be straightforward with
Wisconsinites about the reality.
Now, Brad Schimmel has tried to
reframe his record of botching
these kids as somehow a
success story.
I think Wisconsinites want somebody
who's going to be candid with them
about where they've succeeded and
where they've failed.
But instead, Brad Schimmel is is
trying to spin his record.
The other thing is what what we
saw in, you know, we talked about
this in 2018, and I'm talking about
it today, is being
quick to stand up for special
interests, but failing to stand
up for the interests of Wisconsinites.
And justices will have cases
where they may make a decision that
might impact a special interest,
or they might impact the people of
Wisconsin.
We need people to make those
decisions based on the facts
and the law.
And, you know, take the high
capacity, well, opinion.
I mean, that's a time where the AG
is issuing an opinion that's meant
to reflect the state of the law,
according to four of the six
justices who weighed in on that
case, including Justice Ziegler,
Brad Schimmel got it wrong on that
issue. He took the side of the
special interests over the side
of protecting our water in
Wisconsin, and I think that's
relevant for folks.
I see these actions.
Can you hear me?
Yep.
But there's a discrepancy
in the numbers that we see a lot,
considering the backlog of 6800
kids in the backlog, 4100
that were tested.
I understand that that
2000 plus discrepancy, some of
those were cases that were already
adjudicated.
Some were found to be unverified.
How many of those remained
at all the way through up to current
date? That never did get tested.
And is that for certain?
They will never be tested, or is
there still a chance some of those
could go back to you, see if there
was a serial rapist or something
else involved beyond the scope of
that particular case?
Yeah. Zach, I want to speak to the
numbers, but I also want to make a
second point. So let me start with
the numbers.
As I mentioned, there were
over 6000 kits
that had gone untested in Wisconsin
that had accumulated in evidence
locker rooms and hospitals around
the state for for a number of years.
In 2014, JB Van Hollen
completed a survey
where he provided information about
that.
There was no further analysis done,
but but there were over 6000 kids.
Now, what Wisconsin DOJ did
was they tested only the kids,
where there was consent from the
survivor to test them.
They took a victim centric approach,
and I agree with that approach.
I think we should only be testing
kits when the survivor wants to test
them. That basic principle has
actually been now codified into
Wisconsin law, because under
current law, if a survivor doesn't
consent, the kids are stored at the
crime labs for a period of up to ten
years.
Now, if at some point the survivor
does consent to the testing of that
kit, they will be tested.
But this gives survivors control
over the process.
But I do think it's important to
emphasize that I know
that part of the spin that Brad
Schimmel has put into place is going
into the details on these numbers
and talking about which kids should
be tested and which ones shouldn't
be. Those are legitimate,
appropriate debates to have.
But the criticism about Brad's
record as AG with the testing the
kids is not about that issue at all.
It's about the fact that in over two
years, his administration
only tested nine of the
backlogged kits.
That's just inexcusable.
It is an abysmal record.
And again, at the same time, he was
prioritizing issues like developing
the Solicitor General's office
to engage in Partizan litigation.
On top.
Yeah. Josh,
piggybacking on Zach's question,
we almost got there, but we didn't
quite get there.
So there's six on 6800
in the backlog.
When Schimmel said you it was done.
It was Thousand 100.
And you say that there were several
hundred more that you found
untested when you came into office?
Is that correct? Because I know in
November 2019
you said it was done.
Yeah. So first of all,
yeah. So at time I remember you and
I spoke about that in 2019.
So here here's the deal.
And you can go on the website and
find this information.
But there were over 6000 kids
that were identified.
Now of those 4000
and some were cases where the
survivor had consented
to having the kids tested.
And so Schimmel, shortly before the
2018 election, announced that
testing had been completed on those
kids that were slated for testing.
The disparity between what Schimmel
said and what I then later said is
in cases where there were where it
was consent and there had not
been a crime solved,
those kids had been tested.
That is true.
But there were about 300 more kids
that the Schimmel administration had
agreed to test in cases
where there was a conviction,
but they hadn't yet tested those
kids. So we got that done
in my first year as AG.
Now there are still a number
of kids and cases where the
survivors did not consent to
testing.
Those kids have not been
set for testing, nor will they be
consistent with that principle I
mentioned, which is only testing
kits when the victim has consented.
Yeah, a quick follow up if you can
hear me.
Yep.
So how many charges, how many
cases have been charged
as a result of the testing
overall?
Yeah, I don't have a precise number
offhand. It's on it's on the
website.
But there are a handful of cases
that resulted in convictions.
And what I think is really notable
is the significance of some of those
convictions. So and one
of the cases, a person named Matthew
Brockett, was convicted
of offenses in Racine and Kenosha
County, including three separate
charges of, I believe, second degree
sexual assault.
He was sentenced then to 18
years in prison.
And this is somebody who was free,
who was on the street, who
had not been identified.
And it shows why it's so important
to test these kids and ideally
to test them a lot faster than they
were tested under Brad Schimmel, so
that perpetrators can be identified
and held accountable.
All right. And we have time for one
more question.
If anyone has one.
All right. Seeing none, I'll turn it
over to you. Attorney general, if
you have any closing thoughts?
No, I just want to say thank you to
everybody for joining us.
And thanks for this opportunity
to share some information about
this.
Take care.
Thanks.