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WI-Sen: RoJo The Snowflake Gets His Fee-Fees Hurt By Biden's U.S. Attorney Nominee [1]

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Date: 2022-07-20

Sen. Ron Johnson (R. Wi)

He’s just too fucking fragile:

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) announced on Tuesday that he will not support President Biden’s nominee to be a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin over tweets she posted that Johnson said show she is a “political partisan.” Johnson said he would not support Sopen Shah, Biden’s choice to become U.S. attorney for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, as a result of now-deleted tweets in which Shah commented on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, and voiced criticism of Johnson. “The reason we have a two-tiered system is because our justice system is increasingly populated with political partisans who are incapable of administering justice equally,” Johnson said. “Through tweets that she has now deleted, Ms. Sopen Shah demonstrated she would be yet another political partisan within our justice system. As a result, I will not support her nomination.” Shah tweeted on the day of the insurrection “THIS IS TERRORISM” in response to reports of someone being shot inside the Capitol, according to an archive of her post. She tweeted the next day that Wisconsin “will teach [Johnson] a thing or two about accountability in 2022” after Johnson said those who objected to the 2020 presidential election results and Trump did not bear responsibility for the attack, according to another archive. Another tweet from February of 2021 shows Shah saying she is confident that Johnson “does not know how law works.”

Oh boo fucking hoo. To quote Jack Nicholson from A Few Good Men, “You can’t handle the truth!”

Anyone wondering whether the still-emerging findings of the January 6 committee will impact the 2022 midterms should look no further than Wisconsin’s Senate race. Increasingly, Senator Ron Johnson, the Republican incumbent, is struggling to explain recent revelations from the congressional panel about how he almost received two slates of fake electors that his chief of staff tried to deliver to then–Vice President Mike Pence. Johnson’s movements that day and new questions about him in relation to the larger insurrection have mostly been overshadowed by other January 6–related news. But questions about the senator are no less important and have spilled over into the Senate race—one that Democrats see as their best chance to knock off a GOP incumbent in a Senate they’re desperate to hold. The latest development came late Friday night, when Politico revealed the name of the Republican operative who tried to pass the slates of electors to Johnson. That previously unknown operative, Mike Roman, has an extensive background as a Trump White House staffer, opposition researcher, and voter fraud alarmist. He is an alumnus of the Trump White House, the Koch brothers–backed outside groups, and multiple Republican presidential campaigns. In other words, he’s not the intern/ultra-green staffer Johnson initially described in response to questions from reporters. Roman has a long history of writing articles for conservative websites about alleged voter fraud; he also collected voter fraud claims to eventually get a Pennsylvania Republican seated in the state Senate and spread a video of alleged voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers. The involvement of someone with that kind of intensely partisan history challenges Johnson’s early claims that the January 6 committee grossly exaggerated the events in relation to him that day and that it was a nothingburger of a story about the greenest of green interns quixotically trying to pass something on to Johnson. That was the Wisconsin senator’s initial explanation after the committee revealed that someone (Roman) had slates of fake electors from Michigan and Wisconsin that he wanted to pass through Johnson’s chief of staff, Sean Riley, to Pence. Pence’s legislative director, Chris Hodgson, rebuffed that attempt, writing to Riley in a text message, “Do not give that to him.” Riley’s background is important here too. He rejoined Johnson’s office as chief of staff in January 2021. Before that he worked in the Trump administration’s legislative affairs office and prior to that spent years with Johnson. So we have a staffer who had direct ties to the Trump White House, working for a senator who often indulges in conspiracy theories and who publicly waffled on the 2020 election outcome (while privately conceding that “there’s nothing obviously skewed about the results”). One former Republican chief of staff argued to me that the vetting system for what a senator sees worked in this instance. “What gets handed to a senator and when can have really profound implications,” that former staffer told me. “This is the ultimate example of it, but it happens routinely and for all kinds of reasons, which is why good systems and staff work is important. Sounds like the system worked in that instance.” Johnson has tried to separate himself directly from the entire situation, but in congressional politics that’s just not how it works. When something happens in a lawmaker’s office, it’s almost always considered something the lawmakers themselves did.

Click here to contact your U.S. Senator and let them know to support Sopen Shah’s nomination.

Here’s the latest out of the Democratic Primary:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday endorsed Democrat Mandela Barnes in the state’s Senate race, becoming the latest high-profile figure to throw his support behind the lieutenant governor. “As the son of a public school teacher and UAW assembly line worker, Mandela Barnes knows the struggles of the working class,” Sanders said in a statement released by the Barnes campaign. “His agenda advances the interests of working families, not the billionaire class. I’m proud to endorse Mandela because he is the best positioned progressive candidate who will win both the primary and defeat Ron Johnson in November,” he said. Sanders’s move comes after Our Revolution, a Sanders-aligned progressive group, endorsed Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson in the race in April. Nelson also served as Sanders’ delegate during the 2020 presidential campaign.

But we still have a few weeks to go until the primary:

But as the Aug. 9 primary creeps closer, Barnes’ Democratic primary opponents are increasingly on his tail, none more than Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry—and his money. Lasry, who is the son of billionaire and Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, had been running for months before Barnes hopped in the race. He’d positioned himself as being focused on the economy and a pro-labor candidate. Yet even around the turn of the new year, he was trailing Barnes by double digits. A Data for Progress poll in December had Barnes at 39 percent of the vote share and Lasry at 16 percent. A February Marquette poll showed Barnes at 23 percent while Lasry was at 13 percent. But in the last three months, Lasry’s been on a spending blitz. Last quarter alone he pumped $6.5 million of his own money toward his campaign, bringing his total self-lending to $12.3 million, which has afforded him a monsoon of advertising and paid communications at a vital time in the race. “The laws of political gravity still apply,” said Wisconsin Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki, who added that by blanketing the airways, Lasry has been able to bring in support from undecided voters in particular. A June Marquette poll found that Barnes had 25 percent of support in the Democratic primary while Lasry had 21 percent. Thirty-six percent remained undecided and the remainder was split among other candidates. Barnes’ campaign in the second quarter brought in $2.1 million—a still considerable total, but a fraction of what Lasry’s been able to pull from his own reserves. The Lasry campaign, for their part, credit his rise in the polls to more substantive matters. They said his positions on key Democratic issues are driving interest—and that Democrats are eager to nominate someone who they believe can unseat Johnson in November. “Alex has been running as a ‘Make it America’ Democrat and has a proven track record of delivering real results for Wisconsin—including creating 10,000 good union jobs and paying at least a $15 minimum wage with a union,” said Lasry campaign spokesperson Christina Freundlich. “His message on fighting inflation and putting money back in working people’s pockets is why he has climbed to a statistical tie in polls and has such strong labor support from across the state.” Democratic strategists and Wisconsin politicos don’t dismiss that Lasry is managing to resonate with the voting base. But those who spoke with The Daily Beast noted that money is an undeniable factor in his growing competitiveness. Zepecki told The Daily Beast he suspects that even amid the massive spending by Lasry’s campaign, Barnes, who’s been crowdfunding his candidacy, will still manage to eke out a win. “Barnes is still the frontrunner and there’s more pressure on him than there’s been at any other point in the race,” he said.

But keep your eye out on this candidate:

Wisconsin’s heavily contested Democratic Senate primary raises an interesting question for the party’s voters: If they prioritize abortion rights, shouldn’t they try to send a woman to Washington? Bunched at the top of the race are Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, whose endorsements from the far left of the party raise questions about his electability; former Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, who is running on the strength of his civic accomplishments; and state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, the only woman in contention. They all appeared in a debate Sunday, along with pro-union populist Tom Nelson and Steve Olikara, former head of the Millennial Action Project. Godlewski was the candidate who stood out, and not just because her bright green jacket contrasted with the lineup of men in dark suits. She presented a feisty image, stressing her success in winning statewide races in the swing state. Where she really leaned in, however, was on the argument that her male opponents are latecomers to the abortion debate. She noted that in events predating the Dobbs decision that overturned abortion rights, she was often the only person to bring up reproductive rights. “For me, this is not an afterthought,” she said. Her strong appearance will test the degree to which abortion has become a top priority — perhaps the highest priority — in the wake of Dobbs. She certainly has made abortion rights a cornerstone of her campaign. She was the first up with an ad — shot from the steps of the Supreme Court, no less — after the Dobbs ruling leaked. She also featured a practicing OB/GYN in another ad. In an interview with NPR in late June, she explained, “This is one of the reasons I stepped up to run for the U.S. Senate . . . I was getting sick of reproductive freedom being treated like some sort of extra credit project.” She has received the endorsement of Emily’s List, which backs pro-choice female candidates. And on Monday, her campaign announced a list of OB/GYNs backing her candidacy. She remains in third place in polls, although she has moved up from low single digits. If she is to break out of the pack, her best chance might be to convince voters, women in particular, that she is the most effective and determined advocate for abortion rights.

Primary Day in Wisconsin is August 9th. Click here to register to vote or check your registration.

Health and Democracy are on the ballot next year and we need to keep Wisconsin Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with the Wisconsin Democrat of your choice and these Wisconsin Democrats campaigns:

Wisconsin Democratic Party

Minocqua Brewing Company SuperPAC

Tony Evers for Governor

Mandela Barnes for U.S. Senate

Sarah Godlewski for U.S. Senate

Tom Nelson for U.S. Senate

Alex Lasry for U.S. Senate

Rebecca Cooke for Congress

Brad Pfaff for Congress

Deb McGrath for Congress

Alex Lasry for U.S. Senate

Josh Kaul for Attorney General

Doug La Follete for Secretary of State

Alexia Sabor for Secretary of State

Angelito Tenorio for Treasurer

Gillian Battino for Treasurer

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