WAUKESHA, Wisc. – Wisconsin Sheriffs, District Attorneys, and survivors agree: Susan Crawford is lying. It’s sad that Susan Crawford would knowingly lie and invoke the pain of sexual assault survivors for political points and electoral power. As Attorney General, Brad Schimel spearheaded the Wisconsin Sexual Assault Kit Initiative and cleared an entire backlog of sexual assault kits that had piled up in storage closets around Wisconsin for decades. When others accepted the status quo, Schimel solved it.
Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt, said, “I am one of the few sheriffs that are remaining from the time that Brad Schimel worked on this initiative. We call this a Sexual Assault Kit initiative – I call it the Brad Schimel initiative… Brad Schimel was able to get 4,100 kits tested while he was Attorney General. It didn’t start when he was Attorney General. It started in 1980 through many other attorney generals, and he took action to get it done.”
Survivor Teri Jendusa-Nicolai, said, “[Brad is] someone who actually cares and who takes the time and who wants to know how he can help survivors… It’s not just a job for him. It’s in his blood to help victims, to help survivors, children, women, families.”
Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney, said, “As a district attorney, to see a judge, the people that we look up to are supposed to be non-partisan, to mislead the public, and to do it for political gain. So I’m calling on Judge Crawford and her campaign to stop to tell the truth and be honest about the Sexual Assault Kit initiatives because Brad Schimel has been a leader in this effort. That is in part why he has bipartisan support from sheriffs and DAs all across the state of Wisconsin.”
Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson, said, “What really upsets me in this race, as a lawyer and as someone who… respects the work of our judges, respects the fact that they should be honest and fair and impartial, when I see the ads endorsed and approved by Judge Crawford, spreading the lies about Brad Schimel and the SAKI initiative.”
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