Former Milwaukee U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic isn’t making a big deal of a U.S. Department of Justice report that clears him of any wrongdoing in the Georgia Thompson prosecution.
"I did a lot of public corruption cases during my tenure," said Biskupic, now in private practice with Michael, Best & Friedrich in Milwaukee. "The thing you know going into them is if they turn out well, succeed, you’re the hero, and if you’re reversed on appeal, you’re a pretty big goat. That just comes with the territory if you going to do public corruption cases."
The federal agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) noted in its review that Biskupic took special measures to ensure politics did not play a role in the case by enlisting the help of Dem state officials. His office worked in conjunction with the state DOJ under former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager.
Dems had questioned whether Biskupic had any political motivations for bringing the case, which was overturned on appeal, following Bush administration decisions to remove some U.S. attorneys. The OPR review "found no evidence that Mr. Biskupic was ever told his job was in jeopardy and no evidence that department personnel involved in the decision to remove certain United States Attorneys knew anything about the Thompson investigation."
Biskupic has long maintained he had no political motivations for bringing the case and said the OPR letter "speaks for itself."
"What you count on is the support of other people in the job," Biskupic said. "I got great support from Peg and (former Deputy A.G.) Dan Bach, and (Milwaukee County District Attorney) John Chisholm and (Dane County D.A.) Brian Blanchard. Those are Democrats elected to public office who took public corruption very seriously."
– WisPolitics
