Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel called the private bathroom rule that Dan Bice mocked – which is mandated by the state Supreme Court – “crazy” and “goofy.”
In yet another attempt to create a deceptive narrative against a conservative, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s gossip columnist Dan Bice unfairly cherrypicked a 42-minute podcast interview with former Attorney General Brad Schimel. As is typical with Bice, he then layered the article with slanted opinion barbs that don’t match the actual context.
Here we take you on a journey into the twisted and, frankly, arguably unethical “reporting” of Dan Bice.
Bice has a long history of this kind of “reporting.” See this and this and this. While Bice has been creating misleading narratives against Republican Schimel, who is a Waukesha County Judge and former DA, Wisconsin Right Now has been filing open records requests and scrutinizing the substantive issues in the record of his opponent, leftist Madison Judge Susan Crawford. For example, she gave a slap on the wrist to a child molester; helped gut a plan to monitor sex offenders for life; and worked as a private lawyer to overturn Act 10 and Voter ID.
Not Bice. He’s obsessed with bathrooms.
The headline on Bice’s story was quite a gotcha at first blush: “Brad Schimel boasts he gets a private bathroom and sets own hours as judge.” Sound terrible, right?
But was Schimel really boasting or, as the supposedly “objective” Bice opined in another place in the story, “bragging“? No. Actually, in the 10-month-old podcast, Schimel called the private bathroom rule – which is mandated by the state Supreme Court – “crazy” and “goofy.” Bice didn’t quote the latter part of Schimel’s quote in that segment, although he did report the former one. At one point, Bice derisively referred to this practice as “having your own potty.”
Interestingly, Bice adopted the spin of Michael Browne of A Better Wisconsin Together, “which spent more than $6 million helping the liberal candidate in the 2023 Supreme Court contest,” and who also claimed Schimel was “bragging.” Where did Bice get his story? Was it an oppo research dump?
Here’s the most important part, though. Listened to in full, it’s clear that Schimel was actually making the point on the DrydenWire podcast that launching a statewide campaign for Supreme Court required a sacrifice by his family and in his own life, but he decided to do it anyway because he believes the state Supreme Court race is so important. If you don’t get that, then you haven’t experienced how difficult and time-consuming (and frankly brutal) any statewide campaign can be. There’s no question that it’s a sacrifice. Schimel has made this point before on the campaign trail; the point he’s made is that he doesn’t NEED to do this, and it comes at a cost, but the times demand it because the liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has so disregarded precedent and the rule of law, acting like a Super Legislature instead.
In totality, Bice’s slant paints Schimel in a false light by making it sound like he is lazy and coasting, when he actually described a brutal campaign schedule during the interview, crisscrossing the state. His point was that he was willing to give up the more regularized judge’s position at great cost to his own family and himself BECAUSE HE THINKS THE RACE IS SO IMPORTANT.
Here’s the thing. We’ve entered a podcast age. In the past, when biased reporters cherrypicked interviews, there was little way for people to fight back. Now, they’re still trying to slice and dice conservative politicians’ interviews, but there’s a way to expose it.
In the same podcast, Schimel said he was in “four counties every weekend” and mentioned how “last Saturday” he put on “650 miles” going to Fond du Lac, and then Eau Claire, St. Croix County, and then a 4.5-hour drive back to Waukesha. Bice left that out.
Bice also left out the part where Schimel pointed out that it takes over six hours to drive from Waukesha County to Washburn County. “I can drive to St. Louis faster,” Schimel said. “You have to get to all of them.” He added, “There isn’t going to be a county in the state that isn’t going to get a visit from me.”
Frankly, judges have private bathrooms for their own personal safety. Although Bice mentions the possibility that judges could run into witnesses, defendants or attorneys, such as during a trial, he downplays the safety issue.
Furthermore, it’s interesting that Bice singled out what was a joking aside about bathrooms in a lengthy podcast that dealt with many serious topics that didn’t make his gotcha “story,” such as how to prevent law enforcement suicides. In the interview, a Democrat sheriff, Chris Fitzgerald, strongly praised Schimel (a point Bice briefly mentions and buries).
Sure, Bice embedded a video of the entire interview in his story. But he knows how this game works. The headline and story slant at the top will likely end up in liberal ads to help Schimel’s opponent. His written story and the full video don’t match. He’s responsible for his own writing, and frankly, the video just exposes the unfairness. Many people will only read the headline or slanted story opening.
The conversation about work hours and bathrooms came after the host, Ben Dryden, brought up how difficult it is to defeat any incumbent (at that time, Schimel was running against the now-retiring Ann Walsh Bradley). He suggested that Schimel could just enjoy being a judge and retire happily, so he asked why he was campaigning and doing so very early on.
That’s when Schimel basically concurred that being a circuit judge is easier on one’s family and life than running a lengthy statewide campaign. This is obviously simply a given and fact; after all, courthouses close at 5 p.m., but campaigns don’t.
As for setting his own hours, which all circuit judges in the state get to do, Schimel noted, “I don’t lord that over anyone. Believe me, I work all day and into the evening trying to get it right. But it is a good gig. I am home for dinner most nights now.” He said he was doing band rehearsals every week and shooting in leagues before he decided to enter the race. But so what? As noted, the courthouse closes at 5. Stop the presses! Brad Schimel had a life! He tried to balance work with family! The horrors! Is Bice arguing that judges shouldn’t do anything all night other than judicial work?
“All that’s changed now,” Schimel said, adding that he was “back to the point where my family’s not going to be able to pick me out of a lineup again. I feel called to do this. I am concerned that courts have low popularity. People don’t respect them.” Bice of course left that context out.
Schimel said at another point, “You’re a public servant. There are too many who forget that. You’re not in this to get rich. You’re not in this for power. You’re in this to help the people that you’re supposed to be serving and that does mean that you’re campaigning all the time.” Bice left that out too.
Schimel also noted that too many people have entered past elections believing they can win just by running TV ads. He stressed in the interview how important it was to shake people’s hands and hear their concerns, saying you “have to talk to people and listen to people.”
Bice left that out too.
He also left out the part where Schimel discussed how judges need to be objective but dangerous defendants “need to get locked up and stay locked up.”
What else did Bice choose not to focus on from that interview?
Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald, a Democrat, told Schimel, “We miss you.” He was referring to Schimel’s tenure as the Republican Attorney General.
Fitzgerald said that Schimel will keep all Wisconsin counties “on the map” by visiting them, and he said the smaller counties “appreciate that.”
Of Schimel, he added, “He’s a solid guy.” He said whenever law enforcement needed anything, such as when dealing with opioids or methamphetamine issues, Schimel “was always there when I needed him.” He told Schimel, “You were always there for us, leading the way.”
Fitzgerald added, “You always supported law enforcement. That’s what we loved about you. Now it’s a little rougher here.”
Bice left those quotes out as well. Apparently the part about bathrooms interested him more. At some point, Bice’s editors and corporate owners need to mandate that he start being fair.
