ICYMI: What Is Josh Kaul Hiding?

[Madison, WI] – In case you missed it, Josh Kaul is still refusing to provide answers about the workplace abuse and discrimination occurring within his Department of Justice — despite proclaiming during his 2017 campaign that “the public also has a right to know what’s going on at the Capitol and the assurance that allegations are taken seriously and fully investigated.”

A year after an outside agency investigated concerns of a toxic work environment at the DOJ, Josh Kaul’s administration has refused to provide the results to the public and workplace abuse victim Tina Virgil after she first requested the information in September. What else is Josh Kaul trying to hide?

Read more from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel below:

Bice: Republicans urge Attorney General Josh Kaul to release reports on harassment complaints by staffers
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Daniel Bice
May 19, 2021

Republican Party officials are calling on Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul to release investigative reports of harassment complaints at the state Department of Justice.

“Not only does Josh Kaul, our state’s top prosecutor, refuse to stand up against discrimination and abuse within his own department, but he’s covering it up,” said Anna Kelly, spokeswoman for the state GOP. 

Officials with the Department of Justice maintain the reports are being prepared for public release. There is no timeline for when the editing process will be completed. 

[…]

Sources say the investigation focused on the actions of two top Department of Justice staffers, Deputy Attorney General Eric Wilson and Brian O’Keefe, who is retiring soon as head of the Division of Criminal Investigation. 

Tina Virgil is the head of the Division of Law Enforcement Services at the state Department of Justice. She has filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging a hostile work environment and racial and gender discrimination at the department.

Virgil had accused Wilson of repeatedly mistreating female staffers, saying he often exploded in anger when Virgil or other women disagreed with him. She also said her calls were secretly recorded by O’Keefe, who was trying to put her job in jeopardy. Wilson and O’Keefe have not commented. 

Last week, the Journal Sentinel asked for a copy of the reports with the findings from the harassment investigation but was told it was in the “redaction process.”

Virgil contends in her complaint that the reports have been done since May 2020 but that her lawyers have been denied access to them. Records show her attorneys first requested the information in September.

[…]

Kelly, the Republican Party official, noted that in 2017, Kaul argued the public has a right to know what’s in sexual harassment complaints against state lawmakers and their staff. 

She said he should apply the same standard here and release the investigative report. 

“Kaul should take his own advice from 2017 and give the public access to the investigation into his agency’s work environment instead of continuing to leave Wisconsinites and victims of his dysfunctional department in the dark,” Kelly said.