Records, Video Show Rebecca Bradley Misleads Public With Claims She Left Her ‘Political Inclinations’ in the Past

MADISON, Wis. — In an interview on UpFront with Mike Gousha broadcast October 25, Gov. Scott Walker’s newly-appointed crony Rebecca Bradley claimed, “When I became a judge I set aside all of my political inclinations and that was in the past.” One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross blasted Bradley for being untruthful as state campaign records show she both personally donated to the Republican Party of Milwaukee County while a judge and, based on video of the event, just hours later was featured at a Milwaukee County Republican Party event.

“Gov. Walker’s crony pick for the state high court was flat out not telling the truth when she said she set aside partisan politics after becoming a judge” said Ross. “Despite her claim, records reveal she personally donated to the Republican Party months after being put on the bench by Walker. And mere hours after her interview she was caught on video happily listening to Gov. Walker tell a partisan political audience how important it is to keep his crony on the court.”

Undermining the truthfulness of Bradley’s contention that she set aside partisan politics are publicly available campaign finance records that reveal a personal donation from Rebecca Bradley to the Milwaukee County Republican Party was made on January 23, 2013, after she was appointed to a judgeship by Walker in 2012.

Bradley also appears to have quickly forgotten her claim as just hours after taping the interview where she stated her partisan politics were in her past, video shows she was prominently featured at a local Republican Party of Milwaukee County fundraising event where Gov. Walker personally urged the GOP crowd to work to retain his hand-picked court crony.

Bradley was appointed for a third time by her political patron Gov. Walker to the state’s highest court in October after Walker publicly telegraphed his intentions to appoint the already announced court candidate in an abbreviated “application process” to fill the vacancy created by the unexpected passing of respected Justice Patrick Crooks. She has been tied to Gov. Walker and his political machine for years prior, having been appointed by Walker to the only judicial posts she has held. Her 2013 election bid to the Milwaukee County seat she was appointed to was overseen by a Walker administration aide and her campaign chair was none other than Michael Grebe, head of the right wing Bradley Foundation and chair of Walker’s gubernatorial and presidential campaigns.

Ross concluded, “Rebecca Bradley is definitively a crony of Gov. Walker and a political partisan. That she is willing to mislead the public and the media on that count now calls into question her judgement and her honesty. Is she, like her political patron, willing to do or say anything to try to win an election?”