A complaint filed this week asks the Wisconsin Judicial Commission to investigate whether leftist state Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford violated judicial ethics codes in appearing at a liberal group’s fundraiser pitching Crawford’s potential to deliver Democrats the U.S. House.
It’s the latest twist in the contentious and expensive spring election to determine whether leftists or conservatives control the Wisconsin Supreme Court — and, perhaps, the lower house of Congress.
‘Blatant Disregard’
On Wednesday, the Republican Party of Wisconsin announced that an unidentified concerned citizen filed the complaint, raising significant ethical questions related to the Dane County judge’s participation in a “donor advisory briefing” hosted by the left-wing nonprofit Focus for Democracy. The nonprofit “claims to have an election impact methodology that identifies races where donor money will be especially valuable, vets campaign programs for quality and effectiveness, and makes recommendations to donors,” according to nonprofit tracker InfluenceWatch. The organization funnels money to other leftist groups.
The Wisconsin GOP asserts, “the dangerously liberal candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court, Susan Crawford, and WisDems offered to hand Republican congressional seats to Democrats if Democrat donors helped her out. A blatant disregard for the judicial code.”
The Crawford campaign did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment.
‘To Win Control’
Invitees to the donor advisors meeting had the opportunity to “hear and question” Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Ben Wikler and “pro-democracy Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford,” according to an email posted on X by conservative Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, Crawford’s opponent in the April 1 state Supreme Court election. The invitation notes that “winning this race could also result in Democrats being able to win two additional US House seats, half the seats needed to win control of the House in 2026.” The implication is that electing Crawford, endorsed and generously supported by some of the biggest far-left sugar daddies in politics, would continue the liberals’ 4-3 majority and open the door for a favorable ruling on redrawn Wisconsin congressional maps. Under the current district lines, Republicans hold six of the Badger State’s eight House seats.
Liberals reclaimed control in the 2023 Supreme Court election, at the time the most expensive state judicial race in U.S. history. The Wisconsin Supreme Court subsequently struck down state legislative maps crafted by the Republican-controlled legislature. The court last year opted not to take up a lawsuit by election integrity denier Marc Elias seeking to toss out the current congressional maps, but future lawsuits are anticipated should liberals retain control.
Days after the event, The New York Times reported that the call with Crawford was organized by mega Democrat donor and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. The Times noted that Eric Holder, attorney general in the Obama administration and chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, was expected to attend.
‘Special Position to Influence’
The complaint alleges Crawford’s participation in the event host by Focus for Democracy, “which appears to operate both as a a 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit,” runs afoul of the ethics codes governing the conduct of Wisconsin judges. Particularly it raises the question whether Crawford failed to “avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety” under Supreme Court Rule 60.03.
“A judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” the rule states.
More so, according to the ethics code, a judge is prohibited from allowing “family, social, political or other relationships to influence the judge’s judicial conduct or judgment.”
“A judge may not lend the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge or of others or convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the judge,” the section states. Therein lies the problem with Crawford’s hang with Focus for Democracy, according the complaint.
The leftist donation funneler used Crawford’s “prestige” as a judge and Supreme Court candidate to advance its “private interests,” the complaint alleges.
“While Crawford may not have had control over how the invitation was initially framed, she should and could have declined participation when she saw how the invitation was using her judicial candidacy to advance, the organization’s private interest,” the document asserts.
The complaint cites a previous conflict involving leftist Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet, who not long before November’s election was forced to withdraw from serving as keynote speaker for the Dane County NAACP fundraiser after the invitation was made public. Wisconsin judicial conduct code bars judges from personally participating “in the solicitation of funds or other fund-raising activities” for nonprofit, charitable, civic and other organizations.
In a 1998 opinion, the Judicial Conduct Advisory Committee found that a judge cannot participate in such a role at a nonprofit charity event.
“The only discernible purpose of the judge’s participation in the ‘VIP Reception’ is to enhance the prestige and public relations value of the event as a whole, thus improving the ability of the charity to raise money,” the state Judicial Conduct Advisory Committee wrote.
“Focus for Democracy obviously highlighted Crawford‘s appearance at the donor briefing call to improve the ability of the nonprofit to raise funds,” the complaint against the Supreme Court candidate alleges. “In fact, Crawford‘s participation in the donor advisory call appears to have been the key hook to get Focused for Democracy supporters to join the phone call.”
‘Key to Winning’
Representatives of Focus for Democracy did not return The Federalist’s request for comment. On its website, Focus for Democracy Action boasts that it has “built a network of 20,000+ donors across the US who have contributed $200+ million dollars since the 2020 election cycle to the programs we recommend.” The organization means to elect Democrats and candidates committed to leftist causes.
“The group’s website highlights examples where individual victories created other impacts, such as President Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin being the key to winning the 2020 presidential election and the 2021 victory of U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff’s (D-GA) being key to Democratic Party control of the U.S. Senate,” InfluenceWatch reports.
For the second time in two years, a Supreme Court race in swing state Wisconsin promises to shatter campaign spending records. In 2023, the campaigns and outside interest groups dumped north of $50 million into backing their candidates in an election that saw liberals take control of the court for the first time in 15 years. Leftists intend to keep the majority and the outsized power that battleground Wisconsin’s court of last resort offers.
Crawford’s campaign had raked in $7.3 million in contributions, 40 percent of that from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin — thanks to donations from leftist fat cats like well-heeled socialist George Soros and billionaire Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Schimel’s campaign had raised nearly $5 million, about $1.7 million of that from big-money donations to the state GOP. But those fundraising figures are from reports filed two weeks ago. Campaign watchers say a flood of money has poured into the race since, and a tsunami of campaign cash is expected up to election day.
‘Make No Mistake’
The ethics complaint against Crawford is the latest filed in the increasingly heated, high-stakes race. Earlier this month, the leftist Wisconsin Democracy Campaign filed a complaint after Schimel reportedly urged donors to contribute maximum donations to his campaign and make contributions to committees that are not bound by contribution limits. Schimel, Wisconsin’s former attorney general, reportedly said what is legally being done by supporters of both campaigns.
A Wisconsin legal expert who asked not to be identified because of his involvement in state court cases tells The Federalist that the complaint appears to have merit. The fundraising concerns could be the subject of an Internal Revenue Service investigation into the activities of Focus for Democracy, a nonprofit organization that must abide by certain IRS tax codes, the source said.
The complainant asserts Crawford’s appearance at the donor briefing should be investigated to determine what Crawford said to the donors on the call and whether any promises were made about how she might rule on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Andrew Iverson, executive director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, accused Crawford of disregarding the state judicial code to “get the help of out-of-state liberal mega donors.”
“Make no mistake, Crawford would fight to dismantle all Republican-backed cases and weaponize the court to help Democrats,” Iverson said in a statement.