Democrat Matt Flynn says he has absolutely no plans to abandon his run for governor following calls for him to do so by a couple of fellow Democrats. “You ever heard the Johnny Cash song ‘I Won’t Back Down,’ well my advice to them is play that song and they’ll understand my position,” Flynn told WIBA on Wednesday morning.
Madison state Representatives Chris Taylor and Melissa Sargent accuse Flynn of being involved in a cover up during the priest sex abuse scandal, when he worked as the attorney for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from 1989 to 2004. The Democratic lawmakers were joined at a Capitol press conference on Wednesday by Peter Isely of SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
Isely credited Sargent and Taylor for poring through thousands of pages of diocesan records.
Isely maintains that Flynn new a great deal about priests who sexually abused children. “Flynn, as counsel, was triggered and notified of every allegation that was coming in. Every single one,” Isley said. “Matt had the list. He had the greatest amount of knowledge about the widespread crimes taking place against children in southeast Wisconsin for decades.”
AUDIO: Peter Isley
But on WIBA, Flynn defended his work representing the church. “The claims describe things that happened in the ’60s,’70s and ’80s, not anything that we were currently handling,” he said. He added that his mission was to get therapy and compensation for the victims, “and then put in place policies and procedures so that it will never happen again. Period.”