Susan Happ
The state Republican Party is accusing the Democratic candidate for attorney general of misconduct in office.
The complaint centers around how Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ handled the prosecution of a man accused of sexual assaulting a girl. Happ’s husband was involved in a land deal with the man, and the state GOP argues the man was not charged until after the deal was paid off, 16 months after the initial accusation.
An assistant district attorney handled the case, which resulted in a deferred prosecution agreement.
A spokesman for Happ’s campaign called it a baseless complaint and just another piece of a right wing smear campaign. Campaign Manager Josh Lease said “District Attorney Happ did everything right, followed the rules laid out by the State Supreme Court, and screened herself off from any decisions about this case. We are confident that will be GAB’s finding and conclusion.”
The complaint was filed just hours after the state Democratic Party accused Republican attorney general candidate Brad Schimel of cutting a deal with a man accused of sexual assaulting an intoxicated 14-year-old girl, which allowed him to plead guilty to a reduced charge and serve six months in jail. Schimel is the Waukesha County district attorney.
Schimel and Happ face each other in a race the most recent Marquette Unversity Law School poll showed is a dead heat.