Wisconsin’s attorney general says he just followed the state’s open records law when he released a series of e-mails that show Calumet County’s district attorney tried to defend, and cover up a series of text messages that he sent to a domestic abuse victim.
In the e-mails, DA Ken Kratz claimed the texts were not sexual in nature, even though he called the 26-year-old woman a “tall, hot, young, nymph” and proposed starting an affair with her. The district attorney was also prosecuting a domestic abuse case against the woman’s ex-boyfriend at the time.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says when his office learned of the issue, they took control of the case.
Van Hollen also says his office received an open records request from a reporter for the e-mails, and because they are public records, he had to release them. In the e-mails, Kratz tried to convince a justice department official to keep the matter quiet and away from the public. They also show that Kratz stepped down as the chair of the Wisconsin Crime Victims Rights board after an official threatened to tell the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association about the incident.
Van Hollen’s office found that the text messages didn’t break any criminal laws and the Office of Lawyer Regulation cleared Kratz of any ethical violations.
Rick Schuh-WHBY