Eric Holder calls on Madison, won’t be calling on Democratic convention
By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON, Wis. — Sorry Democrats.
It appears U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will not make it out to Wisconsin Dells this weekend for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s annual convention. (Of course, Democrats have been down this road before when President Obama sent out a support tweet in lieu of driving up from Chicago to campaign for Milwaukee mayor and candidate for governor Tom Barrett in 2012, just days before Wisconsin’s gubernatorial recall election.)
HOLDER DOES MAD TOWN: Attorney General Eric Holder was in Madison Thursday and Friday to meet with the U.S. attorney for Wisconsin’s Western District, not to attend the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s annual convention, an official with the AG’s office tells Wisconsin Reporter.
An official with the AG’s office tells Wisconsin Reporter Holder is in Madison on a “routine visit” to meet with John W. Vaudreuil, the U.S. attorney for Wisconsin’s Western District.
Holder was at the office meeting with staff Friday morning, according to the official.
“He thinks very highly of the U.S. attorney and wanted to specifically take the time to sit down with staff here and thank them for the work they are doing,” Holder’s aide told Wisconsin Reporter. “Every U.S. attorney’s office is working hard and he wanted to specifically lend his voice to express his appreciation.”
Vaudreuil, a native of Rice Lake, Wis., was appointed by President Barack Obama to the post in 2010.
Holder was in North Dakota on Thursday to meet with that state’s U.S. attorney. The AG plans to tour the offices of all 94 U.S. attorneys during his tenure, the official said.
Holder is not in Madison to attend this weekend’s Democratic Party anointing of Mary Burke, the Dems’ candidate for governor, the official said. Nor is he in the state to personally oversee the U.S. Department of Justice’s “ongoing investigation” into Wisconsin’s School Choice program, the official confirmed. Critics of said investigation have called the Justice Department’s probe a “massive power grab” by the Obama administration.
Conservative radio talk show host Vicki McKenna early Friday morning tweeted that Holder was rumored to have been spotted at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Middleton Thursday evening.
A restaurant official confirmed as much to Wisconsin Reporter Friday morning. He described the dinner as “a pretty intimate setting,” complete with security.
Contact M.D. Kittle at mkittle@watchdog.org
