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Wisconsin GOP Panel Adopts Report Faulting DOJ’s Use of Privately Funded Fellows

With no sessions scheduled, the recommendations carry uncertain force.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks at a campaign stop on Oct. 27, 2022, in Milwaukee. A Republican prosecutor asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, to decide whether a 174-year-old state law bans abortion in the state without waiting for a ruling from a lower appellate court. Kaul, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit arguing that the law is too old to enforce and conflicts with a 1985 law permitting abortions before fetuses can survive outside the womb. Morry Gash, File/AP Photo, File
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Josh Kaul speaks onstage during attends the Wisconsin Democrats 2025 Convention at Chula Vista Resort on June 14, 2025, in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. | (Getty Images)

Overview

  • An oversight committee led by Senate Republicans approved a more than 100-page report on a 4–2 vote that criticizes Attorney General Josh Kaul’s past use of outside-funded lawyers inside the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
  • The report alleges the DOJ broke six state statutes by deputizing attorneys whose salaries came from private groups, arguing the setup bypassed the budget process, could count as a prohibited gift, and exposed the agency to outside influence.
  • The attorneys at issue were special assistant attorneys general funded by advocacy groups, including NYU Law’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center and the Public Rights Project, and they worked on environmental enforcement cases.
  • Kaul rejects the claims and calls the probe partisan, saying the DOJ sought and received guidance from the Wisconsin Ethics Commission before bringing on fellows and noting the department does not currently employ any fellows.
  • The report urges immediate termination of such arrangements and new laws to limit outside-funded prosecutors, but any changes require legislative action that is not on the calendar, as a separate lawsuit in Calumet County challenges the practice in court.