State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, said in a statement Thursday Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen changed his stance on public records to help a conservative senator who is facing an open records lawsuit.
Two years ago, a conservative organization filed an open records lawsuit against Erpenbach, according to the statement, and Van Hollen said Erpenbach should not fight the lawsuit.
Erpenbach hired a private attorney to represent him and won his open records case in circuit court in April. The case is now before the Court of Appeals.
But Van Hollen filed a motion on behalf of state Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, Wednesday saying she is immune to an open records lawsuit, which the Center for Media and Democracy filed against her in June, because she is currently in office.
If the motion is successful, legislators could not be sued under the open records law while they are in office.
In the statement, Erpenbach said Van Hollen’s efforts in the Vukmir case constitute “blatant partisan and political actions.”
“[Van Hollen’s actions] are an embarrassment to his office and to the Department of Justice,” Erpenbach said in the statement.
In the statement, Erpenbach said Vukmir is entitled to her defense against the lawsuit, but he criticized Van Hollen for failing to honor his oath as a “Constitutional officer.”
“What I find simply unbelievable is the partisan level of representation by a Constitutional officer sworn to represent the Legislature without prejudice,” he said in the statement.
