Rep. Bowen’s Statement on Trump Appointment of Sheriff Clarke

MILWAUKEE – Rep. David Bowen (D-Milwaukee) released the following statement on the news that Sheriff David Clarke has taken a job as an Assistant Secretary of an office within the Department of Homeland Security:

“The announcement that failed Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is taking a bureaucratic job at a department within a department of the Republican Trump administration is proof that no amount of failure will stop the Republican President from rewarding devout loyalty.

“It is positive news that Milwaukee County now has the opportunity to have an actual Sheriff. If he chooses to fill the role via appointment, Governor Walker should leave politics out of the equation and appoint a qualified individual who is devoted to the safety of Milwaukee County and takes the role of operating a jail seriously. Too many families have endured the nightmare of Sheriff Clarke’s ongoing failure to do perhaps the most crucial aspect of the job – overseeing a jail at which 4 people have died on his watch, including a baby and an inmate suffering from serious mental health issues who died of “profound dehydration” after being forced to go without water for seven days under Clarke’s oversight.

“Notable about the Trump/Clarke appointment is that the administration was sure to offer a position at a low enough level that Senate confirmation is not required, as with higher level administration appointments,” Bowen said. “Clearly, the political cost of any vulnerable Republican Senator voting to confirm Clarke would have been too high to rubber stamp the failed Sheriff.

“Under the pressure of public accountability and the investigation of jail deaths on his watch, Sheriff Clarke will cut and run to Washington DC to join a President facing investigation for colluding with and serving up classified information to a foreign adversary.

“Despite the Washington swamp filling up a little more under the Republican President, I am optimistic at the opportunity this presents the good people of Milwaukee County to move beyond the disastrous Clarke years.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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