Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel investigated a former assistant attorney general after he made critical remarks in a newspaper story.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday that Schimel’s office was looking into whether the retiree, Thomas Dawson, provided confidential information to the press about a deal the state Department of Justice struck with a polluter.
Dawson was the state’s top environmental lawyer before retiring in January 2017. He told the Journal Sentinel that he provided his opinion and no documents when he talked with a newspaper reporter in March 2017.
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Dawson told the newspaper then that he and other attorneys had recommended a hefty fine against Minnesota-based 3M but was overridden by higher-ups in the agency.
Schimel spokesman Alec Hanna says Dawson provided “confidential information” to the reporter, but didn’t specify what that was.
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