Not all judges and state officials stand up for the truth against someone like Donald Trump. It takes courage to do so, because the Donald will come after them like a screaming sharp-toothed entity from hell. Then, his followers will take up the cause. As a result, many state officials receive death threats. There was actually a full-blown plan against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) to try and kidnap her.
Take Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn (R), for example. He stood with the heroic Arizona and Georgia officials. According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the justice won a narrow victory in 2019 for a 10-year term. He commented on Trump wanting to overturn Wisconsin’s 2020 election.
Hagedorn belongs to the conservative Federalist Society. However, he recently agreed with the liberal justices 4-3. He was against officials purging 130, 000 voters from the Wisconsin voter rolls. And he agreed with those blocking. the Green Party’s candidate and sham candidate Kanye West. Twice he rejected Trump’s tries to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win in Wisconsin.
In The New York Times interview, the interviewer asked what he had to say to those who felt betrayed by him. Hagedorn replied:
‘When I ran, I was pretty consistent that I believe deeply that law and politics are not the same thing. Most of us probably have some hope that our preferred candidate or our preferred policies, that the law runs in the same direction, but that isn’t always the case. And I said I was going to be a textualist and an originalist. I believe very deeply in those things.’
‘[C]ertainly conservatives, may not like from a policy outcome and that when I do, I was just following the law. People should know that.’
Then, the NY Times reporter wondered whether he felt “any sort of kinship with Republicans in Arizona and Georgia.” He responded:
‘The hard thing to do, the courageous thing to do, is to fulfill your oath, especially when you know it’s going to make your political supporters unhappy.’
‘It doesn’t matter what your role is, whether you’re the Republican secretary of state of Georgia or any other elected official.’
 How does he handle the criticism? The justice responded:
‘Yes, I’ve been called a traitor. I’ve been called a liar. I’ve been called a fraud. I’ve been asked if I’m being paid off by the Chinese Communist Party.’
‘I’ve been told I might be tried for treason by a military tribunal. Sure, I’ve gotten lots of interesting and sometimes dark messages.’
Then, the reporter asked whether this has affected his job. Justice Hagedorn answered:
‘I’ve got five young kids and, sure, there’s certain uncomfortableness, too, when your child asks you whether it’s OK to play in the front yard or whether they should just stay in the backyard.’
After that, he was asked about the conservatives trying to change the election numbers:
‘[A]nd I do think if you’re going to make a claim like that, you better have your evidence and you better have the law on your side and make your case. And at least in the cases before us, that wasn’t the case.’
The interviewer told the justice about what it was like “behind the scenes:”
‘Each justice needs to decide, and this is true at every court, how they want to explain their thinking and their rationale to the wider world around them. Sometimes we all do it passionately. I think every judge or justice has at times written passionate dissents and disagreements, and that’s a normal part of appellate judging.’
No biting dogs here, but there were a few snags.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
