Bice: Gov. Scott Walker agrees Sheriff David Clarke erred

Gov. Scott Walker is siding with his campaign adviser in a dispute with Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. 

Late last year, political strategist R.J. Johnson, who helped Walker win statewide three times, called into question a key anecdote in Clarke's new book, "Cop Under Fire."

According to Clarke's book, Walker refused to help the sheriff in his hotly contested 2014 primary contest. Clarke quotes Johnson as saying the governor "doesn't want news articles indicating that he's not a true conservative by helping a Democrat get elected."

But Johnson said that never happened.

"That would be complete fiction," Johnson said in November about an early edition of Clarke's book. "You can quote me on it."

Clarke, who runs as a Democrat, kept the story in the final edition of his memoir, which went on sale last month. His book was the 15th most popular book on amazon.com this week.

Asked Wednesday who was telling the truth, Walker gave an answer that was short and sweet: "R.J.'s right." The governor made his remark to reporters after giving a talk at an annual conference hosted by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce in Madison.

Walker aides had declined to take sides last year when the issue first came up.

In his book, Clarke then says he remains friends with the second-term Republican governor but draws these conclusions: "It was a hard lesson in politics. Partisanship trumps principle…I understand you have to be politically smart, but I wish he'd been less focused on his future in politics and more focused on doing the right thing."

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.