DANIEL BICE

Bice: Sheriff David Clarke's former top aide wants to succeed him

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.'s former top aide said this week that he would ask to be appointed as Clarke's successor.

U.S. Marshal Kevin Carr said he would apply for the job of sheriff when — or if — Clarke officially takes a position in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Gov. Scott Walker will name a new sheriff from a list of applicants once Clarke submits his resignation letter.

OPINION: Clarke's departure will be good for department and Milwaukee County

"Naturally, after 30 years with the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office and approximately 38 years in law enforcement, I do have an interest in continuing my public service by being appointed to the Sheriff's position by Governor Walker," Carr said via email.

"I would consider it an honor and a privilege to respectfully serve all of the people in Milwaukee County in that capacity."

Carr would not say whether he plans to run for the office at the end of the current term in 2018.

He was appointed U.S. marshal for eastern Wisconsin in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama, a post that initially paid $152,960 a year.

When he retired from county service, having risen to the post of inspector in the sheriff's office, Carr received a one-time $604,000 lump-sum payment under the county's controversial backdrop program, Milwaukee County officials said. Backdrop payments were intended as bonuses to county workers who stayed past their retirement date.

Carr also is paid a monthly pension of about $8,200, according to county officials. That works out to slightly more than $98,000 a year.

Face-off coming

His announcement sets up an interesting face-off with former Milwaukee Police Department Capt. Earnell Lucas, now vice president of security with Major League Baseball.

Lucas, who is already officially registered to run in next year's Democratic primary for sheriff, has said he plans to apply for the job once Clarke files his resignation letter.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge John Siefert also said last week that he plans to run in the Democratic primary but won't apply to fill the opening.

All of this, of course, is contingent on Clarke's actually leaving. The highly controversial sheriff announced last week that he had agreed to become an assistant secretary for homeland security. But top officials in the agency have yet to confirm the appointment.

POLITIFACT: Sheriff Clarke's file

Over the weekend, Clarke was accused of plagiarizing portions of his 2013 master's thesis on homeland security. CNN reported that he failed to properly attribute sources at least 47 times in his thesis.

Specifically, he credited his sources but failed to make clear that he was using passages verbatim,

Clarke denied the allegations, suggesting that “only someone with a political agenda would say this is plagiarism.” His spokeswoman suggested that CNN had an agenda and bias.

The Washington Post has reported that the Naval Postgraduate School had removed Clarke's thesis from its online archive and was looking into the allegations.

In an interview this week on Newsmax TV's "The Joe Pags Show," Clarke raised the possibility, for the first time, that the scandal might kill his Trump administration appointment.

"President Donald Trump has to do what's in the best interests of his administration," Clarke said. "They've cut people loose before. I don't know why. So time will tell, but I know that he values loyalty, and you know he's smart enough. President Trump knows what's going on here with me. He knows fully well, as does (Homeland Security Secretary John) Kelly."

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