Leah Vukmir rips Mark Pocan job offer to fired FBI official Andrew McCabe

Bill Glauber
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

In a pair of tweets, Leah Vukmir ripped into U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan Monday for offering a job to fired FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe and proposed making it illegal to hire a federal employee to pad a pension.

Vukmir, a conservative who represents Brookfield in the state Senate, is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Pocan is a liberal Democrat who represents Madison.

Pocan made the job offer to save McCabe's pension after he was fired late Friday night by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions two days before he was set to retire. The Justice Department's internal watchdog accused McCabe of misconduct.

In a statement, McCabe said he and his family "have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country."

Referring to a story of Pocan's job offer, Vukmir tweeted: "The true injustice in this story is that Mark Pocan thinks government employees deserve to retire at 50 years old with their full benefits. Only in the swamp of Washington does that make any sense."

In a second tweet, she added: "I propose making it illegal to hire a federal govt employee for the sole purpose of padding a pension. Taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook to inflate the pensions of deep state agents who have proven they can’t be trusted to work for govt."

Also Monday, John Bolton showed he really is going all in on Kevin Nicholson's run for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Kevin Nicholson (left), Tammy Baldwin (center) and Leah Vukmir (right)

The John Bolton Super PAC announced it was launching a new round of TV and radio ads in the Milwaukee market. The $278,000 ad buy amounts to a second installment on the group's promise to invest $1 million in the race.

The ads are due to run Monday through April 2.

The group previously ran ads in the Green Bay market.

Bolton, a former U.S. diplomat, has been in the news as a potential member of Donald Trump's administration.

Also Monday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee launched digital ads attacking Nicholson and Vukmir for their stances on health care.

Nicholson, a Delafield businessman, and Vukmir are the only announced Republican candidates bidding to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November.