MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
October 10, 2017
By Daniel Bice
As he made his formal announcement to run for governor, former Democratic Party Chairman Matthew Flynn defended himself against charges that he was overly aggressive in representing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee against victims of sexual abuse by priests.
Specifically, Flynn came under attack for moving to collect $4,000 in legal fees from an alleged victim who lost his case. Also, Flynn is accused of telling a lawyer for several abuse victims that the archdiocese would “throw a crumb to your clients if you drop these cases.”
“Baloney!” Flynn said in response to the “crumbs” statement in an interview after his announcement in Glendale on Tuesday. “I never said that.”
Flynn is one of eight Democrats seeking to challenge GOP Gov. Scott Walker next year.
This week, Peter Isley, Midwest director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called into question whether Flynn should be running for the state’s highest political post.
Isley said the primary duty of any governor is the protection and safety of all state residents, especially children. But Isley said Flynn’s record doesn’t suggest he would be the best person to do this.
“For some fifteen years, Matt Flynn was the chief corporate lawyer for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee during the height of the widespread and systematic cover up of thousands of sex crimes against children by dozens of sex offender priests,” Isley said.
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