Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R., Wis.) campaign released a new advertisement on Tuesday likening his Democratic opponent Russ Feingold’s refusal to release email correspondence during his tenure at the State Department to Hillary Clinton’s email scandal.
Feingold has been accused of potentially violating federal law by discussing his intent to challenge Johnson while working as a special envoy at the State Department. A person in government who does not work in an outward political role is prohibited from political activity. Such correspondence would be a violation of the Hatch Act.
News reports from last year have pinned Feingold’s discussions dealing with the campaign to numerous politicians as he was still serving at the department. Feingold recently contradicted these reports.
Calls for Feingold to release his email correspondence have increased in recent weeks after the State Department acknowledged documents requested 20 months ago through a Freedom of Information Act request will not be released until one month after the November elections.
"Senator Feingold’s State Department email scandal is just like Hillary Clinton’s–so much so that it can be difficult to tell the two apart," Johnson campaign spokesman Brian Reisinger said. "If Senator Feingold has nothing to hide and he wasn’t illegally running a shadow campaign while at the State Department, he should demand that the State Department follow the law and release his emails immediately."