“Our staff promptly provided all requested records based on each successive search criteria DOJ identified,” they wrote. “We immediately notified DOJ when potentially responsive records were located.”

Schimel responded that the commission turned over records in five separate batches between February and November and that “the commission’s level of cooperation is explained fully in the report, and the commission has not identified any inaccurate statements in the report.”

Bell and Buerger, who were not involved in the John Doe investigation but handled related records, were not among those Schimel recommended for discipline, but Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, called for their termination — in part based on the Fifth Amendment reference in the DOJ report.

Halbrooks and McCallum objected to Schimel questioning why no member of the Ethics Commission reported a crime when the Guardian published its report. They noted no one at the Ethics Commission was privy to the sealed John Doe records so “none of us were able to identify that a crime had occurred at the time.”

They also objected to the report mixing up a description of the records security practices under the former GAB with those under the Ethics Commission, which has since put in place measures to ensure records are properly checked in and out.