Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican congressman from up north, has had a remarkably easy path toward becoming his party’s presumptive nominee for governor, but he may face more pushback from the general public now that he has expressed an openness to sending tax dollars to the insurrectionists who violently stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
On Tuesday, TIffany was asked about President Donald Trump’s demand for a $1.8 billion fund to compensate “victims” of government overreach during the Biden administration — and expressed an openness to the idea.
“I would want to take a look at what was the harm that was done to those victims?” Tiffany said. “If it’s significant enough, perhaps they should receive compensation. What I think is more important is those who have abused their authority in a federal agency, that they should be charged and they should be prosecuted, if they have abused their authority.”
Tiffany later said he would “draw the line” when it comes to paying anyone who harmed a law enforcement official.
Question of the Week: Will Tiffany’s Jan. 6 views hurt his campaign for governor?
Who are the “victims” and who abused their authority?
The money Trump is seeking could go to a range of people who have been adjudicated in court as being closer to criminals than victims: Members of the violent mob for their actions at the Capitol, staff who assisted Trump in removing classified documents and hiding them from authorities, and the people who helped Trump try to rig the results of the 2020 election.
Already, one of the architects of Trump’s fake electors scheme, former Dane County Judge Jim Troupis, has written to the US Attorney General seeking $3.2 million, even as he awaits trial on 11 felony forgery charges for his role in the 2020 fake electors plot.
Tiffany’s comments about officials abusing their authority reopens the discussion about Tiffany’s own role in trying to help Trump stay in power despite losing the election to President Joe Biden in 2020.
Tiffany voted to reject the certified election totals from two states, Arizona and Pennsylvania, during that now-famous joint session of Congress on Jan. 6. Tiffany also expressed a willingness to reject the certified election totals from Wisconsin, had such a vote been taken that day.
Tiffany also signed on to a lawsuit in Texas that was seeking to throw out Wisconsin’s results and let the Republican-controlled Legislature determine who would get our state’s electoral votes. He recently repeated his claim about “irregularities” in 2020, again without offering proof.
‘Free J6ers’
Those purported irregularities must have disappeared four years later when Trump won a second term and used one of his first official acts on Jan. 20, 2025 to pardon around 1,500 people charged with crimes stemming from the Capitol assault. Even some Republicans said it was wrong to issue a blanket pardon. Tiffany, on the other hand, applauded Trump that evening in a media post that included, “Free J6ers … promises made, promises kept.”
Earlier coverage: Another ‘No’ vote from Tiffany on a measure to stand up to Russia
Also: Tiffany is working to roll back 150 years of birthright citizenship
While the legitimacy of Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund remains an open question, Democrats in Madison and Washington, DC are preparing to neuter its impact. Both US Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Black Earth) and state Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) have introduced legislation that would tax any payouts from the fund at 100%.
“Put simply,” Hesselbein said in announcing her bill, “if you’re from Wisconsin and you stormed the Capitol, you will not receive money from the slush fund. Wisconsinites are tired of the chaos and corruption caused by the Trump administration.”
Of course, Trump would certainly not sign such a bill if Democrats took control of Congress. And if Democrats take the Legislature but lose the state’s biggest 2026 election, it is unlikely a Gov. Tiffany would want to penalize the people whose payouts he appears to support.
