Bice: U.S. Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski says she saved taxpayers 'tens of millions of dollars.' She just can't prove it.

It's a simple rule for politicians: If you're going to assert something as fact, you should be able to back it up. 

That's doubly true when the assertion has been central to your campaign. 

Well, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski apparently didn't get the political rulebook. 

Since she entered Wisconsin politics three years ago by winning her race for state treasurer, Godlewski and her campaign have repeatedly claimed that she sliced at least $20 million from the Pentagon's budget when she worked for a defense contractor a decade ago.  

Not only did she say this in her announcement video in the treasurer's race in July 2018, but she even included the tidbit in a news release from the state treasurer's office on the birth of her son two years ago. 

In all, Godlewski, her state office or her campaign have made the claim on video or in writing at least eight times, putting it most bluntly in a campaign news release during her treasurer's race: "Sarah’s work for the Department of Defense has saved taxpayers tens of millions of dollars."

Not much wiggle room there.

But can she back it up? She was asked this by The Associated Press in 2018, and she was quoted in a news brief as saying she could not comment because her work was top secret. 

Just to be clear, Godlewski never worked for the Defense Department, though she often seems to suggest she did, but was a $72,000-per-year "lead associate" for Booz Allen Hamilton, a large defense contractor based in Arlington, Virginia., from 2004 to 2012, according to her resume.

So the Journal Sentinel gave Godlewski a month to find data or documents that would verify her oft-stated claim about saving those shipyards full of taxpayer dollars.

Godlewski, 39, is one of four Democrats, along with Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson and Wausau radiologist Gillian Battino, hoping to win Republican Ron Johnson's seat in the U.S. Senate. Johnson has yet to say if he will run again. 

What Godlewski's team came back with was this: 

The campaign said it believes there are government records that would confirm Godlewski's assertion about the tax savings. But some of those records may be classified or restricted; otherwise, the documents could potentially be accessed through the Defense Department, her campaign said.  

Got that? To simplify: There may be records out there that prove her claim, but Godlewski and the staff don't have them or can't share them. 

Former co-workers back Godlewski

Beyond that, the campaign offered the testimony of three former co-workers or supervisors who vouched for Godlewski's strong work ethic and the fact that her work did help save the Pentagon some money. Two said they considered her claim about the Pentagon savings "reasonable."

But none could give an exact figure or provide any verification of her numbers.

Perhaps her strongest "validator," to use her campaign's term, was Elizabeth Nathan Conrad, a former Defense Department staffer who worked with Godlewski for 11 months during 2010-'11. The two oversaw a project aimed at helping the Pentagon do a better job of teaching foreign languages and cultural skills to those being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. 

"I would be hard-pressed now 10 years later — you know, not having access to my files and again most of it would be classified, at least the raw data — to be able to tell you how she got that number," Conrad said of Godlewski's claim. 

Conrad, whose husband contributed $1,750 to Godlewski's campaign in 2018, added:  "But I can tell you that that is a reasonable estimate from my perspective, and I would have no reason to question any estimate she gave of the savings that she generated during her time in DOD. Like I said, she was doing a lot of things for a lot of different offices and was extremely effective."

In short, Conrad thinks the assertion is correct, but she can't really confirm it. Just like Godlewski.

So why has Godlewski decided to make the claim a point of emphasis in the past even though she knows she can't substantiate it? 

Asked that question, Jeremy Busch, her campaign spokesman, decided to double-down on the Godlewski talking point. 

In a statement, Busch said the Senate candidate helped lead sensitive projects alongside military officials and defense experts in her work at Booz Allen. 

"From devising the process to bring back equipment that was left behind in the desert, to improving military readiness, to redesigning foreign language and culture capabilities, Sarah’s work helped save lives and saved tens of millions of taxpayer dollars," Busch said by email.

"Sarah's experience rooting out government waste and advancing national security is precisely why she's the best candidate to beat Ron Johnson and get things done for Wisconsinites in the U.S. Senate — just like she did with the Pentagon."

Perhaps if you say it enough, the voters might just believe it. 

But some aren't buying it. 

"It’s telling that known resume-embellisher Sarah Godlewski still can’t prove this extravagant claim she’s been making for years about her experience," said Republican Party spokeswoman Anna Kelly. "Her eye-rolling exaggerations cannot mask her lack of substance and her credibility has evaporated."

Kelly is referring to questions that have been raised by the Journal Sentinel about Godlewski's graduate education. 

Over the years, several online publications and websites, including her wedding announcement and her Wikipedia page, have said Godlewski has a master's degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania, though she never completed the program. Godlewski has said she has never claimed she had that Ivy League degree and doesn't know why those websites say otherwise. 

Talking point recedes in campaign

Even while Godlewski and her campaign say they stand by her Defense Department claim, it's noteworthy that the talking point is not front and center in her U.S. Senate campaign.

Earlier this year, her LinkedIn profile said she led the effort to improve collaboration among multiple national security organizations during her time at Booz Allen, generating cost savings of $10.8 million. The claim disappeared sometime in January. 

Also, her video launching her U.S. Senate bid brings up her work for the Pentagon, but she replaced her claim that she saved "tens of millions of dollars" with a much more generic statement about saving "taxpayer dollars." 

"So in my work for the Pentagon," she says in the April video, "I found a way to save taxpayers dollars by identifying wasteful spending."

Hmmmm. Some newfound hesitancy about the Pentagon claim by the Godlewski camp?

Not at all, her campaign said.

She stands by the $10.8 million figure as the savings she helped generate for just one year on one of her many defense projects. The page was updated for "simplicity and consistency." And she continues to say on the campaign trail that she was responsible for cutting tens of millions of dollars from the hefty and largely secret Pentagon budget. 

One person who worked with Godlewski at Booz Allen was Dave Arnold, a retired 26-year U.S. Navy captain. The pair worked together for 3½ years on the Defense Language Office project, for which he was project manager and Sarah was deputy. A total of 15 people worked on the team. 

Arnold, who gave $25 to her 2018 campaign, described himself as a "huge advocate" for Godlewski. He said he was very disappointed when she left Booz Allen to take a job with Arapahoe County, Colorado. 

Arnold said it was Booz's job to find efficiencies at the Pentagon and to encourage agencies to work together to try to generate savings. But he didn't know how much money Godlewski was responsible for saving. 

"For me to put a specific number on that would be difficult," Arnold said in an interview. "I think it's fair to say that we're definitely helping them increase savings over time, and we still are."

A day later, Godlewski's campaign sent over a more direct statement from Arnold: 

“Sarah’s consulting work for the Office of the Secretary of Defense was instrumental in helping reduce the costs of the Defense Department's war-fighting support programs, and tens of millions over time is a reasonable assessment of the impact of that work." 

Finally, Claire Portolese, a former Booz Allen supervisor, said she oversaw Godlewski's work from 2007 to 2008 at the U.S. Army Material Command, which handles equipment and logistics for the Army. 

Portolese said her team was trying to streamline the Army Material Command's operations from the top of the agency out to the "subordinate commands." She said the agency was looking to find ways to do things better, faster and easier.

Portolese, who donated $275 to Godlewski's 2018 campaign, said she didn't have any "true quantifiable metrics" for how much their work ended up saving taxpayers. But she said she would estimate they were able to cut spending by $8 million, less the amount paid the defense contractor.

In addition, Portolese said she and Godlewski had top secret clearance, something that was given to them in writing and was renewed every five years. 

"She's actually one of my favorite people I've ever worked with," Portolese said. "She is just great and has a wonderful work ethic that she brings to the team."

Nobody is questioning that. Nor is anyone saying she didn't do substantive work for the defense contractor. It's just that, right now, there's no way to know if she actually saved all that money that she has repeatedly said she did. 

For that, you'll just have to trust Godlewski and her former co-workers. Because that's all she's got.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.