Sunday, March 16, 2014

Walkergate: Poor Kelly!

Via Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, we learn that Anne Hollinsed, sister of Kelly Rindfleisch, has come to her sister's defense in the form of a letter to the editor of the Baraboo News Republic.  Rindfleisch was Scott Walker's Deputy Chief of Staff as well as a key player in the campaigns for Walker and Brett Davis, a candidate for lieutenant governor.  She was convicted of illegal politicking after she pleaded guilty.  She is now appealing her conviction.

Judging from Ms Hollinsed's letter, she is either grossly misinformed or she has been drinking deeply of the Koolaid.  The gist of the letter is that somehow Rindfleisch is the victim in all of this and, rather ironically, Rindfleisch is being mistreated by a faulty political system.

After bemoaning the fact that the investigation was expanded, Hollinsed writes:
Kelly was also not campaigning for Scott Walker at the time; she was working on a campaign for Brett Davis, who ran for Lt. Governor. She herself has calculated that the actual time spent during her 9- to 11-hour days on salary, was approximately 6 minutes per day merely trying to answer emails on a timely basis. That’s the actual crime that became the cause celeb for Walker opponents, pretty sad.
Apparently, Hollinsed feels that as long as her sister was doing political campaign activity for Brett Davis instead of Walker, that somehow makes it okay.

But Hollinsed said that Rindfleisch said she spent only six minutes per day to answer emails.  That is much different than what Rindfleisch had said earlier.  From her own emails, sent on the secret router, which appeared in the criminal charges against her, Rindfleisch said she spent half her time doing campaign work:


But the false statements don't stop there.  Hollinsed continues with this:
The “secret email account,” mischaracterized by the press and prosecutor as such, was only a separate email account set up to handle those campaign emails. It’s common practice and there’s nothing secret about it.
There has been expert testimony that such a system is not "common practice" and that it was set up to skirt open record laws.  Even Scott Walker knew it was secret and wanted it to disappear after Darlene Wink was caught using it.

Yeah, and there's more. There's always more:
Kelly’s life has been ruined by the hatred of Scott Walker in this state. She can’t find employment because of the overreaching single felony conviction she received by a Democratic judge. Unlike Mr. Sylvander’s statement, she’s not currently employed with the Walker administration or in the so-called “inner circle” and hasn’t been for two years. She was paraded in front of news cameras and on the front page of every newspaper in the state for days and weeks on end. The person who was the subject of the initial request for investigation by Walker regarding the VA funds received only probation for actual theft. He was pretty low on the staffer ladder and if they couldn’t get Walker himself, his Deputy Chief of Staff would have to do.
Whooey! Talk about your Gish Gallops!

First of all, Rindfliesch was first hired by Walker and then the GOP.  After that, she went to work for an agency called Media Systems Affiliates, who had benefited greatly from Walker's campaign.

After that, we know that she had worked for National Lending Solutions, an agency owned by the slimy millionaire Michael Eisenga. Unsurprisingly, she couldn't keep her nose clean there either, and got into trouble with the law in Nevada.

And just this year, I reported that Rindfleisch was working for a political consult agency named Cross Rhodes, operated by her good friend and fellow conspirator, Judith Rhodes Engels.  We also learned that there was a lot of money flowing into the Cross Rhodes.

The person Hollinsed referred to as the original subject was Kevin Kavanaugh.  Contrary to Hollinsed's assertions, Kavanaugh was sentenced to two years in prison and to pay more than $51,000 in restitution.  Kavanaugh served half that term before being suddenly released by Walker's Department of Corrections.

Compare that to Rindfleisch, who was sentenced to six months, but had that sentenced immediately stayed pending her appeal.  She has yet to serve one day of her sentence, two years after her guilty plea.

It does appear that Rindfleisch, despite the charity jobs she has had over the past few years, is indeed having money troubles.  It has been reported that Rindfleisch is in arrears for $6,218 in income tax to the state.  Apparently she either felt that she was indeed a charity case or because she was willing to take one for Team Walker, he wouldn't betray her like he's betrayed everyone else that has supported him.

Rindfleisch is also reported to be a subject of the ongoing Walkergate investigations, which are looking at the possible collusion between Walker's campaign and various dark money groups.

With all initial investigation and conviction, the appeal and now being a part of another investigation, it's not hard to imagine that her legal bills are piling up and that she is having money problems.

It is hard to feel sorry for her though, since this isn't even the first time she had been involved with illegal politicking.  That happened more than a decade ago when she was part of the caucus scandals along with Brian Fraley, currently part of White Wisconsin with Charlie "Doe" Sykes:


Now that the Rindfleisch emails and other documents have been released, Walker is at a crossroads himself. The release of those documents has harmed him a lot.  And the release came from Rindfleisch's appeal of her conviction.  It would seem that she has become expendable.

But with the fact that she is also a subject of the ongoing investigations, as his Walker himself, he can't cut her off, lest she becomes a state witness against him. My best guess is that he will still make sure money is being funneled to her, to keep her quiet, but not enough that she isn't under his thumb anymore.

This is definitely going to be worth its weight in popcorn.

4 comments:

  1. Kelly is in deep, she knows it, her lawyer knows it. Did it occur to anyone that she is the one keeping Walker on the hook for money? In the end, when she has to save her own skin (Doe 2 is way worse than Doe 1), she will flip and SKW will not see it coming. If Kelly is good at one thing, it is deception.

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  2. It may be pronounced "cause celeb" but it is spelled "cause célèbre". Why am I finding this as irritating as the lies? Both are equally expected...

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  3. Does sister have any problems with her racist comments? Or do we just leave that go? Anyone representing such a high end position should have the integrity and class that comes with the job. Get a grip sis...your sibling is a racist slob who got lucky by following a criminal politician who is willing to throw staff under his bus to cover his
    own hide.

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  4. Kelly's sister is cut from the same cloth. Not surprising that she is defending her sister who got caught 2 times now - Caucus scandal and Walkergate. Her sister needs to be clear that Kelly was in jail because of Kelly...not a Democrat DA. They need to quit whining and start being honest. The whining bit is getting annoying. Kelly should be courageous, as her former boss says. Suck it up and be Walker's punching bag - that is what you signed up for honey. And Kelly's sister? She should just own that she is kin to a criminal.

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