Friday, September 27, 2013

Is Van Hollen A Paul Ryan Man?

It is common knowledge that Fitzwalkerstan Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is a political hack who abuses the power of his office to advance the Teapublican agenda.  Whether it's from joining in the frivolous lawsuit against Obamacare to defending fellow Teapublicans from having to follow the Freedom of Information Act to not prosecuting any of the high levels of corruption in the state, one could count on Van Hollen not to do the right thing.

So when the news broke that an appellate judge had ordered that the emails and documents related to the Kelly Rindfleisch case should be released, one might have expected that Van Hollen would argue against that or at least ask them to remain sealed.

Surprisingly, Van Hollen said that his office would not request the documents be sealed:
The Department of Justice will not seek to seal emails and other records that are to be added to the case file in an appeal by a former aide to Gov. Scott Walker when he was Milwaukee County executive, a department official said Thursday.

But the former aide, Kelly Rindfleisch, could seek to keep those records secret, and the judge in the case has not explicitly said whether the records will be made public.

Appeals Judge Patricia Curley on Wednesday ordered that the emails and affidavits be filed with her as part of Rindfleish's appeal within 15 days. Curley did not specify whether the records must be filed under seal, but documents in case files are ordinarily public records unless a judge orders that they be sealed.
Why would Van Hollen not ask for the documents to be sealed? He must know that they would at best be embarrassing to Scott Walker.

Is Van Hollen a Paul Ryan guy and is hoping to sabotage Walker's presidential aspirations? Or maybe he is tired of squawkers like Charlie "White Wisconsin" Sykes always ripping into him and this is Van Hollen's way of getting back at them?

Whatever Van Hollen's motivation might be, this could get real interesting real fast.  It might be time to make a run to Pick'N'Save for some more popcorn.


4 comments:

  1. My guess is that Van Hollen, like Paul Ryan and Scott Walker has higher aspirations. The problem with Walker is that he's got a heavy trail of stench that's been following him since his days as county executive. So he's creating a little distance between himself and the unholy one. That, or it's a smoke screen to distract from Vukimir. The Vukimir situation affects the whole ALEC foundation. A much bigger animal to protect. Little soldier Walker with delusions of granduer fading is going to have to take one for the team.

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  2. CJ, thanks. Appreciate your well-informed take.

    JS will oppose anyone who tries to seal the records.

    "In Friday's letter to the judge, Journal Sentinel attorney Robert Dreps wrote that court records are presumed to be open and can be sealed only in extraordinary circumstances and after a public hearing.

    "...This is a criminal case in which a defendant, convicted and sentenced in a public proceeding involving the use of public resources with evidence from public records, has exercised her right to appeal," Dreps wrote. "There is nothing private about it...."

    http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/newspaper-files-to-intervene-in-john-doe-appeals-case-to-make-records-public-b99108395z1-225561242.html

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  3. We all forget that Van Hollen is part of the Catholic mafia in Wisconsin. That is, Van Hollen, Paul Ryan...and a whole host of lesser Catholic legislators (Vos, Litjens, Jacque, Ott, Vukmir, etc.) have a single mission, and, that mission is to ban all abortions and all birth control. Walker will play loosy goosy with that topic, but Ryan has made it very clear he will pursue that agenda. Walker is the stepping stone for Ryan to walk over...

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