Monday, March 3, 2014

Where Are The Rest Of The Walkergate Emails?

I don't know that anyone has yet gone though all of the 27,000 pages of emails and other documents that were released two weeks ago as part of the appeal proceedings for Kelly Rindfleisch.  And if they have, I doubt they have gleamed all of the significant parts of the emails and other documents.

But was has come out has been fairly damning.  Everything from racist "jokes" to cover ups to incidents of illegal collaboration to illegal politicking.

But as much as these emails have revealed about who Scott Walker really is and what miscreants he and his staff are, there is one thing people are forgetting.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

These are only the emails regarding one of the Walkergate Six, and even then, only the ones pertinent to her case.

There are still the emails from Darlene Wink and Tim Russell. There are still the emails of Cindy Archer, Tom Nardelli and Walker himself.  There are still all the documents that were found in the Mystery Dumpster O'Fun.

There is a helluva lot more out there.

Unfortunately, they are still sealed.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that they are suing for their release, but that doesn't appear to be going anywhere fast.  And even if they win their lawsuit, what's to say that they will make all of the emails available to the public?  Given the cover that they have given to Walker for more than a decade, I don't have a reason to expect that they would suddenly start objective reporting now.

It would seem to me that a more efficient and expeditious route would be for Milwaukee County government to claim those emails back.  It is their property after all.  And if the original Walkergate investigation is over and no other charges are to come of it, there is no reason to keep those emails sealed.

Unfortunately, Chris Abele hasn't lifted a finger to reclaim the people's property.  Nor has he explained why he hasn't done his job in that respect.

Maybe he's afraid that Walker won't keep signing the bills that allow him to further concentrate power into his own hands.  Maybe it's because of some sort of secret Brotherhood of the Weasel pact.

But surely, since Walker has called this all "old news," he wouldn't object that these emails and documents being unsealed and released.  Heck, if Walker is as innocent and guileless as he claims to be, he would want them to be released, to exonerate his name.

It's time for Abele to do his job for once and demand these emails and documents be released back to Milwaukee County and then to make them available to the people.

7 comments:

  1. Like Watergate, Walkergate has the drip, drip, drip of ongoing revelations. However there is no Washington Post or Woodward and Bernstein within today’s corporate media. Instead independent bloggers are carrying the load of investigating and revealing the malfeasance of the conspirators.

    Capper, Jeff and the many bloggers working hard on these important efforts, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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  2. The JS isn't the only newspaper out there.....

    It behooves those who are following this case to contact Al Jazeera's Chicago bureau. Their agency recently brought down a California legislator and does some very thorough investigative journalism. Their POC in Chicago is Diane Eastabrook. I don't have her email address, but you can send email and phone calls to:

    america@aljazeera.net

    NYC:
    646-273-8700

    DC:
    (202) 496-4500

    Chicago Field Office POCs:
    Ash-har Quraishi
    Diane Eastabrook

    Again, the people who can really dig into this are:

    Josh Bernstein

    Diane Eastabrook

    Ash-har Quraishi

    Josh ran the investigation into Ronald Calderon and Diane/Ash-har run the Chicago bureau. This story is so deep and has such large US implications (former GOP presidential candidate/GOP Party Chair/Future GOP Presidential Candidate/National Donors/Federal Courts/etc) that I must believe AJ will look into it. It's sad to say that they are the only hope for investigative journalism, but we know Journal Communications isn't going to do it.

    http://america.aljazeera.com/...

    They've done this work before. I'm sure with enough information they'd be able to do it again. Getting the expose on Walker/Koch/Priebus would be at the level of Blago, Christie, and above the level of Calderon. And who knows this better than those who have been following this for the last few years? The depths and nuances of this (not to mention the national implications) are too big to be ignored.

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  3. Capper, thanks.

    Thanks Capper.

    I don't see any explanation beyond the obvious, Mr. Abele wants Scott Walker re-elected Governor in 2014.

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  4. Capper, thanks.

    I don't see any other way to read this. Mr. Abele wants Scott Walker to win in November.

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  5. Why not read the Journal Sentinel's motion? The newspaper is asking that the records be returned to Milwaukee County's possession so that ANYONE may seek access under the open records law. It is not seeking exclusive possession as your "reporting" suggests. It has taken this step, according to its motion, because Chris Abele has refused to do so.

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  6. I think its time for the U. S. Dept. of Justice to get involved if we are to be given the complete truth. We are owed that ass citizens of a state that has experienced a hostile takeover by corporations and special interests!

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  7. We need higher oversight. The emails MUST be released or a suit must be brought forward to get this done. There is a mountain of incriminating evidence that Walker is suppressing, which once again isn't very transparent on Walker's part. John Doe 2 will carry on and Walker will be exposed eventually. However, in the interim WI needs to know what is in those documents. Walker has someone on the inside cooperating from releasing them. FIND OUT WHO AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE.

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