Walkergate: The Slap On The Wrist That Was Heard Around The World

Today was the sentencing date for Kelly Rindfleisch, who was convicted of illegally politicking while working for then County Executive and gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker.

And she did indeed get sentenced, but there was so much more.

But first the sentencing.

Despite Rindfleisch crying her crocodile tear and trying to pretend to be sorry for doing the things that she already knew was wrong from her involvement in the caucus scandals, Judge David Hansher saw her for who she was:

Rindfleisch, who now lives in Columbus, Wis., apologized to "the people of Milwaukee County" for her crime.

"I want to assure them and assure you that Milwaukee County was always my first priority while I was employed as deputy chief of staff for the county executive," Rindfleisch said. Her wheelchair-bound mother and about a dozen relatives watched her sentencing. Some gasped when Hansher handed down the jail term.

The judge said while Rindfleisch had no criminal record, she had "a history of undesirable behavior," including involvement in the state Capitol caucus scandal. She was given immunity from prosecution for helping prosecutors in that investigation of campaign work done with state employees while on the job.

"I certainly question the amount of her remorse or regret," Hansher said. Jail time was necessary to act as a deterrent to others who might be tempted to mix campaign work with government-paid jobs, he said.

Despite his criticism, Judge Hansher showed an amazing amount of leniency.

While he could have given her three and a half years in prison and made her pay steep fines, he only sentenced her to six months in prison and three years of extended supervision. He also allowed her work release privileges and for her to sentence to be served in Columbia County, where she lives.

I would call it a slap on the wrist, but it was more of a wave above her wrist due to the fact that Judge Hansher stayed the sentence pending her guaranteed appeal.

When I first heard this on the radio this evening, I was appalled. I could see her appealing and having the conviction and sentence upheld. Then she would appeal it to the Supreme Court, and well, you know how corrupt that Court is.

But when I saw the excellent reporting by Marie Rohde for WisPolitics.com and by Steve Schultz and Dan Bice for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I quickly forgot my anger and frustration.

As he made his case for the sentencing, Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf opened the door to a treasure trove of information, confirming things that I've been reporting for years:

In a lengthy presentation during Rindfleisch's sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf displayed numerous emails between Rindfleisch and key members of Walker's campaign staff in which they discussed how to manage county government in 2010, while Walker was a candidate for governor.

Repeatedly, Landgraf argued that Rindfleisch knowingly broke the law by doing campaign work at the courthouse. In a new development, the prosecutor made clear - without saying it was illegal - that top Walker campaign officials influenced, even directed, county strategy.

"You guys are in the driver's seat," Rindfleisch wrote in one message to Keith Gilkes, Walker's former campaign chief of staff.

At another point, Rindfleisch said in an email regarding an effort by the campaign to plant stories about problems at the state Mendota Mental Health Institute: "This needs to be done covertly so it's not tied to Scott or the campaign in any way."

Landgraf said "The Campaign Group" included Walker, Gilkes, campaign spokeswoman Jill Bader and campaign adviser R.J. Johnson. It also included several top county aides to Walker: Cindy Archer, who was county administration director; county chief of staff Tom Nardelli; spokeswoman Fran McLaughlin; housing director Timothy Russell; and Rindfleisch.

Rindfleisch served as Walker's policy adviser and later his deputy chief of staff at the county.

Five members of the group spoke by phone daily at 8 a.m. to make sure the county executive's office was "in sync" with the "image" the campaign was advancing of Walker in his Republican race for governor against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, according to an email Landgraf presented in court as part of a PowerPoint presentation beamed to a large flat-panel TV.

"There was close contact with the campaign" and Walker's county staff, Landgraf said.

The five members on the daily calls were Gilkes and Bader from the campaign and Rindfleisch, Nardelli and McLaughlin from the county executive staff.

The Campaign Group vetted press releases that were released from Walker's county office, Landgraf said. They included messages about a federal disaster declaration the county was seeking after torrential rains in July 2010; news reports in the Journal Sentinel in August that year about patient sexual assaults at the county Mental Health Complex; and the acknowledgment by Darlene Wink, a county office assistant, of sending campaign related emails criticizing Barrett from Walker's courthouse office.

It is thoroughly and utterly disgusting that Walker and his crew were more concerned about his image than the fact that vulnerable women at the mental health complex were being sexually assaulted, a problem that Walker could have prevented years before they were finally being publicly reported.

Equally egregious is the fact that when a part of O'Donnell Park fell on and killed a child and injured two others, Walker's first concern was not about the victims, but how it might effect his campaign. Instead of going to the victims' side, he ran to the courthouse to find and hide documents that showed that he had neglected maintenance on the building for years.

Indeed, there is this:

Gilkes, in an email written the day of the accident, advised Walker's county staff to "make sure there is not a piece of paper anywhere that details any problem at all." News organizations and lawyers representing victims and others filed numerous open record requests after the O'Donnell Park accident for inspection reports and other documents on its construction.

In what I am sure is pure coincidence, shortly after Walker left the county, it was found that scads of files and a number of computers came up missing. Officials recovered the computers in raids on the Walker Campaign Group's homes. And I'll bet you my bottom dollar that many of those files were found in the Mystery Dumpster O'Fun.

But even the level of depravity of Walker and his crew is neither new nor the biggest part of this story.

Nor is it the fact that Walker would be implicated and intertwined in the illegal politicking. After all, how many times have I told you that with all things Walker, there is always more, and pointed out the one email that we already know of showing that he was not only aware of the campaigning, but was directing it.

The biggest part of this story is that Walker apparently was not running his campaign out of his county office. Instead, his campaign was running his county office.

Now, given that we also know that Walker is gearing up for a presidential run, who do you think is running his office at the Capitol?

Walkergate: The Return Of The Universal Immunity Defense

The other day, I pointed out that there were upcoming attractions in regards to the criminal case against Kelly Rindfleisch.

Indeed, there's been a relative flurry of action going on in the case. As noted in the above link,the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office is seeking permission to introduce even more of Rindfleisch's emails to provide "necessary context" and "complete the story behind the workday contacts in the charged counts."

Meanwhile, Rindfleisch's attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, has again filed a motion to have the case dismissed. His motion is based on two things.

One, he is citing the theory of universal immunity, in that the immunity Rindfleisch was granted during the caucus scandals should transcend time and be inclusive for all criminal behaviors.  He's tried this before, and I didn't think much of it then:

The defense with the highest comical effect, although I'm sure it was not intentional, is the one that Rindfleisch's attorney is presenting.

The first attempt to was to try to get the case dismissed outright, stating that it was improper for the complaint to include testimony that Rindfleisch had given years ago during the caucus trials.  In other words, they were trying to argue that the immunity granted all that time ago was unlimited in time and scope - an universal immunity, if you will.

While I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on the Internet, I find this laughable. The immunity that was granted was indeed to protect her from incriminating herself...for the caucus scandals. It was not meant to cover her for any other misdeeds she might do years later. 

The answer to this was already given in the DA's response to Tim Russell's motion to suppress evidence. Russell's attorney, Dennis Krueger, argued that the Walkergate investigation exceeded it's authority in its scope.  However, ADA Bruce Landgraf pointed out that the investigation followed the crime and that the investigation was under the auspices of an overseeing judge, in this case, the Honorable Neal P. Nettesheim.

Starting on the bottom of page 2 of the state's response:

The John Doe proceeding at issue here was commenced in May 2010. It was initiated pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes §968.26 (2009) That statute provides in relevant part:

(1) If a district attorney requests a judge to convene a proceeding to determine whether a crime has been committed in the court's jurisdiction, the judge shall convene a proceeding described under sub.(3)and shall subpoena and examine any witnesses the district attorney identifies.

***

(3) The extent to which the judge might proceed in an examination under sub.(1) or (2)is within the judge's discretion. The examination may be adjourned and may be secret...

The same would hold true for material evidence as well.

In other words, as long as the judge finds the request permissible, it will be allowed to happen. The only way that the DA would be able to ensure gathering all of the evidence is to collect all the emails for a specific time frame and then go through it.

A strong example would be from the Rindfleisch transcripts filed earlier this year. The email servers might not have thought a discussion of who was taking care of Rindfleisch's pets would be relevant to the case, but the DA's Office was able to use that to show that she was committing fraud by using the pretense of moving to Milwaukee County so that Walker could hire her to work in his office and do the campaign work he wanted her to do.

If I can see through Gimbel's arguments and rebut them, I'm sure that ADA Landgraf or whoever is handling this case will be able to do so with even more aplomb.

In summary, I don't think that Gimbel's gambit will work anymore than his failed attempt to have the venue changed to Columbia County.  But he is doing what he is supposed in offering the best defense he can for her.  It's not his fault that Rindfleisch was so blatant in her misdeeds that there is such a pile of evidence against her.

Walkergate: The Russell Revelations

On January 5, 2012, in the dark hour of 6 am, Tim Russell, a long time aide, staffer and very close friend to Scott Walker, was arrested in his home and transported to the Milwaukee County Courthouse, where he was charged with embezzling money from a veterans fund and two different political campaigns.

Since that day, Russell has gone through at least three attorneys, the most recent being Dennis Krueger, an attorney at the Maistelman & Associates Law Firm.  Michael Maistelman has also represented him throughout the investigation as well.

Tim Russell, being always so
helpful to Scott Walker

About a month ago, as reported by Cory Liebmann, Attorney Krueger filed motions with the court asking that the criminal charges be summarily dismissed..  Krueger went on to say if the court would not dismiss the charges, the majority of the evidence should be suppressed.  The rationales that Krueger offered were, to be blunt, ridiculous.  Krueger complained of a supposed lack of a speedy trial, that the charges exceeded the scope of the John Doe process, and other such silliness.

At the time, I pointed out the ridiculousness of it all.

Recently, Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf filed two motions to respond to those filed by Krueger.  Today, WisPolitics.com made them publicly available.  And they are doozies.

In his response to the motion to suppress the evidence, Landgraf does, in my opinion, a very able destruction of the defense's arguments.  He explains the process of a John Doe investigation as well as points out how the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office has gone above and beyond those standards to protect the integrity of the process as well as their case against Russell.

There are a few things to take away from this besides a better understanding of the John Doe process.

One is that when Walker had his Chief of Staff, Tom Nardelli, go to the DA, they cited Kevin Kavanaugh as the suspect (top of page 5).  It was only after the investigation started did Russell's alleged crimes come to light.  Call me conspiratorial, but I believe that there is a strong possibility that they tried to set up Kavanaugh as the fall guy, not realizing that the John Doe could take such leaps and bounds to ensnare them all in its investigation.

Another thing is that the Walkergate investigation has had its scope enlarged at least seven times, one for each new trail that came up during the investigation.  This is much larger than anyone might have thought.

The third thing, and perhaps the biggest from this document, can be found on page 12. Specifically, Russell is still being investigated for misconduct in office related to all of the illegal campaigning he was doing and directing others, like Darlene Wink, to do.

This is extremely significant when one considers the fact that it appears Russell is already running into financial problems stemming from the legal costs he has accrued and continues to accrue during the investigation and subsequent charging.  He most likely could not afford to defend against even more charges. This must be weighing heavily on his mind as he ponders trying to strike a plea agreement.

As interesting as the above-mentioned response is, Landgraf's response to the motion to dismiss is veritable gold mine producing some very large nuggets.

The first nugget comes on page 4, in which Attorney Krueger is offering the opening to reach some sort of plea deal:

click to embiggen

I have written a number of times already, and do so again now, that Russell would be a fool not to try to get a plea bargain.  The DA has a pretty solid case against him on the embezzlement charges and would have as close to a legal slam dunk as humanly possible if they were to charge him with a number of misconduct in office charges.  Furthermore, Walker has made it very clear that he is throwing Russell under the campaign bus and will not be giving him financial aid, much less a pardon.

Landgraf's motion also makes mention that they took six computers from Russell's home when they raided it, as well as more than 14,000 documents.  And that is before they found the Mystery Dumpster'O'Fun!  That would seem to be a tremendous amount of evidence for a judge or jury to ponder and would show what a strong case they have against Russell.  Again, I would refer Russell to the paragraph immediately above regarding the wisdom behind a plea deal.

I should point out that the plea deal might be out of reach for Russell now.  Landgraf has expressed that he feels that Krueger's motions put a large hindrance in any further progress in reaching an agreement.  Russell might be able to salvage something yet, but that would only be if he's got something that would be of real interest to the DA, such as being willing to testify against Scott Walker or someone even higher up on the political food chain, such as Reince Priebus.

I'm sure that the gentle reader has heard radio squawkers like Charlie Sykes or the propagandist groups like MacIver or Media Trackers, screeching endlessly about all the "leaks" in the investigation.  It was part of their ongoing campaign to try to discredit the DA and his office.

For Sykes, at least, it shows that there is no limit to his hypocrisy and dishonesty:

click to embiggen

Even though Sykes knew damn well that it was Walker's cronies and acolytes turning on him, Sykes continued to push the false line attacking and accusing the DA's Office of leaking information, all in order to defend Walker and his campaign during the recall.  A complaint really needs to be filed not only with the FCC, but with the GAB and possibly the DA as well for Sykes' and Journal Broadcasting's illegal campaign contributions.

But Sykes, the loathsome toad that he is, is not the biggest liar out there.  That honor belongs to --- wait for it ---  Scott Walker!  As I always say, when it comes to Scott Walker, there's more, there's always more.

On page 15, there is this rare double nugget:

click to embiggen

Despite Walker's repeated claims early on that he knew nothing but what he read in the paper, it is obvious that he was fully aware of what was happening in the John Doe long before the first charges were ever issued.  In fact, this email was sent almost two months before the 2010 election.  Hiller, who was still his campaign treasurer at that time, was filling him on the raid on Wink's home,  who the John Doe Judge was, that more subpoenas were about to be issued and that railroad tycoon William Gardner was about to be criminally charged.


This would explain the reports that I was hearing that Walker and his campaign were terrified that this information, as well as the raid on his own office on November 1- the very day before the election - would get out before he could be sworn into office and before he could set into motion his agenda to destroy the unions and pillage the state.

But there are also another interesting tidbit in that email from Hiller.

He points out that, even at these early stages of the investigation, that the FBI was involved.  While not absolutely confirming it, it does give credence to the reports that Walker might be facing federal charges in the relatively near future.

As a final point, the Landgraf responses show that Russell has been all over the place in regards to his defense strategy.  He's been through a number of attorneys and has repeatedly shown indecisiveness on how to proceed.  It is this indecisiveness that may have sabotaged any chance he had at reaching a plea bargain with the state.  This flies in the face of statements made by Walker apologists about some staff members being "overzealous" in their support of Walker and his campaign.

Russell, who was giving marching orders to Wink and others, was not a leader.  He was only relaying and following orders issued from someone above him.  Without having those directives now, he can't find his way out of a brown paper bag.

And I believe we all can figure out who was the person giving those orders.