Corrupt Jude Randa Rules That Prosecutors Can't Stop Corruption

Rudolph Randa

In February 2014, the Wisconsin Club for Growth (WCfG) and its director, Eric O'Keefe, filed a frivolous lawsuit in federal court, asking the court to stop the John Doe investigation into illegal collaboration between dark money special interest groups, likw WCfG, and Scott Walker's campaign. The goal of the group was not only to stop the investigation but to get the court to legalize the corruption they were participating in.

The case was heard before Judge Rudoph Randa, who not only ordered an injunction against the investigation but also that the evidence gathered thus far be destroyed. This ruling was appealed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, who immediately quashed the order to destroy the evidence and later overruled Randa's decision altogether.

Within days, another dark money group, the utterly misnamed Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG) filed yet another lawsuit - the sixth one related to the investigation. This time, they were asking for the court to order prosecutors and the Government Accountability Board to be kept from interfering with their collaboration, because corruption is free speech, or something like that:

Chris Kliesmet

Citizens for Responsible Government Advocates has not been involved in the investigation connected to Walker. But the group has been a longtime Walker ally, and its lawsuit addresses what has been raised in the investigation into his campaign's activities. The lawsuit is being funded by a group affiliated with O'Keefe using lawyers who have represented O'Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth.

"My rights to speak out are being violated and they're being violated in a violent way," Chris Kliesmet, president of CRG Advocates, said in explaining why his group brought the suit.

It needs to be emphasized that the lawsuit is being funded by Citizens for Self-Governance, another dark money group affiliated with O'Keefe and using the same lawyers that represented O'Keefe in his frivolous lawsuit.

Apparently there is a shortage of federal judges, since this lawsuit was also heard by Randa, who quickly ruled in the dark money group's favor.

Outraged yet? Just wait. There's more. There's always more.

Randa should never have heard either of these cases due to the obvious conflicts of interest. Randa, who was appointed by George H. W. Bush and is a member of the Federalist Society, has many ties to the cases he presided over:

• Cary Biskupic, the wife of Walker's campaign's attorney, Steve Biskupic, is Randa's judicial assistant.
• Randa's own wife is a big time campaign donor to Walker
• Randa himself has attended Koch-funded junkets

Then there is CRG, which consists of a couple of local yokels, Chris Kliesmet and Orville Seymer. They're biggest claim to fame is being the face to a recall of former Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament, which opened the door for Scott Walker.

Since then, all they've managed to do is make unsuccessful attempts to recall other politicians, including former Governor Jim Doyle.

CRG was also responsible for trying to intimidate teachers by publishing their personal information and filing false criminal complaints against innocent, mild-mannered bloggers (namely me).

Click on image to embiggen

Interestingly, CRG also held an "educational seminar" on how to interfere with a John Doe investigation and start one of their own (which is something that O'Keefe has tried to do when he's not filing frivolous lawsuits).

The gentle reader should expect that this ruling, like Randa's other one, will be appealed and overturned.

In the original overruling, the appellate court said that Randa "had abused his discretion."

In this case, Randa again went beyond the pale:

But Larry Noble of the Campaign Legal Center said Randa’s order likely will be appealed because it contradicts U.S. Supreme Court decisions about the legality of such coordination.

“He refuses to accept what he was told — that the law is not as he wishes it were,” said Noble, former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission. “He keeps trying to limit the application of the law in a way that has never been required by the Supreme Court. The court has never said it is unconstitutional ... when you’re dealing with coordinated activity.”

Added Noble: “I assume this will go to the 7th Circuit, and the 7th Circuit will reverse it.”

On a final note, would someone please go to the Chief Judge of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and file an ethics complaint to get Randa off the bench?

Cross posted at Crooks & Liars

How Much Collaboration Do You Want?

By Jeff Simpson - Cross Posted from Purple WI! 

The Misaptly named "Citizens for Responsible Government(CRG)" has jumped on the right wing bandwagon of filing frivolous lawsuits and are now suing to be able to collaborate with candidates and other dark money groups.  
Wisconsin's Club For Growth(WICFG) and their "leader" Eric O'Keefe has already filed a frivolous lawsuit, asking for the investigation(he is one of the people being investigated) to end.   Mr. O'Keefe, has the sound of desperation wherever he goes to tell his story:
"We have in Wisconsin a taxpayer-funded domestic spying operation of over three years' duration conducted by the Milwaukee County DA, John Chisholm, and now in concert with Kevin Kennedy at the Government Accountability Board, which is corrupt and so is Kennedy," said Eric O'Keefe, one of the directors of the Wisconsin Club for Growth.
While it does not surprise me that Governor Scott Walker has no problem Mr. O'Keefe slandering a solid public servant like Mr. Chisholm, it does surprise me that the Governor has not distanced himself from groups with such questionable pasts as WICFG & CRG.  
Then CRG stepped, in maybe because they have been left out of all investigations so far, or it could be that when cases get in front of Judge Randa, they are confident in knowing the end result will favor the Republicans.  In that case, why not ask for the moon.   It also does not hurt that Scott Walker's lawyer's wife, works for Judge Randa. 
Either way, Club For Growth, funded by another org that Mr. O'Keefe sits on the board of, wanted to help muddy the waters.  Or as CFG president  Chris Kliesmet puts it:
"My rights to speak out are being violated and they're being violated in a violent way,"
The reality is, that Mr. Kliesmet should be thankful that his right to speak have actually not been taken away in a "violent way".   We have a history of doing that in America and it can be lethal! !   
In case you need a quick reminder of what is going on here, Wisconsin elected & public officials, have a history of breaking election laws.  Then earlier in Governor Scott Walker's term, there was a John Doe investigation that actually netted 6 convictions! 
Anyone who has watched an episode of CSI, or even Starsky and Hutch, realize that in order to get convictions, you need to gather evidence and investigate.  That is what the prosecutors were doing when they confiscated some computers from key figures in the case(some of who were given immunity).  This allowed investigators to get 5 felons and one convict, out of our government, so everyone benefitted.  
Mr. O'Keefe felt the need to speak up on that issue also, and really should not have(emphasis mine):  
He alleged "synchronized paramilitary raids" had been conducted in September 2011 and October 2013 that were aimed at intimidating their targets. Those whose homes had been raided are suffering reactions "similar to rape victims," he said.
Yes Mr. O'Keefe really did compare having your taxpayer supplied laptop confiscated to being raped.   While I am sure every Rape Victims would disagree, the real question here is -  why is our Governor taking counsel from someone who would hold such disgusting beliefs?   
Instead of allegedly coordinating in private,  Mr. Kliesmet comes right out and tells us his plans:
CRG told the court it wants to collaborate with Vilas County Supervisor Kim Simac, Waukesha County Board Supervisor Carl Pettis and state Senate candidate Jason "Red" Arnold. But it has not started working with the candidates because the accountability board and Chisholm have said such collaboration can be illegal, even if a group does not urge people to vote for a particular candidate, the group said in its suit.
Everytime the words, "can" or "may" be illegal are spoken or written, Chuck Chvala's Google alerts go crazy!   Plus, if the Republicans did not think this was illegal, they would not have tried to pass a bill to make it legal. 
It will be interesting to see where the courts take this and where it finally lands as illegal or we completely change the election landscape.
With such hyperbole and the flurry of lawsuits being filed, one would almost think that these people have something to hide.   However, as we wait for the courts to decide how much collaboration is allowed, there is something that can be done that is 100% legal.
That is to work bipartisanly to fix our state's messes. 
I hope these same people who are working so hard to collaborate, make sure and let the republican elected officials know that they expect the same out of them during session.   The people of Wisconsin will be watching next session to make sure that both sides amendments and arguments will be listened to and considered.     No more stunts like Robin Vos telling the Democratic Caucus not to waste any time on amendments because everyone would fail.   
If they find collaboration to be such an important function for success, let's make sure and live by that example.   
Let's swear off the divide and conquer philosophy, that Scott Walker brought to the state in 2010 and start working together.  
Finally, as Mr. O'Keefe complains about his speech being stifled, you should know that his speech is so stifled, that he only has a website, a facebook page, linked in, unlimited access to right wing radio, the ability to talk to any of his friends and neighbors, most right wing politicians will take his call, and he can write a letter to the editor in any paper he wants(among other venues).   
Some people in Wisconsin would love, if their biggest problem was, that their speech was "stifled" to this extent!  

Birdbrains Of A Feather Squawk Together

The ethically-challenged Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan is at it again.

Just after his umpteenth consecutive incident of embarrassing himself about the proposed streetcar, he comes back for another round, this time trying to recruit the 70% of Milwaukee citizens he thinks doesn't like the proposed streetcar and is also as moronic as he is not to realize that the money can't be used on road repairs, per the federal guidelines.  He wants to flood the streets with signature gatherers for a petition to have a referendum on the streetcar.

Not surprisingly, Chris Kliesmet of the misnamed Citizens for Responsible Government has sounded off to support Donovan's Don Quixote imitation.  It's not at all surprising since CRG is as ethically-challenged as Donovan.  Kliesment likes the idea of feeding at the government trough, even though his group apparently doesn't like to pay their taxes to keep said trough full.

What is surprising is that Kliesmet hasn't sounded off on the whole Walkergate investigation.  You would think that the head of a group that claims to be the watchdog for government spending would be screaming about corrupt politicians using taxpayer dollars to do their campaigning.

What do you suppose it is that would keep a guy so vigilant about every tax dollar that he would go as far as making things up about public workers from saying something about actual misuse of taxpayer money?  It's almost as if he doesn't want to draw attention to it...

CRG: The Depth Of Depravity

My colleague Jeff Simpson has already done a yeoman's job of calling out the utterly misnamed group Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG) and their malicious attack on the teachers of Janesville.  As to be expected, I have more to say on that subject.  But first, I want to share with you exactly who these cretinous miscreants are.

CRG is basically a two man operation.  The leaders are a real odd couple, Chris Kliesmet and Orville Seymer.

Kliesmet is a diminutive man, both physically and emotionally.  Kliesmet is always seen in an oversized suit, and would make the perfect stereotypical bookkeeper.  Although he is always claiming poverty, he lives in Bayside, one of the wealthiest communities in Milwaukee County.

His partner, Seymer, is the exact opposite.  He is a large, brutish man who is always unkempt, grungy and greasy.  Like his partner, he is always claiming poverty, but owns several rental properties, but doesn't invest too much time or money into upkeep, judging from the lawsuits and complaints.

As the gentle reader probably has already surmised, they are Scott Walker's personal thug enforcers.  When there is dirty work to be done, Walker whistles and these two wretched hounds come running.

Orville "Pretty Boy" Seymer

CRG first came on the scene in 2002, when the news broke of a pension scheme devised by then Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament.  CRG stepped up and, with the help of radio squawkers Charlie Sykes and Jeff Wagner, were able to fan the flames of anger to a point just short of breaking out torches and pitchforks, and started a recall against Ament and several county board supervisors.

After they got Walker was ensconced as county executive, he tried to pay them back by giving them office space in the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Yes, you read that correctly.  He offered this right wing nut job group, the precursor to the teahadists, an office in a public building. This move was shot down by the board due to it being illegal, but word is they still got one on the sly.

After that, CRG became Walker's enforcers.  When it came to be time to vote on one of Walker's draconian budgets or some other act of malfeasance, CRG would start threatening progressive supervisors who might oppose his cuts to staff and service with a recall, regardless of how unlikely they were going to be successful.  However, outside of those very first ones, they were never successful and became the laughing stocks of  Milwaukee County.

However, their interest in Walker and his career was never very altruistic or very interested in having a responsible government.  Via former County Board Supervisor Jim McGuigan, we catch this missive from George Stanley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to Kliesmet who was upset about an article written about his corruption being exposed:

Cary Spivak and Dan Bice have very detailed notes from a July interview and a second interview on Tuesday in which you talk quite openly about making money as a Six Sigma adviser to other government entities. Here are just a few examples of things you said to them: 

"Yeah, I might be inclined to sell my services to those people (you were talking about other governments contacting you about Six Sigma services)

"Loss leader " that's a good way to put it (you were talking about your work at no charge for Milwaukee County and later getting business from others) 

"Could I make a dollar on it in the future? I guess the answer is true. 

"I have no intention at this point of starting a company and doing this. But If somebody came to me and made me a better offer, of course I would." 

"I'm also a capitalist. I don't have any altruistic motives toward San Diego or any other place." 

Given your openness about how your Six Sigma work for the county could lead to business with other government units, I see nothing inaccurate about today's Spivak & Bice column.
When you lobby government officials, pressure them with your clout as a citizen organizer, and mention possible business dealings with them, you should not be surprised that this newspaper will watch you with the same scrutiny as we do others who lobby and do business with government officials spending taxpayers' money. 

We will continue to watch your actions in the future.

Chris "Macho Man" Kliesmet

Unfortunately, Stanley's threat was not to be and the corporate media giant started to actually use CRG as a credible authority despite their knowledge of CRG's corrupt nature.

Over the next few years, they tried to expand their reach across the state. They launched one failed recall attempt after another against politicians in all corners of the state, including too laughable attempts to recall then Governor Jim Doyle.

In 2010, they chose to go after someone other than county supervisors.  Just a few weeks after Darlene Wink was caught leaving comments on JSOnline and other blogs and Tim Russell was taped doing campaign work during county time as a county employee, CRG filed a criminal complaint against yours truly. Using falsified data to prop up their false accusations, they claimed I was blogging on county time using county equipment.

Only thing is, I wasn't.

The Bloggerati stepped up to defend me, pointing out that the days CRG used in their attacks were vacation days, furlough days and {gasp} major holidays.* How dare I use my off time as I see fit!  Obviously, I had to be punished! (Or at least used as a foil in an effort to take people's attention to the real criminals.)

Interestingly, to this date, this group, which claims to be watchdogs of the government, has never said one thing regarding the ongoing Walkergate scandal, which is the ultimate waste of taxpayer dollars.

Many have also wondered about where CRG was getting all there money from.  After all, running all these recall attempts and doing literally hundreds if not thousands of open record requests costs quite a bit of cash.  And like I said, the only people that appear in charge of their mayhem is this unlikely Mutt and Jeff duo.

Well, thanks to their malevolent attack on the Janesville teachers, people like karoli at Crooks & Liars started looking at this group.

Unsurprisingly, it turns out that they've gotten a large amount of cash from groups like the Koch-funded Club for Growth, as well as American Majority and the Sam Adams Alliance.

And to show off their hypocrisy, they've failed to follow tax laws in their filings:

That grant to CRG was for $126,500. It was, according to the Club for Growth return, all paid in 2009. The identification number on the postcard filing matches the identification number on the Club for Growth filing. 

CRG filed a postcard return with the IRS for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009, just as it had for 2008, 2010, and 2011. There are special rules connected with the postcard filing. For example, an organization could receive more than $50,000 in one year, (the usual threshold for the postcard filing) and still file via postcard as long as their average receipts were less than $50,000 over a three-year period. 

Let's see if they qualified. In 2007, CRG received 40,959. In 2009, CRG received at least $126,500. Assuming no receipts in 2008, the average receipts comes out to $55,819.67, which exceeds the permissible threshold for filing an information-free return. Oops! 

Why is this important? It's important because it seems clear that the Wisconsin Club for Growth used CRG and other allied right wing groups as funnels and fronts to avoid accountability for purely evil acts like publishing an enemies list of public school teachers, for example. It's important because there might have been at least a shred of accountability for their prior bad acts. And yes, there have been many

Well, that's not very responsible now, is it? Maybe we should start a group called Citizens for Responsible CRG.

Their hypocrisy and their depravity really show when it comes to their attacks on the Janesville teachers.  As noted before, they stuck their attack fliers in the boxes for the Janesville Gazette, which is stomping mad that they've been made to look like they were the ones that put them with their paper.  (Judging from the fact that they regularly print the tripe from Kevin Binversie of another Koch front group, Wisconsin Reporter, the assumption appears to be a natural mistake.)

I have learned that since the Gazette ran the story Wednesday morning in which CRG was outed as the cravenly culprits behind this malicious attack, Kliesmet has been crying the blues to whoever will listen that people have been calling him to ream him out.

He is so upset about finally being held accountable for his actions that he is threatening to sue the paper for connecting him and his group to the fliers, even though it was his group that did the open records request and gathered all the information.

Even more incredulous is the fact that Kliesmet has been saying that they wouldn't have had to do that if it wasn't for the recalls.  This coming from the King of the Recalls.  Can you say "hypocrite?"

But that could be the least of CRG's concerns.

I believe that they might have broken the law with their little escapade.

While it is true that the names and salaries of the teachers are public record, their malfeasance didn't end with their McCarthy-esque use of this data by printing it out and shoving it in people's paper boxes.

On the flier, they said people should look for the names of their children's teachers on verifytherecall dot com.  And then they included this portion:

click on image to embiggen

With this attachment, they are calling teachers that signed the recall petition "radicals" and are urging parents to disrupt their work by asking their children to be removed from their classrooms. And that's where the rub comes in.

Civil service codes state that public employees cannot be punished or harassed for partaking of political activities, joining a political party or any other group on their own time.  Yet this is exactly what CRG did.

If I were the teachers, I would get in touch with an attorney who specializes in labor law and/or civil rights and see if they got a case.  Hell, just the discoveries that CRG would have to go through would be worth it, as they have to reveal the other culprits who joined in this act are, as well as who ordered it and who bankrolled it.

Then Kliesmet and Seymer can finally learn what being responsible is really all about.

*The legal bills which I accrued (and am still paying off) and lost time at work to deal with their smear job have totaled over $4,000.  Who said that Freedom of Speech is free?  Anyway, if the gentle reader would like to help me with my legal costs, they can donate to the capper defense fund by clicking here or on the button to the upper right side.