The Ellis Incident Revisited

On April 9, 2014, soon to be former State Senator Mike Ellis was in a bar, full of liquid courage, and was shown making  some rather bold statements.  One of Ellis' statements included pointing out the truism that Scott Walker worked only for Scott Walker.

Little did Ellis know at the time of his spouting off that he was being secretly videotaped.

By far, the most renowned of Ellis' comments that fateful night involved illegal activities, if they were true:

Mike Ellis

"I am putting together my own super PAC. I have a $400,000 committee and Judi Rhodes will, I am raising the money, she will manufacture the crap," said Ellis in the video.

Ellis was talking about forming a Super PAC to attack his Democratic opponent in the 19th Senate District, Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber (D-Appleton).

It is against the law in Wisconsin for a candidate to coordinate with a PAC or any outside groups.

The woman that Ellis says "will manufacture the crap" is Judith Rhodes Engels, who has a long history as a WISGOP fundraiser and operative dating all the way back to the original caucus scandal and has been named more than once in the Walkergate investigation.

Given her background, Rhodes Engels would be well aware that any such activity as Ellis was describing would be highly illegal.  Rhodes Engels was quick to try to distance herself from Ellis after the video went public:

Rhodes said in a statement that “I have never set up any ‘Super PAC’ nor have I had any intention of doing so nor have I ever had any conversation with Senator Ellis about it.

“I will not work for any committee that would imply that I would improperly do so. I have terminated my contract with the Ellis to Madison Committee.”

She resigned Wednesday.

The Ellis Incident raised many questions, the largest of which is could it be true that Rhodes Engels was again breaking the law by setting up these super PACs for Wisconsin Republicans.

Ellis made two statements the night he was unknowingly videotaped that could help us find an answer to that question.

First, he said that he had donors that would give money to the super PAC, specifically naming Stuart Mills of  Mills Fleet Farm as one of those donors.  Secondly, as mentioned above, he named Rhodes Engels as the go to person to get the dirty work done.

As to the first statement, Ellis' campaign finance report (pdf form available here) shows that on March 3, 2014, Mills gave $1,000 to Ellis' campaign, the maximum amount allowed by law for a State Senate campaign. Furthermore, Mills is not the only one that gave the maximum to Ellis.  These types of donors are golden to politicians and these types of relationships are not taken lightly.

It also shows that these donors have the potential to be exactly the types of donors Ellis spoke about as giving to his super PAC.

(It should be noted that it appears that the last serious fundraising happened on April 7, two days before the video.

As for the comments regarding Rhodes Engels, Ellis' campaign finance report shows that he made five payments to Cross Rhodes, the agency that Rhodes Engels had set up.

Ellis paid Cross Rhodes $500 each time on January 17, February 12 and March 14, 2014.  Each payment was marked as solicitation expense, meaning that he was paying her for her fundraising acumen.

On April 18, nine days after the video came out, Ellis paid Cross Rhodes another $322.35 for mailing expenses.

So far, nothing too exceptional.  Ah, but there is more.  There is always more.

Judith Rhodes Engels with another favored
client, State Senator Scott Fitzgerald

On May 2, 2014, nearly a full month after the video came out and Rhodes Engels quit working for Ellis, he paid her a whopping $8,509.10 for "consulting fees."

Holy broken gavels, Batman!

Now, that payment could cover a lot of things, but it stands out by the sheer size of it, especially when compared to the $500 monthly payments leading up to that point.  The amount of that pay out makes it appear that Rhodes Engels was doing a helluva lot more than just fundraising and sending out mailers for Ellis.

Could it be that Ellis was telling the truth about Rhodes Engels setting up super PACs?  His campaign finance report doesn't prove that but it sure doesn't eliminate that possibility.

Wouldn't it be interesting to see who else is paying Cross Rhodes and exactly what they are paying for?

Walkergate: The Unnamed Intervenors

As the gentle reader is aware, there is an ongoing and perpetual legal roller coaster going on regarding the Walkergate investigation.  The Dark Money special interest groups are throwing everything they can at the investigation to slow it down if not stop it completely.

In a nifty bit of legal judo, the Walkergate investigators were able to get the courts to order that some of the legal documents be released.  Immediately, two unnamed parties filed petitions to stop the release of the documents because REASONS:

Also on Wednesday, two unidentified people asked Randa to allow them to intervene in the case so they can make arguments to keep their identities and information about them secret.

In a joint filing, they noted they had not been charged with any crimes but that sealed documents had been filed in the case that include personal and political information about them. That included their names, addresses, political opinions, political associates, personal and business financial information, personal correspondence and allegations by prosecutors they had violated state laws.

The sealed information may also include their Social Security numbers and medical information, they wrote.

"Unnamed intervenors have not themselves disclosed publicly any of that information voluntarily in connection with this civil action or with a related John Doe investigation. To the contrary, these two unnamed intervenors have taken every reasonable step possible to maintain the privacy of (their) information ... and their rightful anonymity," their attorneys wrote. "Unnamed intervenors seek to preserve their privacy, enjoy their First Amendment freedoms of core political speech and association without unintended and unwarranted public scrutiny, and avoid damage to their families, their reputations, and their businesses."

Well, I believe that if they are tied up in the Walkergate investigations, we can guess that they aren't liberal.

On Monday, the federal appellate court that is handling the case ordered another batch of documents related to the investigation be released.  Again, the same two unnamed intervenors filed more petitions asking that the documents be released because "once the documents are released to the public it will be too late ...."

The obvious question is who are these unnamed intervenors?

Sadly, the answers aren't as obvious.

What can be deduced from their reasoning for wanting to maintain their anonymity is that they are fairly involved with the ongoing investigation into the collaboration between the dark money groups and political groups.  It's also pretty safe to assume that the intervenors either have a lot of money or access to a lot of money, presumably through the dark money groups and their funding sources.

It could be any of Walker's wealthy campaign donors or any of the leaders of the scads of front groups like Americans for Prosperity or Club for Growth.  But there are some names that would stand out as likely suspects: Scott Walker, R.J. and Valerie Johnson, Deb Jordal, John Connors and Judith Rhodes Engels.

The most obvious guess would be Scott Walker.

But I don't think so.

Everyone knows who Walker is and to whom he is beholden.  And he really can't claim anonymity in relation to the investigation, although he assuredly wishes like hell he could.  It seems unlikely that Walker is one of the petitioners although it is extremely probable that he helped encourage the petitioners to act.

R.J. Johnson is a more likely possibility.  He is up to his neck with the Wisconsin Club for Growth as well as was working for the Walker campaign (which he may or may not have been paid for).  Johnson is also involved with a consulting group with his partner, former Fox Valley blogger Deb Jordal.

It would be very conceivable that either one or both Johnson and Jordal could be the petitioners.  Given how tied up that Johnson is with both the dark money groups and Walker's campaign, he would be a natural suspect.  If exactly how tied up into all of the Walkergate activities Johnson is, it could easily make him expendable to the dark money groups and he would get cut off in a heart beat.

For the same reason, it would not be unfeasible for his partner, Jordal, to step up and defend her partner and thus her seat on the dark money gravy train.

For much the same reasons as her husband, Valerie Johnson must be considered.  She is the treasurer for the dark money group called Citizens for a Strong America.

Also worth mentioning is John Connors, who is the director of the same group.  And Connors was involved with the under-reported Sportsmen United scandal, in which Scott Sudor had set up a scheme where millions of taxpayer dollars would have been sent to a sham group which would have turned around and used it to help Teapublicans win elections.

Another very likely suspect would be Judith Rhodes Engels, Scott Fitzgerald's main fundraiser and proprietor of the Cross Rhodes consultation agency.  Not only is Rhodes Engels involved with a lot of political stunts and fundraisers, least of which is her relationship with Walkergate star Kelly Rindfleisch, she was ratted out by Mike Ellis as someone who could set up a Super PAC to go after political opponents.  I'm sure she can't think of millions of dollars reasons why she wouldn't want her business put out in the public.

These are just a few of the more likely names of the unnamed intervenors.  As I mentioned earlier, the list could go on for quite a while.  It could be any of the other highly placed operatives that so far have escaped much public attention.  It could be any of the corporate special interests that saw what happened to William E. Gardner, the railroad tycoon who got busted making illegal donations to Walker and don't want to lose their prestige like he did.  It could even be some low level stooges that were told to put their names to the petitions in order to protect their corporate masters.

While we don't know who the unnamed intervenors are, we do know that these would be master of the New World Horror are feeling very vulnerable and are running scared.  Not only is their personal gravy trains in peril but they really don't want to be tied to the fall of the Weasel Empire.

Then they might have to go get real jobs and they know how crappy the job market they created is.

Questions Regarding The Ellis Incident

As the gentle reader is probably well aware of by now, the disreputable James O'Keefe of the equally disreputable Project Veritas was sicced on Wisconsin State Senator Mike Ellis, which resulted in a rather incriminating video.

Now, we've already discussed how, in the zeal to take out Ellis, they left one of their key operatives, Judith Rhodes Engels, exposed and pretty well implicated in the ongoing Sons of John Doe investigations.

However, there are a lot of questions that have been left unanswered, enough to go around for almost everyone.

The biggest question is "Who called for the hit?"

Some say it was Scott Jensen because Ellis has been opposed to a statewide expansion of the profiteering of the education system.  It's also been said that the orders came from Washington, D.C. (read Reince Priebus, who still has his fingers in a lot of pies in Wisconsin), because he wasn't crazy teahadist enough for them.  I've also heard that the attack on Ellis was nothing more than a decoy to take some of the attention away from Bill Kramer and his sexual assault charges.

But there are many other questions that need to be answered. Some of these include the following:

For Judith Rhodes Engels:

• Have you and//or how many of these "fake organizations" have you set up for the GOP?
• Are you currently under investigation for the Sons of Doe probe for illegal collusion between political campaigns and third party groups?
• Who told you to share the "All Contributions" Excel file with Kelly Rindfleisch as was uncovered during her criminal trial?  
• Considering that you probably knew that Ellis was being targeted, how much money did you get for your role?

For Kelly Rindfleisch:

• You were convicted for your role in the original Walkergate misconduct.  Were you taking orders from Rhodes Engels at the time?
• Who told you how to do the fundraising you did for Brett Davis and then for Scott Walker?
• Where are you working now?

For Mike Ellis:

• Is this really how you want your career to end?
• Are you going to take any action against your attackers or are you going to scoot off with your tail between your legs?
• If Governor Walker calls a special session, would you go back?  
• If you do go back for a special session, how much of a rubber stamp for Walker are you going to be?
• What are you going to do with all that loot in your campaign chest?

For Scott Walker:

• What did you know and when did you know it?

For Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm:

• After you clear the legal obstacles that Scott Walker, George O'Keefe and others are trying to put in your way, how much longer before you start slapping cuffs on people? After all, it's pretty damn obvious what is going on here.

It would be nice if the state media would do some sort of follow up, but they are already busy shouting "Squirrel!" over the GOP's latest distraction.

Judi! Judi! Judi!

As the gentle reader is surely aware, State Senator Mike Ellis  has chosen not to run for reelection after all.  Of course, Ellis was prompted to come to this conclusion after he was caught on video generally making a fool of himself.

There is little doubt that someone had ordered the video to be taken of Ellis to take him out of politics, although the who and why behind the move is up for speculation. Some have said it was Scott Jensen because Ellis was against the expansion of school privatization.  Some have thought the order came from Reince Priebus, who is the head of the national GOP but is still very much involved in Wisconsin politics, because Ellis wasn't enough of a team player and to help take some attention off of Bill Kramer's sexual assault charges and how the entire WISGOP knew about it but elected him as a party leader anyway.

Regardless of who ordered the attack on Ellis or why they did so, the one thing for sure is that they got way more than they bargained for.

One of the many cringe-worthy moments from the video included this line from Ellis:

“I am putting together my own super PAC,” Ellis says in the video. “I don’t want to attack (Bernard Schaber), I want Judi (Rhodes Engels), somebody else to attack.” Rhodes Engels is a fundraiser for Senate Republicans.

Not only did Ellis talk about doing something illegal, which is the essence of the Sons of Doe investigation, but he dared to name one the Republicans' most valued operatives, Judith Rhodes Engels.

Now, if that name sounds familiar to you, there is a good reason for it.

Rhodes Engels was tied up in the original caucus scandal (scroll down to page 16) from a dozen years ago.  It was during the scandal that Rhodes Engels shown herself to be worth much more than the $6,300 in legal defense.  During the caucus scandal hearings, Rhodes Engels showed that she not only knew her job, but knew to keep her mouth shut.

Thus it's no surprise that Rhodes Engels worked her way up through the ranks and became rather conspicuous even as she tried to keep a low profile.  Over the last couple of years, we've learned that Rhodes Engels is a valuable asset to the Republican Party.  Among her accomplishments:

• Got herself in some key positions with Senator Scott Fitzgerald, including his number one fundraiser;
• As Fitzgerald's top fundraiser, was able to share his list of big donors with the Scott Walker/Brett Davis campaigns;
• Helped Scott Walker with his campaign Harley rides around the state;
• Was deeply involved with the illegal and immoral gerrymandering - her involvement in which was also illegal since she was a political operative and not a state employee.

In fact, Rhodes Engels got so big in the party that she had to form her own consulting agency - Cross Rhodes - so that she could do all the various and sordid activities that WISGOP and Party members would have her do.  Just a scratch at the surface of her agency shows that's already very lucrative - and that does not count all the dark money that is flowing through there.

The fact that Ellis mentioned her in connection to creating a Super PAC to take out his opponent is very damaging to Rhodes Engels and to the Republican Party as a whole.  So much so that Rhodes Engels, who does her best work behind closed doors and behind the scenes, had to come out into the daylight and speak to the media:

Rhodes said in a statement that “I have never set up any ‘Super PAC’ nor have I had any intention of doing so nor have I ever had any conversation with Senator Ellis about it.

“I will not work for any committee that would imply that I would improperly do so. I have terminated my contract with the Ellis to Madison Committee.”

She resigned Wednesday.

The problem with her denial is that it was scripted and premeditated, whereas Ellis comments were natural and spontaneous. Ellis did not spitball things nor did he stutter..  Ellis' commentary was all natural which would make one inclined to believe what he was saying about Rhodes Engels was not only true but was also common knowledge.

In their zeal to take out Ellis, whoever was behind ordering the video to be taken and released might have blown up their own party by handing themselves over to John Doe and his Sons.

Which goes to show that even the most cantankerous, angry, misogynistic Teapublican can still do good - even if it's by accident.

Walkergate: Big Money At The Cross Rhodes

On Sunday, I introduced the gentle reader to Cross Rhodes Strategies.  Cross Rhodes is a "consulting" group headed by Scott Fitzgerald's main fundraiser, Judith Rhodes Engels.

Cross Rhodes is also the employer of Kelly Rindfleisch, the political operative/Scott Walker aide who was convicted of illegal politicking during the first Walkergate investigation.  She is currently trying to appeal that conviction, even though she took a plea deal.  Rindfleisch is also one of the subjects of the current Son of Doe investigations.

With the original trial, the ongoing appeal and now being investigated again for other possible crimes - and having a high-priced attorney - Rindfleisch's legal bills must be huge.  Fortunately for her, Walker and WISGOP had found her a lot of jobs for her to get paid handsomely so that she could pay those bills.

One of those jobs was working for the sketchy millionaire Michael Eisenga, who was recently caught out paying off Joel Kleefisch to write a bill that would allow him to greatly reduce the child support payments for his special need children.  Even with that help, Rindfleisch couldn't stay out of trouble.

As I had mentioned in my previous post, a number of Teapublicans had Cross Rhodes listed as an expenditure on their campaign finance reports.

But when one looks at who gave what, it really gets interesting.

On December 2 and December 16, State Senator Mike Ellis paid out $500 each time for "Solicitation Expenses."  One might surmise that Ellis was trying to buy his way back into the good graces of the Teapublican establishment after opposing them on some key votes.  This seems extremely likely now that he is facing a strong candidate in Penny Bernard Shaber.  Ellis couldn't afford to get primaried this summer and then try to face her.

Faithful Teapublican State Representative John Nygren paid out $500 each time on July 2, July 31, September 3, October 1 and October 31.  The $2,500 was listed as "Consulting Fees - General."  That's an awful lot of consulting for a non-election year.

Another tool of the Teapublican establishment, State Representative Paul Farrow also gave these women three payments for "Consulting Fees - General."  On July 18, he gave them $1,000.  On September 21, he gave them two payments - one for $500 and one for $1,249.50.  Again, that's a lot of consulting for a non-election year.  And what's up with the two payments on the same date? One of them wasn't enough?

But now it gets really good.

One of the other benefactors of Cross Rhodes Strategies was Von Wanggaard, who is trying to make a comeback in the upcoming election.  On July 30, he paid out $1,000 for "Consulting fees - General."  On August 20, he paid out $983.19 for "Fundraiser - Food and Beverage."  Wanggaard paid out another $827.65 on September 27 for "Postage."

But the big money came from the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate who is ran by State Senator Scott Fitzgerald.   With each payment listed as "Consulting Fee - General," Fitzgerald authorized a $7,500 payment each on July 2, August 6, September 5, October 2, October 29 and December 3.  On July 25, Fitzie sent Cross Rhodes a whopping $15,355.  Now that's really a lot of consulting!

It really should come as no surprise that Fitzgerald was so generous.  Not only was Rhodes Engels his primary fund raiser, but they also both have ties to Walkergate and so want to make sure that Rindfleisch is able to mount a strong defense.  The gentle reader will recall that it was Rhodes Engels that shared Fitzgerald's list of donors with Rindfleisch:

But with all things Walkergate, there's more.  There's always more.

In an ironic twist, Media Trackers has decided to do their own story on part of these pay outs.  Surprisingly, these Koch Brother lackeys are more than willing to throw Rhodes Engels and Fitzgerald under the bus in their efforts to get at Wanggaard, who they apparently feel isn't rabid enough to suit there needs:

While working for CERS during the final six months of 2013, Rhodes also worked for the Van Wanggaard for Senate campaign. The ex-police officer is running against conservative financial adviser Jonathan Steitz, who serves as an expert with the free market-orientated Heartland Institute think-tank.

Campaign finance records show that Rhodes took $4,310.74 from Wanggaard’s campaign in the second half of 2013.

Those same records show that Wanggaard managed to net $32,060.79 over that six-month period. Entering the race in September, Steitz netted $27,102.94, a decent showing for someone who jumped into the race well into the reporting cycle.

Wanggaard, who tried to water-down Governor Scott Walker’s historic union reforms, has a history of losing races even when he is ahead in campaign fundraising. In the summer of 2012 he lost his recall election to Democrat John Lehman. Post-election finance reports show that for the year-to-date, Wanggaard raised $329,188.54 but still lost to Lehman despite the latter’s intake of only $226,139.56 for that calendar year.

Now it's not surprising or noteworthy that the unethical Brian Sikma would follow marching orders to promote the Koch candidate. That's what he gets paid to do.

But what is noteworthy is that Sikma just might have helped the John Doe investigations by pointing out the apparent collusion between WISGOP, in the form of Fitzgerald and Rhodes Engels, and Wanggaard's campaign.  I am sure that this would be far from being the first and only time such collaboration has taken place.

If you see John Doe, please be so kind to point this out to him.  I'm planning on getting some popcorn and waiting for the fireworks to start.

Walkergate: Meet The Does At The Cross Rhodes

Last week, Scott Walker was having a bad day on the double campaign trail when Appellate Court Judge Patricia Curley ordered that the emails and other documents involved with the trial, conviction and sentencing of Kelly Rindfleisch be unsealed.  Judge Curley gave Rindfleisch and her mouthpiece, Attorney Franklyn Gimbel, 30 days to go through the documents to pull out anything that might have to do with Social Security numbers or personal medical issues.

Rindfleisch has decided that it's too much hassle to further protect Walker in this manner and said that she's :
not going to go through the papers

Kelly Rindfleisch

A former aide to Gov. Scott Walker convicted of misconduct in public office declined Friday to look through "tens of thousands" of pages of emails to identify which should be withheld from public view.

On Tuesday, an appeals court judge said she planned to unseal documents used to prosecute Kelly Rindfleisch, a former aide to Walker when he was the executive of Milwaukee County.

Judge Patricia Curley gave Rindfleisch 30 days to review documents and request that certain information, such as Social Security numbers or medical information, remain confidential. At that point, Curley said, she would issue a final ruling and release the records.

But in a letter to Curley Friday, attorney Franklyn Gimbel said it would be too expensive and time-consuming for his client to review all of the records, which Gimbel contends were collected using "overbroad" warrants that violated his client's right to privacy.

Now, before the gentle reader gets too excited, there are some things that he or she should know.  There's always more.

We already know that Scott Walker and WISGOP has been funding Rindfleisch's legal defense by throwing buckets of money at her through her "doing jobs" for them. This was the way they were buying her silence.  Sadly for Rindfleisch, even then, she had problems staying out of trouble.

About a year ago, Rindfleisch got a knew gig at a political consulting agency named Cross Rhodes Strategies.  The registered agent for this agency is none other than Judith Rhodes Engels.  Interestingly, the website that they once had for their agency is no longer to be found.  In fact, the only traces my meager Googling skills could find was on a couple of aggregate sites - Find the Company and Bizapedia.

Interestingly, sources report that more than a few GOP legislators have Cross Rhodes listed in as an expense in their campaign finance report.  Another interesting tidbit is that Engels' husband just received a cushy state job last summer.

We became familiar with Rhodes Engels during the original Walkergate investigations.  She is the favorite fundraiser of Senator Scott Fitzgerald.  Rhodes Engels is also known for her past caucus scandal involvement and her Harley riding skills.  And despite her rub-ins with the law, Rhodes Engels is either a slow learner or just indifferent and got caught getting involved with the gerrymandering scandal, although she should not be involved in governmental business at all.

But the most interesting involvement with Rhodes Engels is a fact we learned during the Rindfleisch trial.  We had learned from the Rindfleisch transcripts released then that Rhodes Engels had emailed Fitzgerald's campaign donor spreadsheet to Rindfleisch:

As I wrote at the time:

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to one of the smoking guns.

Judi Rhodes, aka Judi Rhodes-Engels, is someone else we know. She is the Harley Davidson-riding GOP operative that specializes in raising funds for State Senator Scott Fitzgerald. Rhodes sent a spreadsheet named "All Contributions-cfis-xlsm" to Rindfleisch, on what would be normally considered a work day during normal work hours.

This means not only was Walker having county staff running his campaign and doing fundraising on county time, and not only were the same staff coordinating things with the Davis campaign, but also was coordinating with WISGOP staff, under the leadership of State Senator Scott Fitzgerald. How was this arrangement approved and by whom?

In summary, you have a distinct pattern of Walker using his county staff and his county executive office which was doing campaign activity, most of which was a fund raising fundraising operation not just for himself, but also for his choice for Lieutenant Governor, Brett Davis. On top of all that, they were coordinating across multiple facets of WISGOP, most notably (for now) State Senator Scott Fitzgerald.

Do I really need to remind the gentle reader that the Sons of Doe investigations is supposed to involve the possible collusion of a political candidate's campaign and third party groups, including WISGOP itself?  And what do we have here? Clear collusion between Walker's campaign and WISGOP. Given what else we already know from the John Doe investigations and Walker's infamous phone call with the faux Koch that there were acts of collusion between the campaign and other third party groups like Americans for Prosperity, Wisconsin Club for Growth and MacIver Institute.

Given the obvious ties between Walker's groups and the third party groups, even if it didn't lead to criminal charges, much less convictions, if these emails and other documents were to be made publicly available, it would greatly damage Walker's chances of reelection as governor, much less really put a damper on his presidential aspirations.

Therefore, it would not be surprising if Walker and company tells Rindfleisch to take it to the Supreme Court. He's going to want to delay their release as long as possible.

Walkergate: Sidebars

On Monday, the news broke that there was a second John Doe investigation underway regarding "a burgeoning, secret investigation into a wide variety of state issues, including possible campaign violations during the recent recall elections."

Precious little information came out about Walkergate V.2.0, except this:

It appears the state-related case opened in February 2012, meaning it was active at the same

time as the one focusing on Walker's county aides.

However, several sources said they became aware of the newer probe only in the past month and that much of the recent activity has taken place in Madison.

Sources familiar with the probe told the Journal Sentinel that it was scrutinizing a wide variety of state-related issues, including the recall races. Sources suggested the probe is looking at a current legislative leader and the governor's contest.

"This is activity that occurred since the 2010 election," said a source.

That leaves more open possibilities than it rules anything out.

On Tuesday, more news came out on the ongoing Walkergate.  That news was either no one knew about it or no one was talking (emphasis mine):

Gov. Scott Walker won't say whether he, his attorneys or any staff members have been contacted in a growing, secret criminal investigation into a variety of state issues.

Pressed three times on the matter, Walker said Monday that he wouldn't be distracted by questions on the John Doe investigation, which he called a "sidebar issue."

"In terms of a lot of the questions regarding that issue, I really don't have a lot to say," Walker said during a visit to Beechwood Sales and Service in New Berlin. "I'm going to stay focused, as I am today, on helping the people of this state create more jobs, create more opportunity and balance the budget, as we have."

Walker added that he didn't want to get "pulled into" a discussion of the John Doe because of its dicey secrecy rules. A John Doe probe allows prosecutors to gather evidence and compel testimony in secret.

"It doesn't make sense to be involved with that," he said.

The article went on to say that Mayor Tom Barrett and State Representative Robin Vos claiming they knew nothing about the investigation. However, when attention was turned to State Senator Scott Fitzgerald, the tune changed again (once more, emphasis mine):

Also refusing to answer questions about the secret investigation was Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald, who typically handles reporters’ questions head-on, declined several times on Monday to say whether he knew anything about a John Doe investigation or had appeared before it.

“I can’t comment on it,” said the Juneau Republican.

While the non-comments from Walker and Fitzgerald might not seem a lot, especially as they are presented in the article, they actually speak volumes.

We learned from the original Walkergate investigation that if this had nothing to do with them, they would be free to talk their fool heads off.  The only time a person is not allowed to speak about a John Doe investigation is if they are the subject of the investigation or if they are involved as a witness.

The fact that they are saying they can't comment about it or are concerned about "dicey secrecy rules" would indicate that they could very well be involved in it.

As I pondered on the little we do know about the investigation and consulted with a few wise souls, there are a few areas that come into mind which might prove to be part of the investigation (or at least should be).

Walkergate West

One of these would fit perfectly into what Dan Bice wrote.  It occurred in Madison after the election and had to do with Walker.  In fact, when I originally wrote about it, I dubbed it Walkergate West:

In regards to Walkergate West, I wrote:

However, Graeme Zielinski, the Communication Director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said that they have heard from lobbyists who work with both parties that they found it odd that instead of going through normal channels, they were being directed to contact Keith Gilkes, Walker's then Chief of Staff, using his email address from his consultancy group.

Zielinski also stated that there is reason to believe, just like what Walker did in Milwaukee County, his top advisors in the Department of Administration and cabinet members were privy to this.

That would go a long way to why he hasn't purged Cullen Werwie or Brett Davis from his administration.

This would also make sense given Walker's propensity to do politicking in office (see the phony David Koch phone call) and all the pay for play action that was going on, with tax giveaways, political appointees like Brian Deschane, sweetheart contracts and other sordid affairs like the attempted mining bill.

Scott Wittkopf, using an interview by Dan Bice and some of his own research, was able to flesh this out a little bit:

The most obvious connection to Walker staffers in Milwaukee County and current Walker staff in Madison is obvious – the possibility that campaigning is being conducted on the taxpayer dime. Recent emails from high level Walker staff regarding the mining bill drafting process may confirm that this type of activity is occurring, and thus confirm Bice’s “unconfirmed rumors.”

An email from then – Walker Chief of Staff Keith Gilkes pgs 11-12 of the document*) on January 30, 2011 from his Champion Group email to his new government email account references campaign fundraising to a lobbyist for Gogebic Taconite.

The email is follow-up on contact information for Marc Holtzman, a well-known GOP and conservative supporter and politician from Colorado, as well as Larry Wolk. Wolk is head of “Correctional Healthcare Companies,” heavily involved in nationwide privatization of state correctional facilities’ healthcare systems.

The email from Wolk to lobbyist Rogowski, then forwarded to Gilkes, refers to “Scott and Keith” (Walker and Gilkes, respectively), and states:

“Hopefully he will be interested in helping and/or contributing to Scott’s campaign…let me know if you hear anything more from Milwaukee County and anything else we can do to help.”

I have no doubt that what Wittkopf wrote is true. Just as I have no doubt that this is just the very tippy top of the iceberg. 

As I pointed out, this would fit in with the modus operandi that we saw from Team Walker when Walker was still county executive. And even though Walker knew he and his crew were under investigation, Walker is asocial enough to think he wasn't doing anything wrong and so there was no need for him to actually follow the law.

What is really ironic about this is that the court hearing regarding the tragedy at O'Donnell Park is underway this week.  The trial includes the emails that Walker's campaign head, Gilkes, shared with Walker's county staff, including Kelly Rindfleisch, who is also having her appeal heard.

Holy tangled webs, Batman!  That alone has got to be playing hell with Walker's ulcers.

All Contributions-cfis-xlsm

The next item of interest would bring in Fitzgerald.

From the transcripts brought up by Kelly Rindfleisch's trial was this wee tiny blurb:

Click on image to embiggen

As I wrote at the time:

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to one of the smoking guns.

Judi Rhodes, aka Judi Rhodes-Engels, is someone else we know.  She is the Harley Davidson-riding GOP operative that specializes in raising funds for State Senator Scott Fitzgerald.  Rhodes sent a spreadsheet named "All Contributions-cfis-xlsm" to Rindfleisch, on what would be normally considered a work day during normal work hours. 

This means not only was Walker having county staff running his campaign and doing fundraising on county time, and not only were the same staff coordinating things with the Davis campaign, but also was coordinating with WISGOP staff, under the leadership of State Senator Scott Fitzgerald.  How was this arrangement approved and by whom?

[...]

Does anyone, honestly believe that Scott Walker, Brett Davis, Scott Fitzgerald and maybe even Reince Priebus, didn't know about any of this nor gave their blessings to it?

this would show collusion between Walker's campaign, Walker's county staff, Fitzgerald's campaign and WISGOP, which is most definitely a big no-no.

Caucus Scandal circa 2011

Sticking with the Fitzgerald, Judith Rhodes Engels and collusion theme, I would turn the gentle reader's attention to some of the discoveries to come from the gerrymandering scandal.

In this scenario, we find that staffers for Fitzgerald and his brother, former State Representative Jeff Fitzgerald and a staffer from Congressman Paul Ryan were sharing emails on their private emails regarding the gerrymandering.

Also included in these emails was Rhodes-Engels, Fitzgerald's fundraiser.

So we have legislative aides doing state business using private emails.  Were they trying to avoid open records requests?  Add to that, there was at least one  political operative involved in state business.

What could possibly go wrong?

Just this:

Look at the first line of this missive:

To keep all of us in the loop at the staff level, I want to share with you the feedback I received from Congressman Ryan regarding the conversation he had this morning with the Speaker and the Majority Leader.

Well, that clarifies that they are doing this as staffers. But it also highlights the fact that they are doing so on private emails and with a political operative, Rhodes-Engels, in their midst.

Keep in mind that Rhodes-Engels has been discussed here before. She was first introduced when she pretended to be just a normal Milwaukee County-residing, Harley-riding woman who supported Scott Walker and went along for his campaign motorcycle ride. Her name also came up in Walkergate in that she shared Scott Fitzgerald's campaign donor database with Kelly Rindfleisch so that Rindfleisch could help raise funds for Walker and Brett Davis, Walker's choice for Lieutenant Governor. 

I have also become aware of the fact that she has often been witnessed to be in Scott Fitzgerald's office in the Capitol, which is a distinct no-no.

Now we find her involved with the gerrymandering scheme.

Was she involved in order to glean information to be used in fundraising for the inevitable court fights? Was she there to give insight on the possible political ramifications? Or is she simply a Jill-of-all-trades and used interchangeably between legislative and political business?

Oh, and Rhodes-Engels was involved in the first caucus scandal, so she really, really ought to have known better.

Koch-a Collusion

While pulling up the information for the above sections, it did remind me of one other well-known incident of obvious collusion....the time that Walker was talking to "David Koch."  Specifically, this part of that conversation:

WALKER: The other thing is more long term and that is after this, um, you know, the coming days and weeks and months ahead, particularly in some of these more swing areas, a lot of these guys are gonna need, they don’t necessarily need ads for them but they ‘re going to need a message out reinforcing why this was a good thing to do for the economy a good thing to do for the state so the extent that message is out over and over again, that’s obviously, that’s obviously a good thing.

Now, obviously, that was not the real David Koch. Not being a lawyer, I have no idea if this would be a prosecutable offense.

But think about this. While that David Koch was a fake, do you think that Walker has never had a similar conversation with the real one?

Also, let us not forget in addition to the Kochs, there are the groups like the Bradley Foundation (whose chair is Michael Grebe, Walker's campaign chair), the Sam Adams Alliance and all of their front groups like MacIver Institute, Wisconsin Reporter and Media Trackers.

Does anyone seriously believe that there was no cooperation, coercion and collusion between these groups, the campaigns of Walker and the other Republicans who were being recalled?

Summary

There are just a few of the top things that might or might no be part of the new Walkergate investigation.  With all of the corruption we've seen in this state in the past three years, this is by no means the end of all the possibilities.  But it is a place to start.

I have a feeling that the next few weeks and months are going to be interesting.

Cronyism In The Capitol - So What Else Is Old?

The gentle reader might remember the name Judith Rhodes Engels.

She was involved in the original caucus scandals from a decade ago, soaking the taxpayers for over $6,000 in legal fees for her illegal politicking.

Her name came up again several times during Walkergate.  She had been caught out posing as a Milwaukee County resident and joining Scott Walker on his campaign bike ride.  She was also found to be the main fundraiser and very special friend of State Senator Scott Fitzgerald.

And even though she was strictly a political operative, it turns out that she was inexplicably involved in a number of emails regarding the gerrymandering scandal.  This was, of course, highly unusual and probably illegal, since she should not have been involved in official government business.

But all of this is just par for the course for Walker and his ilk.

Just as is the cronyism that prevails in Walker's regime.

That's why it should come as no surprise that Tom Engels, Judi's hubby, is leaving his position with the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin on August 16 to take a position in Walker's administration.  Despite the fact that this was to remain strictly hush hush until Walker made his announcement, indications are that Engels will be in the Department of of Registration & Licensing, Walker's favorite political appointee dumping ground.

Indubitably, Engels is being rewarded with this job for the way his wife has put herself out in years of service to the GOP.

Funny thing is, I don't see the couple doing any carpooling:

Fitzgerald's Proposal Leaves State GABsmacked

After the caucus scandals rocked the state a decade ago, both parties came together and worked in a bipartisan fashion to create the Government Accountability Board (GAB). The GAB was created to replace the Elections and Ethics Board, which was so dysfunctional that it didn't even investigate the crimes for which five people had been convicted in a court of law.

Now, State Senator Scott Fitzgerald (R-Arkham)has decided that he doesn't like the way the GAB is working, even though he was a full supporter of it when it was created. His beef is that he thinks that it is partisan and favors the Democrats, meaning that it won't let the Republicans do whatever the hell they want to do.

His brilliant idea on how to fix his misperception is to make the non-partisan board less partisan by replacing the non-partisan judges with partisan activists.

Yeah, I'll let that sink in for a minute.

This idea was immediately panned, not just by the Democrats, but by neutral, outside observers:

A professor specializing in election law who has studied the accountability board bemoaned the proposal.

"I think that's about the worst idea I've heard this year," said Daniel Tokaji, a professor at Ohio State University Moritz College of Law who has written about Wisconsin's accountability board.

"I'm not surprised to see a partisan politician try to wrest power from the GAB. It's unfortunate, but not surprising," he said.

He called the accountability board a national model, saying it does a much better job than the partisan secretaries of state who run elections in many other states.

"The umpire is a player for one of the teams" in those states, Tokaji said.

Senator Chris Larson continued with the sports analogies by comparing Fitzgerald's proposal to the replacement referees that made the beginning of the NFL season such a farce.

I think it would be closer to the truth if you combined the two analogies. It would be more like the replacement refs, but having them picked out by the two sides.

Brian Fraley, in an obvious effort at doing some damage control, became desperate himself. In an article that he got published at Red State, Fraley starts grasping at straws. Some of the arguments that he used to support Fitzgerald's folly was the ridiculous claim that names like Adolph Hitler and Mickey Mouse would be accepted by the GAB, even though no such names were submitted. He also pointed out the work of the fallacious True the Vote, which proved to inaccurate at best. Fraley also adds in the allegations of voter fraud which were totally debunked by the Racine County District Attorney's Office.

The Democrats blasted Fitzgerald's proposal as yet another partisan power grab by the Republicans. And rightfully so.

It's quite obvious that Fitzgerald's proposal has nothing to do with creating jobs, fixing the economy or saving taxpayer money. What Fitzgerald is proposing is an effort to further stack the deck in the Republicans' favor, just like with their gerrymandering and voter suppression.

One might think that since the Republicans control both houses of the legislature, the governor's office, the attorney general's office and the majority on the State Supreme Court, it would seem that Fitzgerald's complaints about the GAB rings false.

I would have to agree.

But it might be the fact that the elections the Republicans could not control, the one for president and U.S. Senate, which were handily won by President Barack Obama and Senator-Elect Tammy Baldwin, that the Republican agenda is not only not working, but an increasing number of people are rejecting it, and the Republicans, which is making Fitzgerald so uneasy.

Then again, Fitzgerald might also have underlying reasons of a personal nature for his proposal.

Keep in mind that it is Fitzgerald's campaign fund raiser and special friend, Judith Rhodes Engels who has her name all wrapped up in Walkergate, the second version of the caucus scandals.

Rhodes Engels was riding with Walker during his last Harley Davidson campaign tour of the state. It was also Rhodes Engels who was found to be giving Walker's Kelly Rindfleisch all the information regarding Fitzgerald's campaign donors.

Furthermore it was Engels Rhodes who partook in a series of secret emails regarding the state function of redistricting, or in this case, gerrymandering. And Rhodes Engels has been observed many times coming and going from Fitzgerald's office in the Capitol Building.

Fitzgerald's proposal might not be just another power grab, but it might very well be a CYA maneuver to protect himself and his special friend/fund raiser.

It's ironic how Fitzgerald now wants to change the GAB - which he voted for to deal with things like the caucus scandal - possibly in order to avoid responsibility for the caucus scandal-like behavior that he and his staff have participated in.

Caucus Scandal: The 2011 Edition

A little more than a decade ago, Wisconsin was rocked with the caucus scandals, where it was found that both Republicans and Democrats were found to be having their caucus staff doing illegal politicking while working on state time and using state equipment.

The caucus scandals again rose in prominence in the past year as Walkergate, the John Doe investigation into Scott Walker, his campaign and his staff at Milwaukee County, revealed that they were also partaking in illegal politicking while on the taxpayers dime.

While many in the state, including myself, thought that Walkergate was the be all end all of scandals, it appears that it might have been just the tip of the iceberg.

Let me explain.

Recently, when the Democrats finally reclaimed the majority in the state senate, many people, mostly Republicans, thought it was a meaningless gesture and a waste of everyone's time and money. Their rationale for this feeling was that, thanks to their gerrymandering, the Republicans were ensured to regain the majority in the fall. Furthermore, because the legislature is out of session until next year, the Democrats would be unable to get anything done before they lost control of the senate again.

However, it just may be that gerrymandering that they were so proud of which might prove to be a major problem for them.

We saw some of the corruption that went on behind the gerrymandering when it was revealed that the lawmakers had done such things as signed secrecy pacts. It was then learned that at least two Republican aides, Tad Ottman and Adam Foltz, were working out of the Michael Best & Friedrich law offices while they were supposed to be doing the state's work.

When the Democrats regained control of the senate, one of things that did happen is that they were able to get their hands on all the documents regarding the gerrymandering. When these became available, most of the media focused on the partisanship of the gerrymandering and how it was obviously meant to infringe on voters' rights. While this is undeniably true, it is also only part of the story.

For example, there is one email from Andy Speth, who is Paul Ryan's Chief of Staff:

Thank you for being available to participate in the call this afternoon with the Speaker, the Majority Leader and Congressman Ryan. The purpose of the call is to get everyone on the same page as far as the process and timing of the congressional redistricting map is concerned.

What a nice, polite email showing a team working together, right?

Well, not exactly.

Take a look at the whole email.

First note the names of the people to whom Speth is emailing:

• Tad Ottman - Staffer for Senator Scott Fitzgerald and one of the two working in the law firm while being paid by the taxpayers.
• Adam Foltz - Staffer for Representative Jeff Fitzgerald and one of the two working in the law firm while being paid by the taxpayers.
• Andy Gustofson - Another staffer for Jeff Fitzgerald.
• Judith Rhodes-Engels - Now this is where it starts to get interesting. Rhodes-Engels works for WISGOP and his the main fundraiser for Scott Fitzgerald.

So what is a fundraiser for WISGOP doing on this email list?

Scott Fitzgerald and Judith Rhodes-Engels

Well, that might be answered in part by the next revelation. Look at the email addresses that Speth sent his missive to. They are all the private emails of the people involved.

This would indicate that they were doing government work using their private emails, except for Rhodes-Engels. For that, Speth used her WISGOP address. You don't suppose they were doing this to avoid open record requests, do you?

Now look at the time of the email: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at 9:53 am.

I find it unlikely that they all were off on that day. And even if they were, that still doesn't explain why they were discussing government business on private emails or why a political operative was involved in the discussion.

I also find it curious why the Fitzgerald boys and Ryan were having their staffers and political aides involved in a process that was so super secret that they had to have all the legislators sign secrecy pacts. Was it secret to give them an advantage or was it secret to hide the fact that they were practicing illegal politics?

Now let's take a look at a second email:

Look at the first line of this missive:

To keep all of us in the loop at the staff level, I want to share with you the feedback I received from Congressman Ryan regarding the conversation he had this morning with the Speaker and the Majority Leader.

Well, that clarifies that they are doing this as staffers. But it also highlights the fact that they are doing so on private emails and with a political operative, Rhodes-Engels, in their midst.

Keep in mind that Rhodes-Engels has been discussed here before. She was first introduced when she pretended to be just a normal Milwaukee County-residing, Harley-riding woman who supported Scott Walker and went along for his campaign motorcycle ride. Her name also came up in Walkergate in that she shared Scott Fitzgerald's campaign donor database with Kelly Rindfleisch so that Rindfleisch could help raise funds for Walker and Brett Davis, Walker's choice for Lieutenant Governor.

I have also become aware of the fact that she has often been witnessed to be in Scott Fitzgerald's office in the Capitol, which is a distinct no-no.

Now we find her involved with the gerrymandering scheme.

Was she involved in order to glean information to be used in fundraising for the inevitable court fights? Was she there to give insight on the possible political ramifications? Or is she simply a Jill-of-all-trades and used interchangeably between legislative and political business?

What makes this even more ridiculous is that Rhodes-Engels was involved in the first caucus scandal (p. 16):

[DCI Special Agent] Strauss reports that she has participated in interviews with Judith Rhodes Engels (“Engels"), who has stated in part the following. Engels was state-employed in the Ladwig Capitol office November 1996 - March 2001. Sherry Schultz was in charge of fundraising for individual Republican members of the Assembly, including completing their campaign finance reports and assisting in fundraisers. After the 1998 elections, Engels and Ladwig discussed the fact that Schultz was “creating a monster” in that legislators were becoming too dependent on Schultz and her campaign finance related services. Engels worked with Schultz on fundraising issues. Schultz did not appear to have any duties other than fundraising. Engel's job was to keep track of contributions from legislators to RACC, which are referred to as "assessments." Schultz's duties included keeping track of where this money went for the individual campaigns. On occasion Engels received checks for individual campaigns and provided them to Schultz. Schultz created various documents regarding fundraising at RACC meetings held in Jensen's Capitol office. In a RACC meeting after the 2000 election in Jensen’s Capitol office, Jensen thanked Schultz for all she did for members of the “team” in connection with the money that had been raised.

It does make one wonder if Rhodes-Engels is just stupid, so arrogant she thinks she is above the law or so sleazy she just doesn't care.

But what this does show us is that the Republicans didn't learn one damn thing from the first caucus scandal. It also shows us that our previous estimates of the spread and depth of corruption in the Republican Party were grossly short of the mark.

WISGOP is nothing more than a vast criminal syndicate.  They need to have their crimes brought to the light of day and to the halls of justice.

I certainly hope that someone has brought this to the attention of Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. Not that the John Doe investigations into Walker and his crew aren't keeping him busy enough.

Republicans Start Circling Their Wagons

The Republicans are nervous. Very nervous.

With the corrupt Scott Walker, the inept Becky Kleefisch and four senators at risk of recall, they are starting to sweat. Even the pompous ass Scott Fitzgerald is showing signs of the tension, judging by the sudden dropping of responsibilities in Madison.

Perhaps the spot they are weakest is up north, in the district once represented by Pam "Annie Get Your Gun" Galloway, who left the Republicans high and dry with just weeks to choose a new candidate and trying to get that person in position to save face and avoid a complete rout.

They picked their sacrificial lamb in Jerry Petrowski. And they've already started pulling the big fundraising guns by having Scott Fitzgerald's Walkergate-tainted fund raiser, Judi Rhodes-Engels, set up the shindig:

"Judi Rhodes" 03/29/2012 05:41 PM

To "Judi Rhodes"

Subject:  April 10th Event

Please join us for a

Breakfast Reception for Senate Candidate:

Jerry Petrowski

With Special Guests:

Alberta Darling

Scott Fitzgerald

Glenn Grothman

Frank Lasee

Leah Vukmir

Rich Zipperer

Tuesday, April 10th

8:00-9:30 AM

Madison Club

5 East Wilson

Madison, WI

$1,000 to Host (includes attendance for 3)

$500 per person to attend

Please make checks payable to:

Friends of Jerry Petrowski

720 North 136th Ave

Marathon, WI 54448

Limited PAC currently accepted

For questions or to RSVP, please contact 608-257-8035 or senate@wisgop.org

Authorized and paid for by Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, Scott Fitzgerald Treasurer

Rhodes Engels is, if the gentle reader remembers, Fitzgerald's personal fund raiser who has been tied in to Scott Walker's Harley Davidson campaign ride as well as sharing campaign donor spreadsheets with Kelly Rindfleisch, who is currently facing four felony charges for spending most of her time on her county job doing fund raising and other campaign activities, not just for Walker, but also for his lieutenant governor of choice, Brett Davis.

I guess Fitzie figures since he's already tainted with the stain of Walkergate, he might as jump in with both feet.

Another sign that the Republicans lack confidence is the fact that they once again feel the compulsion to run fake Democrats in the races.  They're doing so because it worked so well last time.

Well, to be honest, the Republicans running fake Democrats does serve one purpose.  It reminds us that they really don't care about election integrity or saving tax payers any money.

They're only interested in jobs - their own.

Walkergate: News And Notes

A number of things have happened regarding the ongoing Walkergate investigation and criminal hearings that alone would be hard to write, but put together make an interesting set of odds, ends and points of interest.

Belated Thank You


I had meant to include this in my last post about the Son of the Caucus Scandals, but in hindsight, realize that I forgot to point out that the outline for the post came from an unknown benefactor - a friend of a friend of a friend, if you will.  My thanks goes to this unknown person for laying the ground work.

The Robin Vos Vector

A friend of Cog Dis pointed out that Robin Vos was mentioned in the criminal complaint against Kelly Rindfleisch (on page 10):

There is no indication that Vos knew what was going on - which come to think of it, is his normal modus operandi - but as a bonus piece of interest, it turns out that Vos and Reince Priebus were college roommates.

Rhodes Hits The Road

Shortly after I wrote the piece introducing Judith Rhodes-Engels to my readers, her Facebook and LinkedIn accounts have gone poof.  I'm curious if this was on her own volition or if it was "suggested" to her.

Rindfleisch In Court

Kelly Rindfleisch was in court on Thursday.  Nothing too exciting.  She waived her right to a preliminary hearing and will appear before Judge Hansher on March 20.  She still has a her motion for universal immunity and a change of venue pending.  

Did I Do That?

A week or two ago, I questioned how Tim Russell, who was having apparent money problems, was able to afford two attorneys.

A couple of days ago, one of his attorneys, Andrew Franklin, filed a motion to withdraw from the case.  That hearing will be this coming Monday, March 12.

Watch Out, Tosa! Daddy's Back!

Brian Pierick, Tim Russell's partner, has moved back to Wauwatosa - without Russell.  

That's all I got for now.  Like I said, these are just things that I found interesting and/or curious, and are not always directly related to the ongoing Walkergate saga but in tangential ways.

.