Scott Walker Skips Parenting & Writes A Letter

By Jeff Simpson

With a national debate started by the NFL Players, and the President weighing in,  Scott Walker, ever the one for media attention, felt the need to weigh in. 

Scott Walker took time out of his busy schedule as head of the Republican Governors Association to write a letter to the NFLPA(because he has such a good relationship with unions) to tell them they should stop their protesting during the national anthem.   He let the African American Players know that their protests against police brutality against their community was not worth the time and they should focus on domestic violence. 

It is nice that Scott Walker is finally speaking out against La Crosse County Republican Party Leader Bill Feehan, but it is sad that a child of privilege, who has full security, and billionaires shoveling him money, feels that the African American community has no grounds to protest and it is time to move on. 

A lot has been made about National Football League (NFL) players protesting by kneeling, remaining in the locker room, or other means during the national anthem. Speaking up for what you believe in is a profoundly American idea, but disrespecting our flag, and the men and women who have fought to protect and defend our country, is not American in the slightest.

It is time for players in the NFL to stop their protests during the anthem and move on from what has become a divisive political sideshow. Instead, I encourage them to use their voices and influence to take a stand against domestic violence. With the NFL Fall League Meeting occurring tomorrow, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, now would be an especially opportune time to strongly condemn domestic violence and lead the charge in supporting safe families across America.

Where to begin? 

Speaking up for what you believe in is profoundly American.....Unless of course you speak up against him. 

But disrespecting our flag:

and the men and women who have fought to protect and defend our country

When Scott Walker was Milwaukee County executive, his office obstructed a criminal probe into thousands of dollars missing from a veterans charity, two investigators said Friday in a federal court filing.
Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel reported in 2012 that records showed the John Doe investigation was opened in 2010 after investigators said they had been stonewalled by Walker's county executive office. At the time, Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf wrote that Walker's office had been "unwilling or unable" to turn over records.
A former top aide to Walker, Tim Russell, was sentenced to two years in prison in January 2013 for stealing more than $21,000 from a nonprofit chosen to administer Walker's annual Operation Freedom veterans picnic at the zoo. Walker had named Russell to lead the group.
Ex-Walker appointee Kevin Kavanaugh was convicted of stealing more than $51,000 from money donated to help veterans and their families. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but served just over half that.

move on from what has become a divisive political sideshow. 

In related news, and speaking of disrespecting our flag and the men and women of our armed forces, The Donald held a press conference to let everyone know:

Trump said, “President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls, a lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it.”

The problem being, The Donald was blatantly lying.

I am guessing that Scott Walker will let this disrespect stand unchallenged.

Luckily, San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich, decided he needed to speak up! 

“I’ve been amazed and disappointed by so much of what this president had said, and his approach to running this country, which seems to be one of just a never ending divisiveness. But his comments today about those who have lost loved ones in times of war and his lies that previous presidents Obama and Bush never contacted their families are so beyond the pale, I almost don’t have the words.”

 “This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner—and to lie about how previous presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers—is as low as it gets. We have a pathological liar in the White House, unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office, and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this president should be ashamed, because they know better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all.”

While I agree with coach Pop, I think soulless coward extends beyond Donald Trump. 

PS:  The one issue that Scott Walker has not offered up his opinion on?  Why his son stealing a State van of course!  

You're a 23 year old desperado & you steal a van from the State of Wisconsin. Will you be caught? Will your governor father, Scott Walker, get you out of trouble? Depends on how well you play...

GRAND THEFT AUTO: THE VAN

On sale now for $25.08! Just in time for Christmas! pic.twitter.com/CMcQWUkDal

— Jud Lounsbury (@JudLounsbury) October 16, 2017

How Scott Walker Caused The John Doe Investigation

As I recently wrote, Cindy Archer, a long time aide and friend to Scott Walker, had filed a frivolous lawsuit regarding the John Doe investigation into Walker and his gang of crooks.

Walker is probably really wishing that Archer never filed that lawsuit because not only did she get burned by it, but Walker is being dragged down with her.

But first a little backstory.

When Walker was Milwaukee County Executive, he started a thinly-veiled campaign stunt he called "Operation Freedom." "Operation Freedom" was supposed to be a charity fund that Walker used to honor veterans by giving them and their families a free day at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Despite it supposedly being for the veterans, Walker used the opportunity to tell people how great he was.

In 2008, a Walker aide noticed that there was money missing from the fund. Walker sent his then Chief of Staff, Tom Nardelli, to the District Attorney's office to file a complaint and ask for an investigation.

Eventually, two Walker aides, Kevin Kavanaugh and Tim Russell, were charged, tried and convicted for embezzling money from the fund. (Some of the money Russell stole from the fund went to pay for Walker's campaign websites.)

During Russell's trial, an interesting tidbit came up. The John Doe investigation was originally started when Walker started stonewalling the investigation that he originally asked for:

Milwaukee County prosecutors opened the secret John Doe criminal investigation more than two years ago after being stonewalled by Gov. Scott Walker's office when he was county executive, according to a newly released record.

The document appears to cast doubt on some of Walker's claims about his role in launching and cooperating with the investigation.

On May 5, 2010, Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf filed a petition with court officials asking if his office could initiate a secret investigation into what happened with $11,000 in donations intended for Operation Freedom, an annual event honoring veterans.

By making it a secret John Doe investigation, Landgraf wrote that prosecutors might get better cooperation from Walker's office, which had been "unwilling or unable" to turn over records and information needed in the investigation. He said he would need to subpoena county records and officials.

"It may be the County Executive's Office is reluctant to provide information to investigators due to a fear of political embarrassment," Landgraf wrote, noting that Walker was then running for governor.

Well, it might be. Or it might be they were getting awfully nervous about what the DA's office was looking for.

Which brings up to Archer's lawsuit.

In their response to Archer's lawsuit, the John Doe investigators confirmed that Walker was indeed trying to obstruct the investigation that he had asked for:

On Friday, two of the defendants, chief investigator David Budde and investigator Robert Stelter, filed a response. In it, they reaffirmed that the John Doe investigation began after one of Walker’s top staff reported funds missing from “Operation Freedom,” an annual event held by Walker’s office to thank veterans for their military service.

They said the secret probe was necessary only because Walker’s office “was uncooperative and obstructed the District Attorney’s Office’s efforts to obtain documentation of the County’s receipt and disbursement of donations from Operation Freedom.”

“As a consequence, the District Attorney’s Office was forced to petition a John Doe proceeding in order to have legal mechanisms to obtain relevant documentation from the County Executive’s Office,” they argued.

While the John Doe investigation known as Walkergate was originally started to investigation into the theft from the veterans/campaign fund, it quickly expanded as investigators found evidence of illegal politicking, illegal donations and bid rigging.

Investigators also found evidence of the illegal collaboration between Walker and dark money groups like Wisconsin Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity.

Is it any wonder why Walker and his dark money masters went all out to kill the investigation?

Fortunatley, while they might have stopped the investigation - at least on the state level - but they cannot conceal the depth of their corruption.

Walkergate: A Tale Of Two Cronies

It was the worst of times.  It was the worst of crimes.

In January 2011, the state was still reeling from the first round of degenerate and detrimental laws passed by Scott Walker and his Teapublican legislature.  One of the most damaging laws was Act 10, from which the state still suffers and will be years - and new leadership - to even begin repairing the damage this has caused.

People were distraught and in despair about the loss of their rights and their livelihoods.

But early in the early days of that year, hope came in the form of a John Doe investigation known as Walkergate.  The investigation led to the arrest and conviction of the Walker Six - the six people that had been convicted of crimes ranging from illegal campaign contributions to illegal politicking.  People were anxiously awaiting for Walker himself to become a defendant, something which has yet to happen.

Two of Scott Walker's cronies - Tim Russell and Kevin Kavanaugh - were arrested and charged with stealing from a fund meant for veterans and their families.  (Actually, the fund was being used to promote Walker and his campaign for governor.)

Both men were eventually convicted for their crimes.

Russell, at the time of his crimes, was serving as Walker's Deputy Chief of Staff and could have been charged with much more than theft.  He was sentenced to two years in prison, two years on extended supervision and was ordered to pay $26,621.04 in restitution.

Kavanaugh was appointed by Walker to Milwaukee County's Veteran Service Commission.  He was sentenced to two years prison and two years of extended supervision and was ordered to pay $51,232.00 in restitution.

Similar crimes, similar times.

But that is where the similarity ends.

Russell's case

Russell, who was pulling all sorts of stunts during his trial, is now back at it.  Russell has filed a rather frivolous petition to have his sentence pared down and to have the restitution cut.  The premise of his petition is twofold.

Russell thinks that his prison time should be shortened because he feels that Judge Hansher was thinking he was sentencing him to Misconduct in Office instead of theft.  But on page four of his petition, he shoots this argument in the foot by pointing out how the judge took pains to clarify things:

THE COURT:  ...And this is on my own motion because it was my recollection, and I know I said it, I talked during sentencing about misconduct in public office.  And I think I made the statement, and I wrote this down, misconduct in public office speaks for itself I believe I said that.

The defendant was not charged with misconduct in public office.  I was aware of that.  I even said in the beginning he pled guilty to count one which was theft.  The court's reference to misconduct in public office was a reference to him being deputy chief of staff at the time.  It was a characterization.  I was viewing this as a fact, not as a charge, because this happened while he was in public office.

Russell also thinks he should not have to pay back $5,000 of the veteran's fund because he rented office space for a company he made up for the sole purpose of allowing Walker to continue to control the money, even though the county's Ethics Board ordered the money away from Walker's office.

In other words, Russell, who the judge said had no shame in the crime, still has not learned any remorse for what he did but is tired of eating baloney sandwiches.  But since Russell has been abandoned by his very good friend Scott Walker, his only recourse is to try this shameless manipulation of the court.

The court has ordered the state to respond by January 20, 2014 and then Russell's attorney to respond by February 4.  After that, the court will make either issue a written decision or set the matter for hearing.

Another hearing is the last thing that Walker will want as things start to heat up for the gubernatorial race.  Walker, who has never really distanced himself from Russell, doesn't want people to remember all of the corruption he is tied up in.

Kavanaugh's case

Kavanaugh's case was much tamer than Russell's.  Even though there were some delays in his proceedings due to illness and he tried to use some weak excuses to minimize and rationalize his crime, it was a more or less open and shut case.

But what is happening now is anything but normal.

Unlike Russell, Kavanaugh has filed no petitions to have his sentence changed.

He didn't need to.

Walker's Department of Corrections has done it for him.  I was alerted to this recent entry into Kavanaugh's case:

DOC is requesting the Court to authorize the inmate's release and conversion of remaining confinement time to extended supervision.

The reasons that this is rather exceptional are that it's Walker's DOC making the request and not Kavanaugh himself, that this goes against Walker's whole "Truth in Sentencing" philosophy and that it also goes against Act 38, which repeals any sort of early release from prison.

The only exception to Act 38 which might explain this would be if Kavanaugh is having an "extraordinary" health condition.  But even then, it would go against all of the tough on crime attitude that Walker prides himself on.

Another explanation for the difference in treatment is that Russell caused Walker greater embarrassment.  Russell and Walker are very close and their history together goes back decades.  Not only that, but Russell was found to have been deep into the illegal campaigning going on, including the setting up of a secret router in the executive suite of the Milwaukee County Courthouse.  It was also Russell's shenanigans during his court proceedings that revealed other shameful acts by Walker, including his stonewalling of the Walkergate investigation.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that even the apparent preferential treatment of Kavanaugh's case pales in comparison to that of Kelly Rindfleisch, who is still free pending on an appeal of her conviction.  Then again, Rindfleisch also appears to be sole person of the Walker Six who is also receiving his aid in funding her legal defense.

Apparently in Walker's eyes, all cronies are created equal.  It's just that some are more equal than others.

Walkergate: The Year In Review

There are many things starting to come to a head in regards to Walkergate.  But before we can go into all that, I felt it would be useful to look at what we already know, so that what comes can make more sense for the gentle reader.

In May 2010, Darlene Wink, who was Director of Constituent Affairs for then Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, was caught leaving comments on JSOnline and other blogs. The comments were either to support Walker in his gubernatorial campaign or to rip into his opponents.

The following week, Tim Russell, formerly Walker's Deputy Chief of Staff and then Director of the Division of Housing, was filmed doing campaign work while traveling the state with Walker, supposedly to promote tourism in Milwaukee County.

It was at this same time that the first conviction of Walkergate came. William E. Gardner, president and CEO of Wisconsin and Southern Rail admitted to giving illegal donations to Walker's campaign.

In August 2010, Russell's county office was raided, with Sheriff Deputies removing boxes of papers, his computers and his county-issued Blackberries.

In September, deputies from Milwaukee County and Dane County, as well as FBI agents, executed search warrants on several people's homes. Some of these people include Cindy Archer, Walker's head of Administrative Services and Fran McLaughlin, his spokeswoman.

For a more detailed accounting of the early days of Walkergate, I would refer the gentle reader to "An Introduction to Walkergate" and "Scott Walker's Other Big Problem."

The day after my story in the Shepherd Express was published, Tim Russell, Brian Pierick and Kevin Kavanaugh were arrested and charged with various crimes which stemmed from the investigation. Three weeks later, wink and Kelly Rindfleisch were also arrested and charged.

During the year, there were many twists and turns which revealed many things, not only about the five people who were arrested, but about others who were implicated in various crimes.

Tim Russell was charged with embezzling money from a veterans fund, Operation Freedom, which in turn turned out to be a thinly veiled front for a campaign stunt.

Among the things that were revealed during his stalling tactics was that not only was he stealing money, but he was also active in campaigning for Walker, including the installation of a secret router in the executive's suite, in order to avoid having anything disclosed via an open records request.

It also came out that even if one were to give Walker credit for starting the investigation by reporting missing money from the veterans campaign fund, Walker quickly became uncooperative and was stonewalling the investigation. I can't help but wonder if Walker hadn't done that, if he might have gotten away with all of the corruption.

Russell eventually took a plead deal and will sentenced in January.

Kelly Rindfleisch was charged with illegal politicking while on the taxpayer dime, in a government building, and using government resources. In her thousands of emails, she boasted about how half her time was spent working on the campaign.

During her trial, we gained a larger sense of just how far the corruption spread. It was very much like the caucus scandals that rocked the state a decade earlier, but worse.

It turned out that not only was Walker's county staff doing campaign work on county time, but that the campaign was actually running his county executive office. The campaign staff were calling the shots, even to the point of telling the county staff to destroy legal documents that might have reflected poorly on Walker, such as the records regarding the tragedy at O'Donnell Park.

It was from her case that we learned that there was not just collaboration and collusion with the campaign staff, but that there was a statewide network of contacts with most of the state's Republicans, including Brett Davis, Scott Fitzgerald, Robin Vos and others.

It was also from Rindfleisch's case that we learned that there was going to be more. There's always more, such as the fact that not only was Walker aware of what was happening, he was an active participant and directing things.

Rindfleisch also took a plea deal and was sentenced to six months jail time and two years parole, but that order was stayed while she appeals the plea deal.

Darlene Wink was also charged with illegal campaigning while on county time. She quickly entered a plea deal and was ready and willing to testify against her cohorts in crime. Her sentencing date has been delayed a number of times as her friends kept stalling their cases. Her sentencing date is now in January.

Kevin Kavanaugh, who Walker appointed to the board of Veterans Affairs, was convicted of stealing money from the same veterans fund Russell stole from. He was recently sentenced to do 30 months in jail and 30 months parole.

Brian Pierick was Russell's domestic and business partner. He's been charged with child enticement, which was discovered only because of the investigation into Russell's crimes. He goes on trial in late January.

While the bulk of the investigation and subsequent court cases have been focused on illegal campaigning, it should be noted this is nowhere near the only part of the investigation that involves Walker and his staffs.

Walker and his crew are known to have engaged in bid rigging and pay for play types of stunts.

These, along with the illegal politicking, leaves room for many more charges against many more people.

Walkergate is far from being over, as we shall soon learn.  Just as we will learn who is John Doe...

Walkergate: Kavanaugh and Phase II

A couple of short and sweet items of interest regarding Walkergate, one of which just might knock your socks off.

Kavanaugh

Friday is the date for the sentencing hearing for Kevin Kavanaugh, the first person to embezzle money from the Scott Walker campaign promotion veterans fund known as Operation Freedom.

Remember that Scott Walker claimed and is still claiming that he "started the investigation" by having his Chief of Staff Tom Nardelli go to the DA's Office with concerns about missing money.  What he doesn't want to talk about is how he also immediately started to stonewall the investigation, opening the door for Walkergate.

I don't expect any big revelations from this, but you never can tell.

But that's OK, because there's other things to chew on.

Phase II

Cindy Archer

I have recently heard that Phase II of the Walkergate investigation has already commenced.  Apparently Kelly Rindfleisch did give some information after all and gave up Cindy Archer.

Archer had been Walker's Director of Administration during the time Walker was Milwaukee County Executive.  Criminal complaints and other documents from Walkergate show that Archer was deeply involved with the illegal campaigning and the collusion between county personnel and campaign staff.

Word is that Archer is already working on a plea deal even though she hasn't been arrested yet, much less charged.  It's a maneuver called a negotiated issuance.

If this is true and they are going after Archer, there's a good chance that they are going after others, like Tom Nardelli, who was Walker's Chief of Staff during this time.

This would also explain why they let off people like Rindfleisch or Tim Russell with relative slaps on the wrist.  Many people wanted the DA to get these two to flip on Walker.

But neither of these people were, as far as the Milwaukee County hierarchy goes, closer than two degrees separated.  The highest position that both Rindfleisch and Russell reached was Deputy Chief of Staff, two spots below Walker.

But if they turned on Archer and Nardelli, well, now we're at the level just below Walker, as his Director of Administration and Chief of Staff, respectively.  They testimony would be much harder for Walker to explain away.

Yup, 2013 is shaping up to be a most interesting year.

Now, if only we could figure out who John Doe is...

Walkergate: Updates and Mark These Dates

Things are starting to slowly build up to a new crescendo in the ongoing Walkergate trials, with actions coming up in three of the current cases.

As I had mentioned earlier this morning, Scott Walker's hand-picked appointee to the Milwaukee County Veteran Service Commission, Kevin Kavanaugh, had his final pretrial hearing this morning.

Nothing much happened except for setting the stage for the actual, formal hearing on October 8, 2012.

And as I reported earlier this week, Tim Russell went for broke with some bold and rather desperate motions to have the DA disqualified and the charges dismissed. While Russell's attorney couldn't get his motions filed on time, Bruce Landgraf got his response filed a week early.

The next court date for Russell is the final pretrial on October 22, 2012.

And finally, there has been some really curious events in the case against Kelly Rindfleisch.

On September 4, ADA Bruce Landgraf requested a hearing for a criminal deposition "as to Tim L. Hearing," which is scheduled for October 11, 2012. Today, Landgraf filed the paperwork for said deposition.

Frankly, this has baffled me. I'm not sure if it's referring to someone named Tim L. Hearing or to a hearing regarding to a Tim L. Either way, I don't know who it might be. (It's not Russell, since his middle initial is D.) Nor do I know what this mystery person might have to do with Rindfleisch.

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

The pretrial is scheduled for next week, on September 14. The jury trial is scheduled for October 15, 2012. That is unless the deposition or Rindfleisch's second motion to appeal puts a further delay in the proceedings.

Timing Is Everything

I just heard Scott Walker talking to Charlie Sykes, talking up his trip to Kosovo.

I'm sure that it's all coincidental that Walker returns on the same day that his hand-picked appointee to the Milwaukee County Veterans Service Commission, Kevin Kavanaugh, is having his final pretrial hearing for embezzling $42,000 from a fund meant for veterans and their families.

Because he really cares about veterans, y'know.

A Voter's Guide To Walkergate

Walkergate, the commonly used moniker for the John Doe investigation into the scandalous behaviors of Scott Walker, his campaign and his past and current staffers started at least in February 2010, maybe even earlier.  Since its inception, the investigation has taken a lot of twists and turns, growing ever wider, and encompassing dozens of people and numerous criminal activities.  The following is my endeavor to try to summarize all the events and the people involved, much of which the mainstream media has yet to report.

I will start with a brief timeline leading up to this year, and then look at Walkergate by category of the crimes and misconducts and other aspects of the ongoing investigation.

The Beginning

As I wrote in "An Introduction To Walkergate," and later summarized for an article in the Shepherd Express, the first inklings of Walkergate bubbled to the surface of public consciousness when Walker's Director of Constituent Affairs, Darlene Wink, was caught leaving comments on JSOnline and other blogs, promoting the candidacy of Scott Walker and tearing down all potential opponents for either party.  She resigned immediately, despite Walker's attempts to say he fired her.  Later in the year, her home was searched and her computers were confiscated.

The week following the outing of Wink, Walker's long time friend, campaign worker and county staffer, Tim Russell, was filmed doing campaign work while on county time.  In August 2010, sheriff deputies, acting on a warrant, searched Russell's county office, confiscating his computers, Blackberry phone and boxes of papers.

It was also about this time that the first arrest and conviction came about.  Railroad mogul, William E. Gardner was turned in for making illegal donations to Walker's campaign.  He entered a guilty plea and was convicted.

Although it was unknown at the time, on November 1, 2010, the day before the gubernatorial election,  the DA's office confiscated the computers and files from the county executive's office.  This information did not come out until over a year later.  If it had come out that day, I think we wouldn't have had a need for a recall because Walker would never have been elected.

Things got quiet for almost a year, with only a little blurb popping up here and there regarding the scandal, such as people lawyering up.

Then in September 2011, things really started to bubble.  It became public knowledge that Dane County sheriff's deputies and FBI agents raided the home of Cindy Archer, Walker's top aid in the county and a top advisor to him as governor.

Around this time, Tom Nardelli, who was Walker's Chief of Staff at the county and given a cushy state job, suddenly quit his job.

As interest in Walkergate grew, it was also discovered that John Hiller, Walker's campaign treasurer of almost two decades, had suddenly and quietly slunk off six month before.  Walker offered the incredulous explanation that, after having Hiller be his treasurer for eighteen years, he didn't think Hiller could do the job.

Then on January 5, 2012, things exploded.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced the arrests and charging of three Walker associates- Kevin Kavanaugh, Brian Pierick and Tim Russell.

Three weeks later, Darlene Wink and Kelly Rindfleisch were also arrested and charged.

Embezzlement

Kevin Kavaugh has been charged with stealing money from a veterans fund, named Operation Freedom.  This money was meant for veterans and their families. He is currently facing five charges regarding this crime.   Despite his self-reported misgivings, Walker appointed Kavanaugh to the Veterans Board.

Tim Russell, who has been Walker's close friend for at least two decades, served in various positions for Walker in Milwaukee County, including economic development, deputy chief of staff and director of housing.

Russell was also charged with stealing from the veterans fund. Walker originally had kept control of this fund directly from his county executive's office.  After repeated warnings from the Ethics Board, Walker finally moved it out of his office, but then placed in under the control of a front group operated by Tim Russell, therefore never really giving up control of the money.  This only confirmed that Operation Freedom was nothing more than a publicity stunt for Walker rather than a genuine effort to honor the veterans.

Besides stealing from the veterans fund, Russell is accused of stealing from the campaigns of two separate politicians.

Tim Russell, Scott Walker, Brian Pierick
Photo courtesy of Wisconsin State Journal

Fun fact: Russell was also the Treasurer for the Republican Party of Milwaukee County. How much do you want to bet they've since done a thorough audit of their books?

It should also be noted that Russell used some of the money he embezzled for Walker's campaign, including paying for Walker's campaign website.

Furthermore, stemming from these reports were hints of possible strong arming and pay for play tactics by Walker's team.

Child Enticement

Brian Pierick was Russell's domestic and business partner.  He also worked with Russell with Walker's campaign, including administrating Walker's website up to the day he was arrested.

While the DA's investigators were looking into Russell's crimes, they found evidence that Pierick was trying to entice a seventeen year old boy into showing his genitalia and trying to arrange a rendezvous for a sexual encounter.

It should be noted that the complaint points to Russell as a co-conspirator, but he has not been charged with this crime. Yet.

Another note is that Pierick was named in the complaint regarding Russell's embezzlement charges.  Pierick was the actual treasurer for one of the politicians and gave Russell access to the money.

Illegal Campaigning/Politicking

This is by far, so far, the meatiest part of Walkergate.

Darlene Wink, besides leaving comments on JSOnline and other blogs, was also found to be doing campaign work and fund raising for Walker.  This is not surprising given that besides Walker's constituent liaison, Wink was also a co-vice-chair for the Republican Party of Milwaukee County.

Wink has struck a plea bargain with the DA and has agreed to cooperate with the investigation in return for a reduced sentence.  Part of the cooperation includes providing information on the destruction of digital evidence.  She was to be sentenced on May 15, but the sentencing has been delayed to July.  The reason is that while she has been cooperative, there is much more her to help the investigation with.

Tim Russell was cited in the complaint against Wink, apparently directing her on what to do and assuring her she wouldn't get in trouble or going to jail.  However, he has not been charged with illegal campaigning. Yet.

Kelly Rindfleisch was personally hired and promoted by Walker to fill the Deputy Chief of Staff position that Russell vacated when he moved to the Division of Housing.  At least that was her official position.

Kelly Rindfleisch

Rindfleisch is facing four counts of illegal politicking.  She is currently fighting those charges and is trying to have a change of venue to her home county of Columbia County.  By doing so, she is openly admitting that she falsified her employment papers as being a Milwaukee County resident.

Based on the complaint and subsequent transcripts, Rindfleisch sent thousands of campaign-related emails out during the short time she worked for the county.  She not only worked for Walker's campaign, but was the fund raiser for Brett Davis, whom Walker wanted to be his Lt. Governor.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing revealed with the Rindfleisch charges is the fact that the complaint discusses a secret router email system used to bypass any open records requests, which in itself is illegal.  Russell is the person who set up this system, but has not been charged with this. Yet.

Another thing to note is that the Rindlfeisch complaint is a who's who of people that were involved with her campaign work.  They include: Jim Villa, former Walker Chief of Staff and campaign advisor, who did some fund raising and campaign worker on Rindfleisch's request; Fran McLaughlin, Walker's county spokeswoman, who did the proofreading and editing on campaign literature and emails; Andrea Bloom, a friend of Rindfliesch who eventually became Walker's campaign finance director (Rindlfeisch was boasting on her false claims of living in Milwaukee, and Bloom testified against her); Jill Bader, Walker's campaign spokeswoman; Keith Gilkes, Walker's campaign manager; Michael Grebe, Walker's campaign chair; and Cullen Werwie, Brett Davis' campaign chair and Walker's current gubernatorial spokesman.

Fun Fact: Both Rindfleisch and Villa should have known better.  Rindfleisch had been given immunity in the original caucus scandal investigation, per the criminal complaint.  Villa, likewise, got himself in hot water when he was caught using county email for political campaigning.  In fact, Walker should've known better since he had to provide cover for Villa.

One name I omitted from this list is Judith "Judi" Rhodes Engels.  Engels partook of the infamous Harley ride in which Russell was caught campaigning.  More significantly, she is the chief fund raiser for Senator Scott Fitzgerald.  Apparently with Fitzgerald's approval, since donors are sacred cows to any politician, Rhodes Engels shared Fitzgerald's donor list with Rindfleisch to grow their own lists.

All of this points to an operation much akin to the caucus scandals from a decade ago.  Indeed, many names from the caucus scandal are appearing in the Walkergate scandal, including Rindfleisch and Brian Fraley, then head of the Republican Senate Caucus and currently top propagandist for the Bradley Foundation/Koch Brother funded MacIver Institute.

Though she has not been charged with anything yet, there is evidence that Cindy Archer, Walker's top advisor throughout, had also been working with Walker's campaign through emails.

Pay For Play

The least covered aspect of Walkergate, thus far, is the pay for play that Walker and his staff routinely practiced.  There are some commonly known examples which are apparently legal, if seemingly unethical, as the way Walker and the road builders were schmoozing each other.

But at least one incident of pay for play is reportedly under investigation, regarding the housing of Milwaukee County's Department of Aging.

Until the end of 2010, the Department of Aging was housed in the Reuss Federal Building, with their lease ending that year.  This led to some insider trading, listing a number of players, most of whom I have already discussed, including Jim Villa, John Hiller, and Tim Russell.  Not coincidentally, the realtors involved in the process had all given Walker donations just about the time the contract talks started.

It should be noted that many of the names involved in Walker's campaign, and Walkergate, are realtors, including: Tim Russell; Jim Villa; John Hiller; Andrew Jensen, who was briefly detained for not cooperating with the investigation; and David Boerke, who was representing the Reuss Building owners.

The gentle reader might wish to keep a look out for further developments in the near future regarding this aspect of the Walkergate investigation.

Immunity

It needs to be pointed out that about a score of people have been already granted immunity in this investigation.  The most notable of these names is Cullen Werwie, who was first Brett Davis' campaign chair and is now currently Walker's gubernatorial spokesman.  The district attorney would never have given such a high ranking individual immunity unless he was looking at a bigger target, and that would be Walker.

Walker's Three Smoking Guns

Obviously, the common theme to all of the above is Scott Walker.  Walker apologists will often say that Walker has nothing to do with the scandal, since he's not been charged with anything.

The key word that they are missing is "yet."

There are three key things that they don't want to discuss.

One is the fact that there is proof that Walker not only knew exactly what was going on, but at least condoned it, if not directed it.  That proof comes from an email cited in the Rindfleisch complaint:

That email was sent from Walker's campaign email address to Tim Russell's county address, three months after Russell left the county executive's office.  Walker also specifies exactly what kind of activities were happening in his own office, showing that he was aware of them and giving directions regarding them.

It should also be noted that, contrary to Walker's claims, he did not order them to stop it because it was illegal, but because it harmed his campaign.

The second smoking gun is Walker's legal cooperation defense fund.  Walker started out saying that he was told that he was not a target in the investigation and he was only spending $200,000 so that he could be very, very cooperative.  However, as people started to look into it, they found that the only way Walker could have established said fund was by either him and/or one of his campaign staff being investigated, charged and/or convicted of either illegal campaigning or violating campaign finance laws.  And to date, none of his campaign staff has been charged.  That leaves only Walker.

And I have strong reason to suspect more is on its way that will not make Walker very happy or look very good.

In summary, it's technically true that Walker hasn't been charged with any crimes related to Walkergate...yet.
And even if he's charged tomorrow, there will be no resolution to those charges until well after the recall election in two weeks.

Walker's future?

Walker looks even worse since he's surrounded himself with people that were involved in the caucus scandal ten years ago.  Then he's had the same type of problems in 2004, leading up to his first run for governor.  Now Walkergate.  And judging from the way he handled those cooked job numbers, and the apparent illegal coordination with his campaign, it looks like he might be facing yet another round of investigations into illegal campaigning.

The voters who are considering voting for Walker in the recall, whether because they believe his tall tales of "It's working" (although he never says for whom it's working) or just because they don't believe in recalls, will have to take all of this into consideration.

Are they willing to throw their vote away on a person who probably won't make it one full term, even if he were to win the election?  Are they going to be willing to still proudly say, "I stand with Scott Walker, convicted felon?" after they vote for him?

It all boils down to whether they will be guided by Walker's millions of defense money or by their own morals.  I say let your morals be your guide.

Walkergate: Something Else To Watch On Election Day

A couple of weeks ago, I asked whether John Doe would be voting in the recall election.  I looked at the court dates for the various defendants in the ongoing Walkergate scandal.  

Well, we have two answers for this so far - yes and no.

The no is Kevin Kavanaugh's case.  Kavanaugh, who is facing charges of embezzlement from a veterans fund, had his hearing.  It is now scheduled for trial before Judge Guolee.  But the trial is not until October.  To the best of my knowledge, this didn't even rank a mention in any of the news services.

The yes is Scott Walker's old chum, Tim Russell.  Like Kavanaugh, Russell is also facing charges for embezzling money from a veterans fund, as well as from two campaign funds.  That said, Russell is named in each and every of the criminal complaints and could be charged with so much more.

As I mentioned in that earlier article, Russell's trial is not set until after the election, but his final pretrial hearing is the day before the general recall election.  However, it now looks like Russell's case could play a role in the primary election this Tuesday.

On Friday, Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf filed a letter with the court requesting an extension to the time allowed to file motions regarding the case.  He asked that the deadline be extended until May 8, which is the primary election day.

Now, there's no telling what motion or motions Landgraf might be filing.  It could be something as routine as a response to Russell's attorney to dismiss the case or regarding an earlier motion to open sealed records.  Or it could be something much more interesting, like when they released the Rindfleisch transcripts. Or it could be something as titillating as new charges being filed.

The ramifications could be huge, as I noted in that previous article:

By happenstance, Russell's final pretrial hearing is June 4, the day before the recall election. This could be significant since the DA's office has been presumably putting pressure on Russell to enter some sort of plea bargain and turn witness against Walker and others that have been involved with the Walkergate scandal.  This could lead to new charges being issued and new information being made available if he should decide to stand with Walker.  And if he would turn state witness, he would be a treasure trove of information.  But the timing would be key as to whether it would have any significant impact on the election.

But even if it is the most pedestrian of motions, this will not serve Scott Walker well.  It will only remind people of Walker's corruption and help impel a greater voter turnout for the good Wisconsinites who want to reclaim their state and restore dignity and integrity to our government.*

And lest we forget, there will be Darlene Wink's sentencing hearing on May 15.

Interesting times we live in.  And the more interesting it gets, the worse it will be for Walker.

*Since we can't trust the right wing media to do their job, make sure you share this with your friends, family and neighbors so that they too can be aware of this and join the groundswell as the people take our state back.

Walkergate: The Universal Immunity And Other Desperate Defenses

As the gentle reader knows, there are currently five people who have been criminally charged in regard to the ongoing Walkergate investigations.  Kevin Kavanaugh and Tim Russell have been charged with embezzling funds from a veterans group.  Russell's partner, Brian Pierick, was charged with child enticement, based on evidence found in a tangent to the other investigations.  Darlene Wink and Kelly Rindfleisch have both been charged with illegal campaigning for doing political work from the Milwaukee County Courthouse during work hours.

These cases, with the exception of Wink's, is going through the usual legal processes.  Wink's case has already been resolved when she pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors.  The plea bargain was allowed due to the relative low level crimes and to the fact that she agreed to continue to work with the investigators, including on the issue of destruction of digital evidence.

What I do find interesting is the defense strategies being used in each case.

There's not been much coverage of the Kavanaugh case, but that's mostly because there's not much to cover.  There's only been the preliminary hearing and a scheduling conference.  Another reason that this case might not have had a lot of coverage is because, even though there are a lot of questions, Kavanaugh wasn't part of Walker's inner circle like the others were.

But the other three cases - Pierick, Russell and Rindfleisch - are quickly proving to be popcorn-worthy with the  defense strategies that their respective attorneys are taking.

Pierick's attorney is trying to get the case dismissed on the grounds that he didn't "intend" to go after a minor.  The state argued that intent is irrelevant and that Pierick's victim in this specific case was a minor.  The state further argued that his behavior was reckless and intent could not be used as a defense.  The ruling came down on Friday and the motion to dismiss was denied.  Pierick is to appear back in court on March 16.

Russell's attorneys have tried a couple of stunts.

The case was originally being heard by the Honorable Dennis Cimpl.  Russell's attorneys asked for a change in judges for unknown reason.  This is within his rights and was granted.

The case was moved to the court of the Honorable J.D. Watts.  Judge Watts recused himself without giving a reason.  It would be reasonable to believe that Watts knew Russell personally.  Watts' father was George Watts, a prominent Milwaukee business man and conservative.  It's possible that they could have all crossed paths at times.  If that is correct, it is a good showing for Watts and is evidence of his level of integrity.

Russell's case ended up in front of Judge David Hansher, where the case was again heard on Friday.  Russell's attorneys made a motion for a change in venue, arguing that Russell wouldn't be able to get a fair hearing in Milwaukee County due to all the publicity the case has received.

Hansher disagreed, pointing out that he handled other high profile cases, including the one against Jeffrey Dahmer, and that those cases were held successfully.  I would also point out that the coverage of Russell's arrests have been pretty much nationwide, so there is no valid reason to think that Russell wouldn't get a fair hearing in Milwaukee.

The judge did not formally deny the request yet, agreeing to review the written motion and related arguments.  However, the court also set dates for a pretrial hearing and a full trial in June.

I would suspect that Russell was holding out for an extended amount of time in order to minimize the impact of his trial on Scott Walker's chances of surviving a recall.  Remember that Russell and Walker have been very close friends for a great deal of their lives, going back at least twenty years.  Another factor is that Russell was probably hoping to get a jury from a redder part of the state, one that might be more forgiving of his transgressions as long as he did it in support of Walker.

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.

Rindfleisch's attorney is also trying to get a change of venue, stating that Rindfleisch should be charged in Columbia County where she lives.  In 2007, the state changed the law that would allow this for ethics and misconduct in office charges.  But the rub is that not only did the alleged crimes occur in Milwaukee County, she was considered a Milwaukee County resident for terms of her employment.  She used an address in West Allis as her home address to secure her job in the county.  Her attorney, in what I would consider to be a major gaffe, pointed out that this was not her real address.  In my humble layman's opinion, this would only mean they should charge her for falsifying government forms, her employment papers, to be able to work for Walker in Milwaukee County.

I would expect that both of these motions will be dismissed and the trial will proceed in Milwaukee County.

Meanwhile, Scott Walker's stomach must be doing flip-flops in fear of which one or ones of his former cronies might turn on him in order to protect themselves, like Wink has done.  And that's not to mention the big old Dumpster'O'Fun and whatever secret treasures that might contain and the other surprises that Walkergate has in store for him.

In Case You're Keeping Score In Walkergate

Just to help people, including yours truly, keep track of the exploding Walkergate story, here are some events to keep mark of:

• Monday, January 23, 8:30 am - Tim Russell appears in court for his preliminary hearing.
• Wednesday, January 25 - Andrew Jensen is to report to the DA's Office in regards to Walkergate
• Thursday, January 26, 8:15 am - Brian Pierick has his preliminary hearing in Waukesha County for his child enticement charges
• Monday, January 30, 8:30 am - Kevin Kavanaugh has a scheduling conference regarding his embezzlement charges

As Zach at Blogging Blue alludes to, I am hearing there will be more shoes dropping soon, maybe as early this week.  

As always, I will try to not only provide updates, but also some background, to help the gentle reader stay informed.

I am counting on you to make sure that Scott Walker doesn't raid the treasury and abscond with our money as things get closer to him and he tries to elude justice.

"Operation Freedom" - Charitable Event Or Political Stunt?

When people ask me about the most recent chapter of the Walkergate saga, where Tim Russell, long time personal friend and aid to Scott Walker, and two others were arrested stemming from a tangent of the Walkergate  investigation, I tell them as explosive as this news is, it's just the tip of the tip of the iceberg.  I remind them there is a big part of the investigation that is still under way.

But even with just the news of the arrests, there is enough fodder for an army of reporters and researchers to keep busy for a long time. This one story is indeed like a rancid onion, in such that as you peel away one rotten layer, there is another, even more rotten layer beneath it.

One of the things that is puzzling a lot of people is the timeline of events regarding "Operation Freedom" and how it was managed.

Per a report from WisPolitics.com, the common accounting of things is that in 2006, concerns were raised by the Milwaukee County Ethics Board on handling a charitable event through the office of the County Executive.  The finances were given over to the Milwaukee Order of the Purple Heart, where Kevin Kavanaugh, was treasurer.

In 2008, Darlene Wink found that $11,000 was missing from the fund and reported it.  Kavanaugh readily agreed that his group owed the fund this money.  (It should also be noted that in 2010, despite his concerns of what happened to the money, Walker reappointed Kavanaugh to the Veterans Service Board.)

Subsequently, in early of 2009, the financial management was handed over to an American Legion Post.  About the same time, Tom Nardelli, Walker's Chief of Staff, went to the District Attorney's office and spoke to them about it.

Despite the American Legion doing an exemplary job of handling the money, in the fall of the same year, they were removed from  deal and the set up was handed to the Heritage Guard Preservation Society, which was basically a front group headed by Tim Russell.

In other words, despite the admonishment by the Ethics Board, Walker still had people in his office in control of the funds for "Operation Freedom."

In 2010, only after the money was transferred to this front group did Walker's office file a formal complaint.

This chain of events raise any number of question, with two of the main ones being why did Walker personally order the funding be transferred from a group that was doing well to the front group ran by Russell, who already had a history of stealing money?  And why did Walker ignore the advise of the Ethics Board by keeping his fingers in the mix?

To answer those questions, as well as some others that have arisen, one has to first look at just what is "Operation Freedom."

Well, according to their About page (complete with misspelled words), "Operation Freedom" is a non-profit group intended to honor veterans by hosting a free picnic at the Milwaukee County Zoo, including free admission to the zoo.

Sounds good, right? Well, on the surface, it certainly does.

But something nagged at me about it.  So, over the weekend, I decided to call Milwaukee County Supervisor John Weishan, Jr., who I know had proudly served in the United States Marine Corps.

Weishan told me that he also had a lot of questions about "Operation Freedom."  He told me that he would be invited, almost as an afterthought, to come to the event and stand on stage, behind Walker and whoever else was hosting it, usually one of the squawk radio hosts from WTMJ-620 AM - Charlie Sykes, Jeff Wagner and James T. Harris (none of whom, I believe, served in any branch of the armed services).  Weishan said that no matter what, he was always told that the would not be allowed to speak, which he considered to be offensive.

Weishan also told me that he was not the only veteran that Walker was less than respectful to.  He told me that certain vet groups, like Veterans for Peace, were also not invited to participate in these events.

Milwaukee County Supervisor
John Weishan, Jr.

He said that Walker might have wanted to keep such tight control of this in order to prevent all groups from participating, which would be difficult if the American Legion were in control of the finances.  He also questioned the purpose of the event, since it was only for certain veterans.  Part of our discussion was whether Walker was doing this to curry favor with the Bush administration and promoting the Iraq War.

As it turns out, I was not the only one questioning the purpose behind Walker's actions in regards to "Operation Freedom."

Dominique Paul Noth, of Milwaukee Labor Press and a man a deeply admire for his skills as a reporter and a writer, in a article worthy of reading for the comprehensiveness of it, was also thinking of Weishan:

When Supervisor John Weishan, a Marine, complained several years ago that Walker was engaged in self-aggrandizement, shutting out the America Legion and the County Board and insisting on creating his own charity effort along with Russell for veterans, Weishan was hooted down as just another liberal politician opposed to Walker’s right-wing vision. So busy were the attackers that they failed to notice what the DA seized on, that Walker created a 501 ( c ) for veterans out of his own elected office, a big warning signal of what could happen to funds from the well-meaning public.  

Today, Weishan looks pretty prescient . . . while Walker? It’s as if the preacher’s son was grabbing a nap in the back pew when morality and ethics came up in the pulpit.

James Rowen, another person I hold in the highest esteem, picked up on Noth's piece and took it even further.  Rowen points out that Weishan led the charge to keep Russell from being appointed as Director of Economic Development.  Rowen felt that this was part of a slap back at Weishan for his defiance:

So it would not surprise me that Walker chose to transfer the veterans' charity management to Russell because Walker saw it as a way to stick it to Weishan. 

I can hear Walker saying, 'Weishan thinks he's the veterans' guy in the Courthouse? He thinks he can push me around by making Russell's life difficult? I'll show Weishan who's in charge here: watch me give that veterans' program to Russell just to tick Weishan off.' 

That's my theory, and don't think for a moment that scores in government aren't settled just like that when a chief executive wants to teach a lesson to a nettlesome legislator.

While all three of these fine gentleman have rational theories that have merit - after all, Walker has shown himself to be a butt-kisser, unethical and punitive - my thoughts take me in a slightly different direction.

Having lived under the Walker regime for going on ten years now, one of things I know for certain about Walker is that everything he does is self-serving.  He can't resist a chance to grandstand and try to curry favor with someone.

At the risk of appearing overly cynical, I believe that Walker saw "Operation Freedom" as just one more opportunity to promote himself.  Indeed, if you look at the page for "Operation Freedom" you see Walker everywhere.  Even their flicker page, which only has 27 pictures after all those years and tens of thousands of vets, and half of those are pictures of Walker.  Yet the events were able to give him the appearance of being such a good patriot. And by tying in his good buddies and free advertisers at WTMJ radio, he was getting all sorts of publicity.

Since he left Milwaukee County, I can't recall one thing that he did to show that he still wants to honor vets outside of what is absolutely obligatory.

It would also explain Walker's desire to keep the control of "Operation Freedom" close to him, so that he could minimize any negative exposure for himself with all those mean old veterans that might not agree with his ideology.

When I spoke to Weishan, he told me that it cost Milwaukee County $100,000 in lost revenue each time they closed the zoo to the public.  In other words, this was just another way he could use his office to promote his personal political interests.

And if Walker was so concerned about the vets, why did he wait two years after the discovery of the missing money to finally file a formal complaint? Is it possible that he only did so when he became nervous when the Democrats filed their complaint against Walker and Russell?

All of this indicates to me that Walker did all of this just to get some free publicity and brownie points for his campaign.

And before anyone wants to try to raise the point that conservatives respect veterans too much to pull such a dastardly scheme as to use them in order to simply raise funds and promote conservative causes and/or candidates, let me give you two names to counter that false argument: Sean Hannity and Lt. Col. Oliver North.