Walkergate 2: Michael Grebe and the Sockpuppets of Manipulation

Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express has another must read installation of her ongoing series on the second John Doe investigation.  This week, Kaiser looks at the way the right wing groups would pump money into their front groups to come up with bogus studies and even more bogus reporting in order to further their agenda.

Per Kaiser, the largest of these malefactors is Michael Grebe and the Bradley Foundation:

With more than $550 million in assets, the Bradley Foundation sunk at least $31 million into its voucher studies and programs, according to a report by One Wisconsin Now (OWN). But its funding is sent to other conservative, free-market foundations and think tanks around the country.

“They are the biggest funder of right-wing causes in the nation,” said Mike Browne, OWN’s deputy director. “They spend more money than the Koch brothers.”

The Bradley Foundation is a huge supporter of members of the State Policy Network in Wisconsin and elsewhere. According to OWN’s research, the Bradley Foundation has given more than $16.5 million to the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and $635,000 to John K. McIver Institute for Public Policy. The two groups are SPN members that have provided voucher-supporting studies and analysis at the same time they attempt to pass themselves off as independent, straight-shooting think tanks.

WPRI, which bills itself as “Wisconsin’s Free Market Think Tank,” has precious few scholars on staff—none, in fact. Its president is former Journal Sentinel columnist Mike Nichols and its lead commentators are WTMJ’s Charlie Sykes (whose current wife works for the Bradley Foundation), political consultant Deb Jordahl and former Department of Administration Secretary George Lightbourn.

WPRI’s board is dominated by the state’s corporate chiefs, including Tom Howatt, chair of Wausau Paper Corp.; Bank Mutual President David Baumgarten; ex-MillerCoors Vice President Michael Jones; former Thompson administration official and We Energies Senior Vice President James Klauser; Milwaukee investor David Lubar; and Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) President Tim Sheehy.

So it’s no wonder why WPRI has churned out studies supporting the agenda shared by Walker and the Bradley Foundation, including attacks on public schools, climate change, public employee benefits and the state’s renewable energy targets while promoting highway expansion, commercial bail bonds and fracking.

The board of directors of MacIver Institute includes Milwaukee businessman Fred Luber; Michael, Best and Friedrich attorney James Troupis; and former Republican First Lady Laurie McCallum. Its president is Brett Healy, a former aide to disgraced Republican Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, now a school voucher lobbyist.

Other Wisconsin partners of SPN are the Lucy Burns Institute, Bradley Foundation-funded Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin, the Dick Armey-led FreedomWorks-Wisconsin, the Taxpayers Network Incorporated and the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

Then again, not much of this should surprise the gentle reader. I've been writing about this for years, both at this here blog and even once for the Shepherd Express.


Here's how it works:

One of the right wing "think tanks" would come up with some cockamamie, convoluted study that will support one of the maleficent schemes, such as privatizing education is actually good for the kids and the taxpayers.  Then one of the right wing propagandist groups would "report" on the story.  This would give it enough faux credibility for the mainstream corporate media to run with the story  The story would be echoed by other propagandists, right wing bloggers (many of whom have suddenly, mysteriously and suspiciously shut down their sites)  and squawk radio..  The average consumer of the corporate media wouldn't know of the falseness of the reporting and would just accept it as truth.

By adding all the layers and multiple front groups, it was easier for the money machines, like the Bradley Foundation and the Koch Brothers, to keep things churning and to cover up their finger prints in the whole sordid mess.

And for the skeptics on whether this kind of manipulation occurs, I can assure you it does, as I reported on during the 2011 recalls, when these front groups used it to attack former Senator Jessica King:

Greg Sargent tripped the whole thing with this article showing that John Buckstaff, the fake Democrat in the race is actually a Republican backer and has donated money to Randy Randy "Bed" Hopper.  Furthermore, Sargent tells us that a flyer that they've been distributing telling people to vote for Buckstaff is aimed at getting Republican voters to cross over in the primary and shut the real Democrat, Jessica King, out of the race immediately. 

Also remarkable about Sargent's findings is that the flyer is paid for by a group called "Patriot Advisors."

And this is where we go into the same sordid incestuous intermingling that the Koch Brothers are known for.

Patriot Advisors is headed up by Tim Dunn and Denis Calabrese.

Calabrese, the former Chief of Staff for Dick Armey, is also on the director of the Sam Adams Alliance, yet another Koch Brother front group and money chute. This Sam Adams Alliance also funnels the Koch dollars to other groups like Americans For Prosperity and the Franklin Center for Public and Government Integrity*.

The sharp-eyed reader might have already noticed, but it was the Franklin Center which is quoted in the anti-King flyer.

Just to be clear, the Sam Adams Alliance, Patriot Advisors and Franklin Center are all Koch-funded groups with incestuous ties to each other. One of them is using the other to justify voting for the fake Democrat instead of trying to defend the Republican and his boorish behavior or facing the consequences for his actions.

Or in other words, the sock puppet on the Kochs' right and hand makes some statement, regardless of the whether it's true, half-true or a bold faced lie, and then they have the sock puppet on the left hand repeat the lie in order to reinforce it and give it false credibility.

And I'm sure this scenario is being played out in the other races as well. 

Short of the John Doe investigation being successful, there isn't really any way to shut down these groups. And even if the Son of Doe is successful, the Kochs and Bradley Foundation will only create new front groups and start their operations all over again.

But there are things that we can do to help control the damage done by these groups, such as putting pressure on the corporate media who regurgitate this foul propaganda as legitimate news.

But the more important thing we can do is to keep ourselves educated and organized.  Learn the truth of what is happening, the lies behind their deceitful stories and the consequences of what would happen if these would be corporate overlords would get their way.  Then share this knowledge with your family, your neighbors, your friends and your coworkers.  Politely but firmly confront the falsehoods and back them up with the hard truth.

The most important thing we can do is not give up.

Walkergate 2: John Doe's Chess Game

Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a column up celebrating the fact that the Teapublicans are trying to bully their way out of the latest developments of the Walkergate investigations.  To put it kindly, it is not his best work.

First off, he compares the right's reaction to the investigation now to when the first Walkergate was going on:

The first time Milwaukee County prosecutors launched a secret criminal investigation of allies of Gov. Scott Walker, those on the right were largely silent.

There were no online attacks, no litigation and few talk-radio rants — until charges were filed. Conservatives took their lead from the governor, who said he would trust the process to clear him.

A new investigation has triggered a wholesale change in tactics.

Last month, No Quarter first reported that prosecutors had launched a second John Doe investigation into the recall elections. The response from the right has been swift and aggressive.

I can speak to personal knowledge that that assertion by Bice is inaccurate. Even before the John Doe investigation - which ended up with convictions of Walker's staff and associates - had even become public knowledge, Walker and his supporters were on the offensive.

 And I was their target.  And there were the usual attacks from Sykes and company, complaining that Walker's staff was being prosecuted and I wasn't, while ignoring the fact that I hadn't committed any criminal acts.

Bice also notes that these money laundering/propaganda groups are bringing out big guns in their effort to disrupt the proceedings.  Again, this is nothing new.  Walker had big guns in to defend him and his campaign during the original investigation.  What would be more interesting - and probably much more telling - would be who is funding these high priced defense attorneys.  I'm sure if I gave the gentle reader three guesses, with the first two not counting, they could still get it correct.

Heck, even the notion of running interference and trying to disrupt the proceeding is nothing new.  During the first round, these faceless entities gave money to the misnamed Citizens for Responsible Government and former Walkersha County District Attorney Paul Bucher so that they could run a seminar on how to attack John Doe proceedings.

Well, as much as the Teapublicans might be cheering on this offensive offense and the heavy hitter attorneys, it's not doing them too much good.  As the attorneys have thrown everything but the kitchen sink in an effort to stop the investigations, they have come up pitifully short:

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals declined late Friday to temporarily halt a secret investigation of campaign fundraising and spending during Wisconsin's recent recall elections.

The court also immediately denied the requests of three unnamed petitioners to have the judge in the case disqualified because of his status as a reserve judge and to prohibit the judge and special prosecutor in the case from using a post office box instead of local court clerks. But the court granted the anonymous plaintiffs' request to file a sealed petition and asked for more information before it decides on several more claims by the people caught up in the probe.

The court's order also made clear for the first time what the unnamed petitioners are arguing. In a half-dozen claims in their sealed filings, the plaintiffs are arguing that the judge and special prosecutor in the case don't have the authority to carry out the secret probe that is ranging across five counties in southern Wisconsin.

The unsigned order was issued by three judges on the District 4 Court of Appeals: Brian Blanchard, Paul Lundsten and JoAnne Kloppenburg.

"Given our outright denial of two of the petitioners' six claims, and the uncertain factual basis for the remaining four claims, we are not persuaded that a stay is warranted," the order reads.

David "Chokehold" Prosser

Jud Lounsbury thinks that this new aggressiveness by the Teapublicans is a precursor to have the whole Son of Doe investigation brought before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  He accurately points out that the make up of the appellate court made it unlikely they would succeed but it was a formality they had to go through to get it to the higher court, where justices like David Prosser, whom, we just learned, was getting money and other aid from these right wing groups during his election, would make a decision.  We all pretty much know that the four corporate owned justices sitting on the high court already have shown they are not going to give a damn about the law unless it came from ALEC.

Indeed, the Franklin's Center's Wisconsin Reporter - two groups that are probably part of the investigation - is reporting that one of the lawyers, Dean Strang, asked for the case to go directly to the Supreme Court.

On a side note, Lounsbury also has a post showing Walker on the Sean Hannity Show, stating that this is the first time he's hearing or seeing of these investigations or legal proceedings.  This is hilarious given the fact that since the initial reports came out, his campaign as been noted as one of the targets.  I guess cooperating doesn't include knowing what he is cooperating with.

I believe Lounsbury analysis is sound, but incomplete.  If I were the investigators and/or prosecutors for this investigation, I would be counting on and hoping for the Teapublicans to take it to the  Supreme Court.

Consider these facts:

• The special prosecutor, Francis Schmitz, used to be a federal prosecutor.
• FBI agents have been used in the raids on suspects' homes.
• FBI agents have assisted with going through the computers for emails and other documents.
• As reported by Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express, this money laundering crosses state lines.

It's pretty obvious that if the feds aren't actively involved with the investigation that they are monitoring it very closely.  So if the Teabaggers go running to their puppets in the Supreme Court, things could get very interesting.  

On one hand, the puppet justices might throw their benefactors under the bus and actually uphold the law.  They don't want to be tied up with this mess anymore than they already are.  On the other hand, if they go along with their benefactors, the justices could very well get swept up when and if the feds cast their nets and haul them in.

What I get out of the aggressiveness of the Teapublicans legal maneuverings and the heavy spin they are already putting on it is that they are indeed scared to death.  And they are not scared of just the legal consequences for their illegal behaviors, but that as this information comes out, it will not only severely cripple their attempt at buying elections, but that this will also spread like wildfire from state to state where they have been tampering with democracy.

In this game of legal chess, it looks like the good guys have the bad guys in a potential checkmate.  

Walkergate Two: John Dough

It's been almost a month since Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke the story of a second Walkergate investigation.

A couple of weeks later, Matt Kittle of the propagandist group Wisconsin Reporter hit the panic button and started blabbing about how this second Walkergate was targeting right wing front groups like Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth and the Republican Governor's Association.

The links between these groups were fleshed out by Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express.  I added to Kaiser's work, pointing out the complaint of collusion and collaboration between WISGOP, Walker's campaign and all of these right wing groups.  I also pointed out the news that similar groups in California just got walloped in court for breaking campaign laws with the illegal laundering of their dark money.

In the subsequent weeks, Kaiser has published two more must read articles on this matter.

In the first article, Kaiser goes further into the incestuous relationships between all of these sinister groups, and adds a few more, including the scandalous United Sportsmen of Wisconsin.

In her second article, Kaiser blows the doors off the story by showing that the same money laundering groups caught in California was siphoning money to their counterparts in Wisconsin.  She also shows that several of these right wing groups who donated to the Wisconsin Club for Growth.  Included in her article is this:

According to multiple reports, the committees are part of a national right-wing network of groups—some or most of them connected to the Koch brothers—that exist solely to funnel money from faceless group to faceless group, money-shuffling that grants enhanced anonymity to donors.

“It seems like this goal of this is to help disguise donors, to blow some smoke around the dark-money groups,” said Brendan Fischer, staff counsel for the Madison-based Center for Media and Democracy, which has investigated dark-money groups in Wisconsin and nationwide. “These conduit groups basically provide donors with extra protection and allow them an extra layer of anonymity. Instead of the donors being listed as David Koch or Charles Koch, the donor will be the Center to Protect Patient Rights.”

These tax-exempt nonprofit “social welfare” groups must only report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which organizations they send money to; they aren’t required to report their donors.

In addition to giving big to the California campaigns, the Center to Protect Patient Rights channeled money into a major supporter of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

The IRS documents of the Phoenix-based, Koch-connected CPPR show that it donated $225,000 to the Wisconsin Club for Growth, one of the major opponents of the recalls of Walker and a handful of Republican state senators.

Wisconsin Club for Growth, run by Walker’s former top campaign aide R.J. Johnson, was the first group to run pro-Walker ads in 2011, after the new governor announced his plan to gut collective bargaining rights of public employees.

The group reported raising $12.5 million in 2011, its most recent tax filing on record.

Just this weekend, the story picked up even more speed.

Jud Lounsbury at Uppity Wisconsin reminds us of not only Scott Walker's infamous telephone conversation with the phony David Koch, but also of the real David Koch bragging about helping Walker win the recall election:

Perhaps, had the story ended there, prosecutors could turn a blind eye. However, in early 2012, David Koch bragged to Palm Beach Post reporter Stacey Singer that he not only intended to help Walker win the recall election, but that his group had, in fact, successfully won senate recall elections:

JL: Did he explicitly say that his group, Americans for Prosperity, was supporting Walker or wanted Walker to win the recall election?
SS: Yes, in fact, he took credit, via Americans for Prosperity, for the failure of the previous recall to unseat enough state senators to undo the majority, and he indicated he was going to do whatever it took to prevent Walker from losing his seat, lest the recall energize Union Power into the presidential election. (He had enjoyed a glass of wine or two before I brought up Wisconsin.)

These statements are very problematic for David Koch because groups like his Americans for Prosperity cannot act with an intent of helping a candidate win or lose. They are supposed to do a Kabuki dance—just happening to run issue advocacy ads around election time in swing areas—without coordination with the campaign. In his interview with the Palm Beach Post, however, Koch stepped out from behind the curtain and bluntly said that he was spending corporate money via his Americans for Prosperity for or against a candidate—and that's illegal.

Lounsbury then goes on to offer even more examples of the complicity of right wing money machines and Walker and his Teapublicans during the elections.

But to get an idea of how big of a sh*tstorm this might be for the Republicans, there is an anonymously authored opinion piece in  the Wall Street Journal, in which they heavily play the victim card.  It is hard to say how much of this to believe, given that the source is an anonymous author or authors and from a right wing corporate media source.  With that caveat being made, some of the highlights we can glean from this article include:

• The investigation includes "dozens" of these right wing fake front groups.
• Said groups include Walker's campaign, WISGOP, the League of American Voters, Wisconsin Family Action, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Americans for Prosperity—Wisconsin, and American Crossroads. (I can guarantee that this is not the complete list.)
• The investigation appears to be focused on the money laundering activities.
• Eric O'Keefe, director for the Wisconsin Club for Growth, confirmed being served a subpoena.  Keep in mind that this does not necessarily implicate him of wrong doing.  He could be called as a witness to the wrong doing of others.  
• O'Keefe said he got his subpoena in October. Given the apparent scope of the investigation, it could be months or even years before we see any arrests or charges.

O'Keefe also claimed there were at least three homes raided as part of this deal, but I wonder if he means in relations to his new investigation or if he is referring to the ones from the original Walkergate.

I should also note that O'Keefe saying that he was subpoenaed is not against John Doe rules, as far as I can tell.  He can say he was subpoenaed, but he can't say what or who it was about.  That said, if he did tell whomever wrote the article what was in the subpoena, that might be a whole different story.

There are a couple, three other things that should give one cause to wonder:

• There's been nothing from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel from Bice's first report to a cover article of the Wall Street Journal article.  Are they stifling the story for some reason?
• I haven't seen any other corporate media source cover this story.  Why not?
• Where is the outrage from Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling, Media Trackers or MacIver Institute about the leaks?  First they squawk like wet hens when there were no leaks, now nothing.  Then again, people like Sykes were the fake leaks they squawked about, so odds are good they are the leakers again.

There is something to be said about this story, regardless of all else. It might have leveled the playing field a little:

Perhaps the probe will turn up some nefarious activity that warrants this subpoena monsoon and home raids. But in the meantime the effect is to limit political speech by intimidating these groups from participating in the 2014 campaign. Stifling allies of Mr. Walker would be an enormous in-kind contribution to Democrats. Even if no charges are filed, the subpoenas will have served as a form of speech suppression.

Mr. O'Keefe told us that the flurry of subpoenas "froze my communications and frightened many allies and vendors of the pro-taxpayer political movement in Wisconsin and across the country." Even if no one is ever convicted of a crime, he says, "the process is the punishment."

Now O'Keefe knows what it feels like to be in a union in Fitzwalkerstan under Act 10.

Where's Walker?

Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express is wondering about what Scott Walker was doing on a certain day earlier this year.  Is there anyone that can help her out?

I’m going through Gov. Scott Walker’s use of the state plane this year.

And I’m scratching my head over his whereabouts on March 14, 2013.

The plane left Madison with a security guy and Walker’s deputy chief of staff, Scott Matejov.

They flew to Milwaukee, where they picked up the governor and his traveling press aide, Chris Walker (no relation, I’m told).

They then flew to Eau Claire, where Walker visited Premium Waters to announce its expansion and addition of 35 jobs.

The crew flew back to Milwaukee, and then the governor and his security guy flew back to Madison.

So, what was Walker doing in Milwaukee?

During the noon hour he attended a $250-a-plate political fundraiser with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the University Club.

I don’t know if he was in Eau Claire before or after the fundraiser.

I don’t know if he had any official business in Milwaukee that day. I can't find any information anywhere, and his spokesman hasn't responded to my question.

I do know that he was furthering his political ambitions. That’s a given.

So help me out. If you know why Walker was in Milwaukee—other than to Hoover up some right-wing money and pose for holy pictures with Christie—could you let me know in the comments section?

I would really hate to think that state taxpayers footed the bill for this junket.

Help me find Walker, OK?

I am shocked - shocked, I tell you - that Walker might have been doing something dishonest like using taxpayer money for political purposes. Right, John?

They Are Who We Thought They Were

With all of the hullabaloo about the thirteen Democrats who turned on their constituents by siding with the illegal, immoral and inane anti-poor bill, there are two other stories that have hit today that might have been missed, but are very pertinent to this story.

One has to do with former legislator Elizabeth Coggs who lost to State Senator Nikiyah Harris in the last election.  Coggs' fall from grace had much to do with the fact that she sold out her constituents for a few bucks from the school privateers.

Coggs further cemented her position as a turncoat by attending the WISGOP convention this past weekend:

The Milwaukee Democrat and nine other African-Americans from Milwaukee attended the state GOP convention in Wausau as guests of Milwaukee County GOP chairman David Karst and had expenses paid as part of their trip.

The group met with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and had an hour and a half meeting with U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Karst said. The group discussed issues such as jobs and taxpayer-funded private voucher schools with Republicans at the convention, he said.

[...]

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said he took the opportunity to talk with Coggs, who last year lost to Sen. Nikiya Harris (D-Milwaukee) in a primary race to take over the Senate seat vacated at the end of last year by her uncle, current city of Milwaukee treasurer Spencer Coggs.

“She’s always been a school choice supporter,” Vos said. “The Republican party is doing outreach while I think the Democrats are opposing anyone who doesn’t toe the party line.”

Yeah, and Vos' definition of doing outreach actually involves former Representative Michele Litjens.

But to categorize this some sort of outreach or bipartisanship is laughable. Just because Coggs has a "D" behind her name, it doesn't make her a Democrat. Just look at Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and his good buddy, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele. Coggs is no more a Democrat than either of those clowns.

Sadly, Coggs is not the only one that has crossed the line.

Lisa Kaiser at the Shepherd Express wrote a report about how Scott Jensen's misnamed American Federation for Children tried to conceal the fact that it had spent almost $2.4 million on Wisconsin campaigns and candidates last year. In said article, Kaiser includes this tidbit which confirms what we've known for quite some time - voters cleared out a lot of posers last year:

What AFC didn’t brag about, though, is the string of losers that it backed in the Democratic primaries last summer.

AFC dumped at least $100,000 in support of the losing campaigns of Elizabeth Coggs, Millie Coby, Jason Fields, Jarrett Fields and Tracey Dent.

Democratic voters rejected all of them.

Still, the AFC does have at least one Democratic supporter in the state Legislature.

According to her latest Statement of Economic Interests filed with the GAB, Democratic Sen. Lena Taylor received a $1,000 scholarship to attend AFC's convention.

(Taylor also received a $1,250 scholarship to attend the convention of Howard Fuller’s Black Alliance for Educational Opportunity.)

Gee, Lena Taylor selling out her constituents - or to be more accurate - the children of her constituents for a few thousand bucks.

Whodathunkit?

It's time for the Democrats to refind themselves, as in by yesterday, and clean up their acts or the voters will continue to do it for them.  These kinds of betrayals are not going to be continued to be tolerated.