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?

Glen Grothman's Super PAC

Judith Rhodes Engels is not the only fallout victim from the Ellis Incident.

State Senator Glenn Grothman got caught on the same video as Ellis, making the same boasts that got Ellis in so much trouble:

It was a night Sen. Mike Ellis would rather forget, and one Sen. Glenn Grothman says he already has.

Grothman was there the night Ellis was secretly recorded discussing an illegal campaign finance scheme. Ellis said he immediately scrapped the idea after learning it was illegal, but remains in hot water as he faces re-election this fall.

Grothman, a West Bend Republican who is now running for Congress, can be heard on the recording seven minutes before Ellis, R-Neenah, tells an unknown person, "I am putting together my own Super PAC."

"Mike, is this guy next to you with you?" asks someone, presumably one of the people secretly audio recording Ellis.

"That’s Senator Grothman," Ellis replies.

"Who?"

"Glenn Grothman," Ellis says.

"I’m his chief of staff, he just calls me senator," Grothman jests in his deadpan baritone.

"I’m eating his french fries because he wants his bill out of my committee," Ellis says.

In an interview, Grothman acknowledged he is the one on the recording, but said he doesn't remember the night in question or hearing about the Super PAC idea. He said it's possible he was only there briefly.

"I've been at that bar so many times, I have no specific recollection," Grothman said, referring to the Inn on the Park in Downtown Madison, where the audio was recorded.

I'm sure that will make a great theme for Grothman's congressional campaign - "Is he corrupt or merely drunk?"

It should be noted that, again just like Ellis, Grothman made the Super PAC comment very matter of factly, like collusion with third party groups is the norm for them.

If the gentle reader is wondering why Grothman appears to be getting a free pass on making a claim of having a Super PAC where Ellis was crucified, you have to remember two things:  Grothman knows how to follow orders and he did not out Judith Rhodes Engels, one of the top GOP operatives.

Islamophobia in Michigan

In this country nowadays, it's not unusual to see large amounts of prejudice and hatred toward Muslim-Americans. It's been elevated for the past 11 years and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. This is 2012. I thought we had moved past racial and religious bigotry.

It was reported today on ThinkProgress, that the gentleman running for the 11th congressional district seat in Michigan, Dr. Syed Taj (D), has now been graced with Tea bagger bigotry. And it's ugly.

Here is the commercial that is running, painting him as an Islamic extremist hellbent on taking over the United States and all that yadda yadda.

 

Let us analyze this mess, shall we? 

First, this commercial links Dr. Taj to the Democratic Socialists of America. From the statement on his campaign site, Dr. Taj states, "The ad claims Dr. Taj relies on funding from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Dr. Taj’s FEC filing is publicly available; the Taj Campaign has not received any funding from the DSA. A physician colleague, who also happens to be on the DSA board, hosted a fundraiser in his home at which individuals made donations to Dr. Taj’s campaign." See? You know what should be frightening the hell out of everyone? Millionaires and billionaires who give excruciatingly large amounts of money to super PACs run by shady, crooked people like Karl Rove and the Koch brothers. They are people who are literally BUYING our democracy and taking away our voices. Chevron just donated $2.5 million dollars to defeat President Obama. That is what is worrisome!

Next comes the obvious line of attack. The cheap shot. Since Dr. Taj is Muslim, he HAS to be a terrorist or some sort of supporter of Islamic extremists, right? Well, duh, according to this ad. My god, the man even states he wants Muslims to have POWER! Because, of course, why should we give Muslim-American's a voice in our government? Who do they think they are?! Human beings?! But what really gets me is the "Too extreme for Michigan. Too extreme for America." Extreme in what ways? They never mention that, but I think it's safe to assume what they mean. It's utterly asinine.

Notice the pac who is putting on this ad? The Freedom's Defense Fund? Guess who runs that one. Jerome Corsi. You may remember him from such masterpieces as "Obama Nation" and "Unfit For Command" about John Kerry. Corsi is an extreme birther, truther, and idiot extraordinaire. You might be asking yourself, "wow, I thought he fell off the map? What's he up to these days?" Oh you know, being a racist bigot, screwing with elections, hanging out with Republican presidential candidates. Yup. Corsi is spending his time lately with Mittens! He claims he's part of the press corps, but no one believes it's that simple. We should be VERY concerned that this is the company that Romney and Paul Ryan choose to keep.

Whether it's religious bigotry, hatred and disdain of women, loathing immigrants and people who are of different backgrounds, the GOP has become a toxic sludge that is poisonous to the very ideas of justice, freedom and liberty that we cherish. The right-wing speaks of a deep loving obsession for the Constitution but when it comes time to act, they do the total opposite of what these founding documents stand for. Think about this video when you go to vote. This is just a glimpse into a meek, hate-filled future if the GOP is allowed to make gains on November 6th.