It is a drizzly, rainy and basically cold, gray and rotten spring day here in Madison. A cold wind had been blowing all night and it was basically the kind of weather that promotes lots of daydreaming and staring blankly out of windows, yearning for spring to come.
And while I was daydreaming today my thoughts wandered to things of recent importance, that have somehow remained under the radar in the way things are looked at politically in the badger state these days. As you most likely remember (or recall) we are approaching the recall primary election of Scott Walker here. It seems like just yesterday we were distributing recall petitions and garnering recall signatures for the recall of Scott Walker and the other GOTea legislators who were due for recall.
I recalled all this today and then I recalled that our soon to be recalled governor had a active legal defense fund. I decided to do some research on Scott Walker's legal defense fund to see if there has been any recent changes or other possible items of interest in the matter.
And apparently as I stated above, with everything else going on in Wisconsin, the Walker legal defense fund has been all but forgotten. I could barely find any new relevant information on the subject after what was published in the initial media blitz concerning this matter over a month ago. I imagined that I would be able to bring up some record of contributions that would show once again, that almost all of the money comes from a handful of ultra-wealthy and ultra-conservative out of state sources.
It seemed reasonable to me that with all the negative attention focused on the Walker campaign, that his in state support from 'common' citizens would be drying up. Just like it is for the Fitzgerald brothers and other conservative extremists in Wisconsin. But that information was not to be found. Still though, the entire legal defense fund/John Doe investigation is fascinating.
The John Doe investigation into the campaigns of Scott Walker began roughly two years ago when Walker was then the Milwaukee County Executive. It was a tumultuous time in Milwaukee politics, it was a time of rare GOP strength in office. There was lots of bickering and closed door deals and politicking going on. Maybe somebody had bad feelings over not receiving a political nomination or job offer, maybe somebody just didn't get paid under the table the way they were supposed to. But it certainly seems like somebody within the Walker camp dropped the dime and initiated history.
The FBI is responsible for the John Doe investigation although they do work with local agencies. And the FBI took a look into Walkers campaign and decided pretty quickly that there was indeed grounds for an in-depth federal investigation. And so far the results have been formidable, raid after raid of senior Walker staffers, personal and office computers and records seized. Time and again people who worked for Walker in Milwaukee, and many that followed him to Madison have turned to witness's against the Walker regime. Preferring to take plea deals and/or immunity from prosecution in exchange for turning over information to the ever growing investigation.
And although all the information is far from being revealed to us, we do know some pretty incredible things. Illegal campaigning for Walker being carried out at tax payer expense. Insider real estate transactions being pursued contrary to legal methodology. Walker directly hiring people that had a track record of fraud and other wrong doings, who were sought out by Walker because they had the skills that he needed to run things his way, Walkers way, which seems anything but legal or ethical.
Staffers were illegally transferring federal funds destined to help impoverished inner city area's of Milwaukee and using that money instead to pay for improvements to wealthy, mostly GOP neighborhoods. All the while stealing money intended for dead and disabled veterans and using it for luxury vacations. All the while trying to commit rape of a child and other heinous crimes and discussing it all on a TOP SECRET, ILLEGAL AS HECK, HIGH SECURITY E-MAIL ROUTING SYSTEM.
Why would you need a top secret, illegal Internet system if you were doing nothing wrong and had nothing to hide? Scott Walker explains it away by saying that he had no idea this network had been bought and paid for, installed and tested, and was up and running IN WALKERS OWN OFFICE and being used daily by his staff?!?! Either Walker is so grossly incompetent that he has never once had any idea what was going on around him or, he is lying again.
The investigation began two years ago and Walker denied that, until the FBI announced how long the probe had been ongoing. But Walker lies. He says he never once looked into the background of his campaign staff and so had no idea he was staffing his campaign with hand picked criminals who had the skill set he needed. But Walker lies. Walker says that he is proud and doing the state of Wisconsin a great service by not using tax money to pay for his defense, guess what? Walker lies, he is not allowed to use tax money to pay for his criminal defense efforts.
Walker has said that he has done nothing wrong but guess what.......he lies. If there is no wrongdoing then why the largest and longest John Doe investigation in our nations history??? If there is no wrongdoing why the secret and expensive and complicated secret e-mail system??? If there is no wrongdoing then why are Walker staffers fleeing his office on a weekly basis??? If there is no wrongdoing then how come so many, many people have taken immunity from prosecution??? Why have there been so many arrests??? Why the 15 felony charges and a whole slough of misdemeanors??? Why the ever growing legal defense staff???
Come on Scott Walker do you really expect us to believe you after all of your previous lies? Do you expect us to believe the word of someone who has hired top dollar, high end legal counsel from 4 different law firms in Milwaukee, Chicago and Washington D.C.???
Walker still claims that he is completely innocent of any possible wrongdoing. So why then the legal defense fund? Legally a holder of elected office in the state of Wisconsin can only legally have a legal defense fund if they have received acknowledgement that that person is indeed the object of a investigation. So is Walker illegally collecting money and is lying for the reason of why he has a legal defense fund? Or is he lying when he says that he is innocent and not the target of an investigation?
We will never get a honest answer from Scott Walker or anyone around him or on his staff. We will have to wait until the inevitable trial to learn many things. What we know isn't much, but it is very telling indeed. We know that Walkers staff was breaking laws left and right. We know that some of these staffers had previous criminal histories. We know that Walker lies. We know that between the four different law firms working to keep Walker out of federal prison have not come cheap. $50k paid to one firm already, another firm is billing Walker for upward of another $50k And yet another firm was reportedly already paid some $115,000. and that was just up until the end of 2011. It should come as no surprise to you that there are many, many people who want answers.
And so it should also come as no surprise to us that anti-Walker sentiment is growing here in the badger state, even within the GOP. Two top GOP legislators have recently and suddenly, announced early retirements. The Fitzgerald brothers have been called the 'biggest grifters in the state' by Ellis, and even Wisconsin ALEC chairperson Robin Vos has called Walker a "whack job" in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Speaking of which Fitzgerald like Vos and now Glen Grothman are all facing serious challengers in this years election. And all three are being challenged by first time female candidates. The GOP war on women has turned into a womens war on the GOP in Wisconsin.
And here is a curious matter to consider as well, since Walker AND his campaign are under investigation, does that mean that Walker can use his normal campaign war chest, as well as all the millions pouring in from rich out of state contributors to his recall effort war chest, for his legal defense as well? I would imagine that since the campaign and the person overlap, that the money will also overlap to provide legal defense for the campaign and the person of Scott Walker. Do you think contributors would be happy to know that money they donate can be re-appropriated like that.
So many questions and at this point, too few answers. But don't worry folks, the truth will come out, after the recall, after we turn the senate, after we take back Wisconsin. And someday we will look back and all of this and ask each other.....do you recall?
On Wisconsin! FORWARD!!!!
And while I was daydreaming today my thoughts wandered to things of recent importance, that have somehow remained under the radar in the way things are looked at politically in the badger state these days. As you most likely remember (or recall) we are approaching the recall primary election of Scott Walker here. It seems like just yesterday we were distributing recall petitions and garnering recall signatures for the recall of Scott Walker and the other GOTea legislators who were due for recall.
I recalled all this today and then I recalled that our soon to be recalled governor had a active legal defense fund. I decided to do some research on Scott Walker's legal defense fund to see if there has been any recent changes or other possible items of interest in the matter.
And apparently as I stated above, with everything else going on in Wisconsin, the Walker legal defense fund has been all but forgotten. I could barely find any new relevant information on the subject after what was published in the initial media blitz concerning this matter over a month ago. I imagined that I would be able to bring up some record of contributions that would show once again, that almost all of the money comes from a handful of ultra-wealthy and ultra-conservative out of state sources.
It seemed reasonable to me that with all the negative attention focused on the Walker campaign, that his in state support from 'common' citizens would be drying up. Just like it is for the Fitzgerald brothers and other conservative extremists in Wisconsin. But that information was not to be found. Still though, the entire legal defense fund/John Doe investigation is fascinating.
The John Doe investigation into the campaigns of Scott Walker began roughly two years ago when Walker was then the Milwaukee County Executive. It was a tumultuous time in Milwaukee politics, it was a time of rare GOP strength in office. There was lots of bickering and closed door deals and politicking going on. Maybe somebody had bad feelings over not receiving a political nomination or job offer, maybe somebody just didn't get paid under the table the way they were supposed to. But it certainly seems like somebody within the Walker camp dropped the dime and initiated history.
The FBI is responsible for the John Doe investigation although they do work with local agencies. And the FBI took a look into Walkers campaign and decided pretty quickly that there was indeed grounds for an in-depth federal investigation. And so far the results have been formidable, raid after raid of senior Walker staffers, personal and office computers and records seized. Time and again people who worked for Walker in Milwaukee, and many that followed him to Madison have turned to witness's against the Walker regime. Preferring to take plea deals and/or immunity from prosecution in exchange for turning over information to the ever growing investigation.
And although all the information is far from being revealed to us, we do know some pretty incredible things. Illegal campaigning for Walker being carried out at tax payer expense. Insider real estate transactions being pursued contrary to legal methodology. Walker directly hiring people that had a track record of fraud and other wrong doings, who were sought out by Walker because they had the skills that he needed to run things his way, Walkers way, which seems anything but legal or ethical.
Staffers were illegally transferring federal funds destined to help impoverished inner city area's of Milwaukee and using that money instead to pay for improvements to wealthy, mostly GOP neighborhoods. All the while stealing money intended for dead and disabled veterans and using it for luxury vacations. All the while trying to commit rape of a child and other heinous crimes and discussing it all on a TOP SECRET, ILLEGAL AS HECK, HIGH SECURITY E-MAIL ROUTING SYSTEM.
Why would you need a top secret, illegal Internet system if you were doing nothing wrong and had nothing to hide? Scott Walker explains it away by saying that he had no idea this network had been bought and paid for, installed and tested, and was up and running IN WALKERS OWN OFFICE and being used daily by his staff?!?! Either Walker is so grossly incompetent that he has never once had any idea what was going on around him or, he is lying again.
The investigation began two years ago and Walker denied that, until the FBI announced how long the probe had been ongoing. But Walker lies. He says he never once looked into the background of his campaign staff and so had no idea he was staffing his campaign with hand picked criminals who had the skill set he needed. But Walker lies. Walker says that he is proud and doing the state of Wisconsin a great service by not using tax money to pay for his defense, guess what? Walker lies, he is not allowed to use tax money to pay for his criminal defense efforts.
Walker has said that he has done nothing wrong but guess what.......he lies. If there is no wrongdoing then why the largest and longest John Doe investigation in our nations history??? If there is no wrongdoing why the secret and expensive and complicated secret e-mail system??? If there is no wrongdoing then why are Walker staffers fleeing his office on a weekly basis??? If there is no wrongdoing then how come so many, many people have taken immunity from prosecution??? Why have there been so many arrests??? Why the 15 felony charges and a whole slough of misdemeanors??? Why the ever growing legal defense staff???
Come on Scott Walker do you really expect us to believe you after all of your previous lies? Do you expect us to believe the word of someone who has hired top dollar, high end legal counsel from 4 different law firms in Milwaukee, Chicago and Washington D.C.???
Walker still claims that he is completely innocent of any possible wrongdoing. So why then the legal defense fund? Legally a holder of elected office in the state of Wisconsin can only legally have a legal defense fund if they have received acknowledgement that that person is indeed the object of a investigation. So is Walker illegally collecting money and is lying for the reason of why he has a legal defense fund? Or is he lying when he says that he is innocent and not the target of an investigation?
We will never get a honest answer from Scott Walker or anyone around him or on his staff. We will have to wait until the inevitable trial to learn many things. What we know isn't much, but it is very telling indeed. We know that Walkers staff was breaking laws left and right. We know that some of these staffers had previous criminal histories. We know that Walker lies. We know that between the four different law firms working to keep Walker out of federal prison have not come cheap. $50k paid to one firm already, another firm is billing Walker for upward of another $50k And yet another firm was reportedly already paid some $115,000. and that was just up until the end of 2011. It should come as no surprise to you that there are many, many people who want answers.
And so it should also come as no surprise to us that anti-Walker sentiment is growing here in the badger state, even within the GOP. Two top GOP legislators have recently and suddenly, announced early retirements. The Fitzgerald brothers have been called the 'biggest grifters in the state' by Ellis, and even Wisconsin ALEC chairperson Robin Vos has called Walker a "whack job" in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Speaking of which Fitzgerald like Vos and now Glen Grothman are all facing serious challengers in this years election. And all three are being challenged by first time female candidates. The GOP war on women has turned into a womens war on the GOP in Wisconsin.
And here is a curious matter to consider as well, since Walker AND his campaign are under investigation, does that mean that Walker can use his normal campaign war chest, as well as all the millions pouring in from rich out of state contributors to his recall effort war chest, for his legal defense as well? I would imagine that since the campaign and the person overlap, that the money will also overlap to provide legal defense for the campaign and the person of Scott Walker. Do you think contributors would be happy to know that money they donate can be re-appropriated like that.
So many questions and at this point, too few answers. But don't worry folks, the truth will come out, after the recall, after we turn the senate, after we take back Wisconsin. And someday we will look back and all of this and ask each other.....do you recall?
On Wisconsin! FORWARD!!!!
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