During a conference call today with reporters, state Democratic Chair Mike Tate said he is calling on the Government Accountability Board to look more closely at why Gov. Scott Walker needs a criminal defense fund.
Tate cited a state statute that outlines the reasons for a government official or their agent to establish a criminal defense fund: by either being a target of an investigation or pending being charged with a crime. Tate said Walker doesn't meet those benchmarks, based on the governor's own statements.
"First he said he hadn't been contacted about the investigation," he said. "Then he's saying he was contacted and is cooperating."
The question becomes, Tate continued, whether or not Walker is lying about the corruption probe or if he set up an illegal fund.
In either case, the Democrats want the GAB "to address and adjudicate" the matter at their meeting next Tuesday.
"We call on the GAB so people can get answers," Tate added. "This is especially important because we have a pending recall election. Voters should be able to make an informed decision."
Reid Magney, spokesperson for the GAB, said the agency has no comment at this time.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is Walker's presumed opponent in the June 5 recall election. He issued a written statement today about the governor's defense fund and the investigation into Walker's time as Milwaukee County Executive.
"It’s time for Walker to come clean about whether he is a target of this investigation or not,” said Barrett in a written statement. “Character matters, and I’ve always tried to hold myself to the highest level of integrity. I will bring this same commitment to the governor's office, and that’s why Walker needs to answer these questions for the people of Wisconsin.”
Last month, Walker moved $60,000 from a campaign fund into his criminal defense fund. He announced in March the creation of the Scott Walker Trust fund. According to Tate, the governor has retained counsel out of Chicago that Tate says has experience defending organized crime.
The John Doe investigation is targeting former Walker staffers from when he was the Milwaukee County Executive. So far, six former aides have been charged with a variety of crimes including using county time to campaign for their boss, stealing money from county fund accounts and illegal use of taxpayer money for campaign activities.
From a PR standpoint, hiring a criminal defense team and establishing a fund was questionable. Clearly PR is not a priority with Walker or his team but this just looks bad. I had no reason to think Walker was "John Doe" -- until he hired the criminal defense team. I see him as being more of a puppet/fall guy than a mastermind, frankly.
No body believes this statement: "I had no reason to think Walker was "John Doe" -- until he hired the criminal defense team". I really cant wait until the day after the actual recall, when Walker is elected, and you are no were to be found.. Back under the rock..
One line was redrawn between two senate districts. ONE LINE!!!! That's it. The original districts were designed in such a way that two Hispanic had a great chance to get elected. The new line now guarantees one Hispanic will get elected, but makes it harder for a second. ONE LINE!!!
http://chiefexecutive.net/will-wisconsin-rise-again
He could speak plainly about the reasons for the recall but telling taxpayers they need to work until they're 72 so state workers can retire at 55 with paid health care just isn't very compelling.
The GAB has been the Liberal leaning board, so why does Tate have such a bad taste in his mouth? Maybe he is good buddies with Grame Zielinsky. ;-(
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/148186985.html#!page=2&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst
Because they can not run on Act 10 any more. It was a resounding success and fixed a huge mess they created for years prior.
CEOs are busines owners, no business owners no products/services. No products/services to jobs. Pretty simple.
Here's a MJS article which includes descriptions about how taxpayer dollars were spent from hiring a private law firm to work on redistricting, and how it was done so that even Republican legislators may have to run against each other or move under the new plan (well done!): http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/125491373.html Here's an online article from Madison's NBC affiliate reporting, among other items, that up to 300,000 people would be impacted by the redistricting, which plaintiffs in the lawsuit assert are far more than actually necessary. The Republican claim is that Hispanics would benefit from the redistricting; however, the actual facts are that this would not occur until 2018, based on current population/demographic growth rates. Gerrymandering. Lawsuit. 300,000 people impacted. Re-districting lines (plural) that favor Republican officials involved in recall elections. "One line," indeed. Sorry, but the only folks who might buy that talking points are the ones who live in a soundproof panic room cut-off from the scary world of facts. The facts of the lawsuit are well publicized.
Brett Bushman, is it truly a "fabrication" that Scott Walker hired a criminal defense team and established a criminal defense fund? You'd better let his donors and the Chicago law firm know, as the first may be concerned that their gifts aren't being used as intended, and the second may be expecting a check.
A universalist statement submitted without appropriate documentary evidence is hearsay and lends even less credence to your post than "No body," "cant," "no were," improper ellipses (3 dots, not two), and alarming sentence fragment, "Back under the rock..[sic]." That aside, the statement you quoted was rhetorical. I.e.(id est, that is to say), no answering statement or opinion required. We'll just have to see what happens after the recall.
You're right Bren it isn't working, for MPS or Kenosha's children. They followed your model and are hurting the kids. Why do you hate the children Bren?
http://media.jsonline.com/images/GOVERN03G.jpg
You make a lot of sense. Who needs those stupid businesses in Wisconsin? What was I thinking? Anyhow, pretty soon Barrett will build that streetcar route that goes 2.1 miles for a mere $100,000,000. Then we can all drive over there, park our cars, and ride back and forth and talk about how stupid CEOs are. Thank you for your insight.
You keep posting that inclusive report and it still is quite meaningless. This survey from CEO magazine doesn’t say much about who the respondents are; do they represent large corporations, small companies, or small businesses. Putting that aside there is some interesting information which can be gleaned from the survey. (With Texas being the state that helps the count.) The ten lowest ranked states for business climate are home to 225 Fortune 500 Companies while the ten highest ranked states are home to only 140 of the Fortune 500. The fifteen lowest ranked states are home to a total of 256 Fortune 500′s while the top 15 are populated by only 157 of the big companies. So, it would appear that the “perception” of the survey respondents does not match “reality”. One could also draw the conclusion that these people don’t put their “money where their mouth is”. The validity of this survey is at about the same level as the myth that Gov. Walker had anything to do with moving Wisconsin up in the rankings.
But, but, what about George Soros. The poor picked upon TEAPublicans have to defend themselves from the Great Soros. So Scooter, while tending to business of course, picks up some spare change from Freedom Works, Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas, the Swift Boat guy from Texas (Bob Perry), three or four millionaires in Missouri, and Foster Freiss who funded Santorum, to name a few. None of these people have any direct interest in Wisconsin (though Freiss was born in Clear Lake). He has to get all of these people on board to protect him from the Great "Meanie" Soros. Walker is such a pathetic Dweeb; kicked out of college for cheating and continuing that habit right up to the "Special Call" from the Fake David Koch. He will look good in the Orange Jumpsuit after his felony convictions.
There were multiple articles linking Walker to the John Doe over the past years. Barrett even made false accusations during the recall campaign.