WI Gov. Scott Walker hires two criminal defense attorneys for meet with prosecutors

[Riot]

Its a sorry state when citizens try to dismiss and justify the commission of felonies by the office of their elected officials.

Former aide to Walker pleads guilty in John Doe investigation
Updated Wednesday, February 8, 2012 12:09:11 a.m.

A former county-level staffer for Gov. Scott Walker pleaded guilty to two felony charges on Tuesday as the ongoing 20-month investigation into Walker’s former campaign staff continues.

Darlene Wink, a former Milwaukee County employee under Walker’s tenure as Milwaukee County Executive, entered a guilty plea for two felony charges of soliciting political contributions while working in [Walker's] county office, her attorney, Peter Wolff, said.

As part of the plea, the District Attorney John Chisholm’s office will not recommend jail time in its charges, as long as Wink continues to cooperate in the other ongoing John Doe investigations, Wolff said

more at ....

http://badgerherald.com/news/2012/02...e_to_walke.php

[Riot]

Scott Walker and the Secret "John Doe" Investigation Explained (Updated)
Everything you need to know about the scandal embroiling Wisconsin's governor.

A dark cloud hangs over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

A "John Doe" investigation launched in May 2010 has embroiled former Walker staffers and appointees from his time as Milwaukee County executive, his job before winning the governorship in November 2010.

The investigation, led by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, has led to home raids targeting former staffers with close ties to Walker and numerous felony charges for election law violations, embezzlement, and misconduct in office.

Walker says he has "fully cooperated" and "will continue to cooperate" with the John Doe probe. The governor is confident he won't be implicated, he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last September, because he held himself to high standards learned from his parents. "Certainly, they got me to the rank of Eagle Scout, and I continue to have that kind of integrity," he told the paper.

What's a John Doe investigation, anyway?

Here, "John Doe" doesn't refer to one person. It is a secret legal proceeding akin to a grand jury investigation in which a prosecutor secretly gathers information on a number of individuals to find out if crimes were committed. A John Doe probe must be green-lit by a judge; in this case, according to court records, former appeals court judge Neal Nettesheim approved an investigation on May 5, 2010.

As part of a John Doe investigation, witnesses may be granted immunity from prosecution if they agree to testify under oath. If it's learned that a witness didn't tell the truth, however, he or she could face charges.

Court records list six individuals who have been granted immunity in the investigation, including Cullen Werwie, Walker's chief spokesman; Rose Ann Dieck, a fixture in Milwaukee County Republican politics; and Kenneth Lucht, a lobbyist for Milwaukee-based Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co.

Why does the scandal matter?

The probe looms large over Walker at a time when he's trying to defend himself for a well-organized, popular recall campaign to oust him from office. Walker raised $12.1 million in 2011, a chunk of which will fund ads arguing that he's an honest, fair, job-creating governor. Yet the John Doe investigation could undermine Walker's standing with the public, experts say. "It will already be a campaign issue but how much voters focus on it is yet to be seen," notes Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin. "Certainly it is not what a candidate wants to be happening during an election."

What has happened so far?

Here's the blow-by-blow in the John Doe probe so far:

May 2010: A source close to the John Doe investigation says it was likely triggered by press reports that Darlene Wink, Walker's constituent services coordinator for Milwaukee County, posted online comments on news stories in which she praised Walker and disparaged his opponents while on the job—that is, on the taxpayer's dime. Wink resigned hours after the Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice learned of her frequent postings and questioned her about them. While at work on her county computer, Wink also allegedly organized a fundraiser for Walker (PDF) and wrote press releases for the Milwaukee County GOP.

The probe widened later that May. Prosecutors began looking at allegations that a Walker donor, Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co. CEO William Gardner, violated state elections law with excessive donations to Walker's gubernatorial campaign and by offering to reimburse employees who personally donated to the campaign. The news that John Doe prosecutors set their sights on Gardner's Walker donations appeared in an April 2011 criminal complaint (PDF). (Gardner later pled guilty to violating election law; his railroad company paid a $166,900 fine.)

August 2010: Law enforcement officials searched Wink's home as part of the John Doe probe. They also seized the work computer of Tim Russell, Walker's former deputy chief of staff and Milwaukee County's housing administrator, dragging a close Walker ally into the investigation. (Months later, Russell's home and office would be raided as well.)

November 2010: A day before the November general election, the probe inched closer to Walker after investigators subpoenaed emails from his gubernatorial campaign.

September 2011: The John Doe probe burst into public view again in September 2011, when a dozen FBI agents raided the Madison home of Cynthia Archer, who was a high-ranking administrator for Walker when he was running Milwaukee County. Agents reportedly seized a hard drive and a box of unidentified items.

December 2011: Andrew Jensen, a real estate broker and Walker donor, was arrested in December for allegedly refusing to cooperate with prosecutors in the John Doe probe. He was not charged with a crime. (Jensen's attorney, Patrick Schott, said he had no comment on the matter.)

January 5, 2012: In a bombshell announcement, investigators charged Walker appointees Tim Russell (PDF) and Kevin Kavanaugh (PDF) with embezzling $60,000 intended for a veterans support organization called Operation Freedom. (Russell's attorney, Michael Maistelman, had no comment.) The staffers used the money to pay for vacations to Hawaii and the Caribbean, wedding parties, and pro-Walker campaign websites. In a strange twist, Russell's boyfriend, Brian Pierick, was also caught by John Doe investigators and charged (PDF) for sending sexually-explicit text messages to a then-17-year-old high school student, among other things. (Warning: Pierick's complaint contains graphic language. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.)

January 26, 2012: Late last month, two more county staffers who worked for Walker were charged (PDF) with operating a secret email network within Walker's office while he was Milwaukee County executive. The two employees, Darlene Wink (PDF) and Deputy Chief of Staff Kelly Rindfleisch (PDF), allegedly used the secret network to coordinate political fundraising for Walker and 2010 lieutenant governor candidate Brett Davis. Wink's attorney, Peter Wolff, says Wink plans to plead guilty to the two misdemeanors outlined in the DA's criminal complaint. Rindfleisch's attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, says the DA's felony charges are "a little heavy-handed" and that Rindfleisch will plead not guilty in the case. Gimbel added that he hopes to move the case out of Milwaukee County to Columbia County, in central Wisconsin, where Rindfleisch legally lives.

Walker has denied knowledge of Wink or Rindfleisch's activities. But Walker critics seized upon an email of his included in the Rindfleisch criminal complaint as evidence that Walker may have known what was going on. The email, which is reproduced below, was sent soon after the Journal Sentinel revealed Wink's on-the-clock politicking in May 2010. Walker sent it using his gubernatorial campaign email account; the recipient was Tim Russell ("her" is Darlene Wink):

Through her attorney, Wink stressed that Walker knew nothing about the political activities going on in his office. Walker spokeswoman Ciara Matthews said in a statement that Walker "expected everyone to follow the law and made that clear publicly and privately."

What comes next?

Good question. Since John Doe probes are by definition secretive, it's unclear what shoe will drop next. In late January, Walker agreed to meet with the Milwaukee County DA's office, which had requested a meeting with Walker about the investigation. Walker also claimed to have hired two criminal lawyers for the meeting.

State Democratic and union officials say Wisconsinites will go to the polls to vote in Walker's recall election in late April or early May. The exact date depends on legal challenges and how long GOPers want to draw out the process. Whether Milwaukee County DA Chisholm, who one knowledgeable source says is "frustrated" by the probe's snail-like pace, will have closed the book on the John Doe by then is anyone's guess.

***

UPDATE 1, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 11:13 a.m.: Darlene Wink, an aide to Scott Walker in the Milwaukee County executive's office, pled guilty to two misdemeanors [plea bargained down from two felonies, in exchange for cooperating with the ongoing investigation] resulting from work she did organizing fundraisers for Walker's gubernatorial campaign while on the county clock. Wink will cooperate with investigators in the ongoing John Doe probe under her plea deal. Her sentencing will take place on May 15, with a maximum of six months in jail and $2,000 in fines [her sentencing won't take place until she has a chance to cooperate with investigators]

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012...tion-explained

[Riot]

The corruption, lies, theft of taxpayer money and cheating in Wisconsin appears to be deep throughout the current elected Republican Party.

"The speaker of the assembly, Fitzgerald, has contracted, at the expense of Wisconsin taxpayers, with the law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich LLC, to redraw the maps of the Wisconsin legislative districts, and has convinced all the Republican members of the legislature to sign, via MB&F, nondisclosure agreements with regard to all of this. This law firm purported to contract with the legislature to do public business (redistricting) of an intensely political nature behind closed doors, shutting out the democratic process, as well as the opposition party and the public in general. And all of this was done while being paid by the public."

BREAKING: GOP Legislature Held Secret Meetings, Solicited Unlawful Agreements While Mapping New Voting Districts
February 6, 2012

Voces de la Frontera attorneys discover violations of Open Meetings law, Wisconsin Constitution in efforts to hide state redistricting process

Attorneys for Voces de la Frontera have discovered that employees of Republican legislative leaders, working under the direction of an attorney paid by Wisconsin taxpayers, engaged in secret, unlawful activities in redesigning the state’s electoral maps in an effort to hide from the public their goal of consolidating partisan power.

A verified complaint was filed yesterday by Voces de la Frontera’s attorneys with the District Attorney for Dane County alleging violations of both Wisconsin’s Constitution and statutes governing open meetings.

http://www.vdlf.org/about/media/pres...es.php?pid=147

[dellinger63]

Fantastic Article

Hard to believe that Wisconsin could boot this guy out of office!!

From the Wall Street Journal

By STEPHEN MOORE

One Sunday afternoon last spring, as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was working in his front yard, a car rolled slowly by and blared its horn. He and his two teenage sons looked up to see two middle fingers directed their way as the car screeched down the street. A few minutes later another car rolled by and a voice shouted "Hey governor!" Mr. Walker reluctantly looked up—to find two thumbs up coming through the open window.

No American politician had a more polarizing effect on voters last year than Scott Walker. This time last year, thousands of irate protesters were occupying Wisconsin's state Capitol, comparing Mr. Walker to Hitler for trying to reform the pension and collective-bargaining systems of public-employee unions. He needed an entourage of 25 security officers to escort him through the building at the height of the pandemonium.

Now he faces what he predicts will be his most bruising fight of all: a union-funded recall election intended to toss him out of office. His opponents last week submitted one million signatures to trigger a recall election as early as spring or summer. Mr. Walker expects this to be a $70 million brawl—a record for Wisconsin and twice the total spent in the 2010 governor's race. Smiling, Mr. Walker says he hopes to be the "first governor re-elected twice during his first term."

The stakes here "go well beyond who will be governor of Wisconsin," Mr. Walker explains. The recall's ultimate objective is to intimidate any official across the country who's thinking of crossing swords with the empire of teachers and other public-employee unions. "This is about killing reform initiatives in every state in the country," says Mr. Walker.

In Wisconsin, the evidence is mounting that Mr. Walker hasn't brought economic Armageddon but financial stability. Last year's $3 billion deficit is now a $300 million surplus—and it was accomplished without the new taxes that unions favored. "If a business is failing, you don't raise the prices on your customers," Mr. Walker scoffs.

In addition to union reform, Mr. Walker and his allies in the legislature passed a statewide school voucher program, eased business regulation, and enacted tort reform. When Illinois raised its income taxes by 67%, he launched a PR campaign urging Illinois businesses to "escape to Wisconsin."

When Mr. Walker took office, a survey of major business owners by the state's Chamber of Commerce found that only 10% thought Wisconsin was heading "in the right direction." Now 94% say it is. Chief Executive magazine found that Wisconsin's business climate in 2011 showed the greatest one-year improvement of any state in the history of the magazine's ratings. After bleeding 150,000 jobs in the previous three years, Wisconsin added 10,000 jobs in 2011.

All this matters little to public-employee unions looking to regain their perks. Yet granting local governments the legal authority to hire and fire teachers and other workers based on merit—as well as requiring teachers to contribute 5.8% into their pensions (up from 0%) and all public employees to pay 12.6% of their health-care premiums (about half what most private workers pay)—has already saved local governments $475 million.

Rather than assaulting government workers, these reforms avoided mass layoffs and allowed school districts to maintain and in some cases even reduce class sizes. You'd think unions would celebrate this, but no such luck.

Mr. Walker believes the union brass are most furious about his policy to stop automatically withholding union dues from the paychecks of approximately 300,000 municipal workers. He calculates that this "paycheck protection" measure saves as much as $1,400 annually for those workers who freely choose not to pay dues. That welcome pay raise for the workers has been catastrophic for the union bosses. Without the mandatory dues payments, the teachers union had to lay off 40% of its staff last year.

So now Mr. Walker, his lieutenant governor and four state senators will face the voters as early as this spring or summer. Last year a similar effort targeted four other GOP state senators and a Republican on the state supreme court. After unions spent millions on the campaign, two of the state senators were recalled but that failed to flip control of the legislature, and the supreme court justice kept his seat.

A problem for Democrats this year is finding an A-list candidate willing to run against Mr. Walker if he is recalled. A strong opponent could be Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, but the unions are furious with him too for implementing many of the Walker union reforms—saving his city $25 million and balancing its budget in the process. The likeliest candidates to challenge Mr. Walker are two liberals, former Congressman David Obey and Madison County Executive Kathleen Falk.

A new nonpartisan poll by Marquette University shows the governor at 50% job approval (with 45% disapproving), which is up from as low as 37% last summer. Even some of his most loyal followers say that he has never fully explained to Wisconsinites why ending collective bargaining for union benefits was a fiscal necessity. And local Democrats are smelling blood over a recent mini-scandal involving alleged embezzlement of public funds by two of Mr. Walker's top aides when he was Milwaukee County Commissioner.

Still, the national unions have yet to decide whether spending another $30 million or $50 million on a recall roll of the dice is worth it given the higher priority of getting President Obama re-elected. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which has been severely critical of Mr. Walker's power play, recently acknowledged that he has fulfilled his pledge of balancing the budget without new taxes and that "the sky isn't falling."

If unions succeed in getting voters to evict reformers, it could "set back the conservative reform agenda across the states for a generation," Mr. Walker warns. This might be the most important nonpresidential election in a decade.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

Fantastic Article

Why are you quoting the opinion of someone from out of state? It's none of their business, and they have no right to comment, according to you

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by Riot

Its a sorry state when citizens try to dismiss and justify the commission of felonies by the office of their elected officials.

Ever been to NJ?

[Clip-Clop]

December 2011: Andrew Jensen, a real estate broker and Walker donor, was arrested in December for allegedly refusing to cooperate with prosecutors in the John Doe probe. He was not charged with a crime. (Jensen's attorney, Patrick Schott, said he had no comment on the matter.)


That is the best part. SS anyone?

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

Ever been to NJ?

Naw. I'm from Illinois where we put them in jail

Repeated violations of open meeting laws. Theft of taxpayer money. Illegal campaign activities. Illegal legislative activities. Sexual activity with a minor. Governor's former office aides arrested for multiple felony charges in expanding investigation.

Wow, if this were the Wisconsin Democratic party and elected officials, I somehow doubt you guys would be rushing to defend the behaviour. It's sad that nobody steps up to say, "I support the guy, but if there was illegal activity, I do not support that".

"Unions" don't sign recall petitions. Wisconsin citizens did. If the citizens want to keep Walker and the four Republican legislators, they will vote them in. If they want them out, they will vote them out. This is completely legal, and the constitutional state's right of the citizens to force recall elections if they want to.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by Riot

Naw. I'm from Illinois where we put them in jail

Repeated violations of open meeting laws. Theft of taxpayer money. Illegal campaign activities. Illegal legislative activities. Sexual activity with a minor. Governor's former office aides arrested for multiple felony charges in expanding investigation.

Wow, if this were the Wisconsin Democratic party and elected officials, I somehow doubt you guys would be rushing to defend the behaviour. It's sad that nobody steps up to say, "I support the guy, but if there was illegal activity, I do not support that".

"Unions" don't sign recall petitions. Wisconsin citizens did. If the citizens want to keep Walker and the four Republican legislators, they will vote them in. If they want them out, they will vote them out. This is completely legal, and the constitutional state's right of the citizens to force recall elections if they want to.

Unions bully and get their members to do as they are told. I am willing to wager that union members make up a great deal of the signers.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

Unions bully and get their members to do as they are told. I am willing to wager that union members make up a great deal of the signers.

Well, that's an assumption on your part I don't agree to.

If there are union member signatures there (I am sure there are, too), it is more likely because Walker went ahead and union-busted after the unions immediately gave him every single budget concession he wanted; rather than the imaginary dream of a "union thug" standing over their shoulder forcing someone to write their name on a recall petition when they do not want to.

And union members or not, the state required about half a million signatures to force a recall election, and got over 1 million. The recall election will go forward. Be sure to go to the polls and vote you conscience.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by Riot

Well, that's an assumption on your part I don't agree to.

If there are union member signatures there (I am sure there are, too), it is more likely because Walker went ahead and union-busted after the unions immediately gave him every single budget concession he wanted; rather than the imaginary dream of a "union thug" standing over their shoulder forcing someone to write their name on a recall petition when they do not want to.

And union members or not, the state required about half a million signatures to force a recall election, and got over 1 million. The recall election will go forward. Be sure to go to the polls and vote you conscience.

Are you in a union? Do you hire union workers? Have you ever been a member of a union, I understood you are a Vet.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

Are you in a union? Do you hire union workers? Have you ever been a member of a union, I understood you are a Vet.

No, no union applicable but yes I would, yes, yes.

Scott Walker was first elected by being the candidate that won against a recalled candidate. Walker won a recall election. That's how he got his start in politics.

Scott Walker didn't run (campaign) on destroying unions, but he did, as soon as he got into office. His citizens don't like what he and his legislature did, that's why four were already under recall (two were recalled), and now four more, with Walker and his Lt. Governor are undergoing recall elections.

Walker is merely following the Republican Governors Association ALEC agenda given him, the same agenda they are trying to pass in Michigan, Ohio, Florida. It's no secret ALEC writes most GOP legislation (there was even a Florida congresswoman last week that submitted some bill, but forgot to take the ALEC mission statement off it).

The citizens can support it, or not. It appears now that most are going with, "not", but we'll see how the six recall elections turn out.

Speaking of "thugs" ... how many pro-Walker supporters have been arrested for threat, attack or intimidation of recall petitioners (a felony), versus how many anti-Walker petitioners have been arrested?

The violence, anger and intimidation most certainly have not factually been on the "union" anti-Walker side.