Walker, The Game Players And Roots Of The John Doe

In its gubernatorial recall endorsement of Scott Walker, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board put distance between Walker as former Milwaukee County Executive and several then-staffers now charged in the John Doe probe:

The investigation, which has been going on for nearly two years, has looked into a variety of activities during the time Walker was county executive. Prosecutors have charged three ex-Walker aides and two others; more charges may be coming. Walker has set up a legal-defense fund.

But the governor has insisted that he is not a target of the investigation and that he is cooperating. While the investigation surely is troubling, no evidence revealed so far implicates Walker. Overzealous political associates sometimes get in trouble. 

And while the "he is cooperating" declaration has been since undermined by a Journal Sentinel story, the line of argument begs a few questions as we wait and see if there is a post-election John Doe postscript.

*  If there were overzealous political associates on Walker's staff or in the government, who hired them, and for what tasks?

*  Are we to believe such staffers were basically strategic freelancers, without direction - - and why would they take the risks that also put others in jeopardy, too - - including the boss himself?

* Are there perils to (too-much) loyalty for both boss and staffer, especially in public offices?

Put another way: Somehow the office got equipped and staffed up with partisan operatives, technology and goals aimed at political campaign success. Was there an office script and cultural architecture the Doe can find or reconstruct?

I'd argue that the definition of County Executive that Walker created for himself and the style of office he chose could have contributed to the mess that the John Doe is now trying to unravel - - in other words: don't so-called overzealous employees function need a work environment where they are deemed vital, or at least tolerated?

Go back to the fall of Tom Ament as County Executive in 2002. Walker won as a reformer, the non-Ament, if you will, but Walker's reforms didn't come with an ambitious, big-picture policy agenda to make County services cutting-edge, for example.

For that kind of 'reform,' you'd need a crop of wonks. The kind of people who like public service for its pure, selfless content - - public nursing, for example, or community redevelopment - - without an eye to private gain.

Walker's plan was to cut government, burnish his ideological credentials and use the office to position himself as the go-to conservative candidate for higher office.

Which he did locally with talk radio appearances and out-state through his highly-publicized motorcycle rides, plus a short-lived candidacy for the 2006 GOP gubernatorial primary and finally as the GOP front-runner and eventual winner in 2010.

Walker's agenda was personal advancement, period.

How do you staff that kind of office and administration?

With more game-players than policy types, more organizational foot-soldiers and hangers-on with established loyalties - - a Tim Russell, for example, already bonded to the candidate/office-holder who provides jobs and paychecks - - rather than with fresh faces and independent resumes and perspectives who want to serve the people.

And who also might even say "no" to the boss, if need be, than might job-dependent old political friends with whom said boss has surrounded himself with.

Note that Walker disbanded one office to which Russell had been assigned, but that didn't mean Russell disappeared from County government.

Russell, known to Walker since college, would be kept around and tasked to a veterans' program Walker wanted run out of the County Exec's office - - and that led to Russell's charging in the Doe probe for allegedly stealing money from the program.

Russell, who at one point had risen as high as Walker's Deputy Chief of Staff, was also named as the staffer who allegedly set up the now-infamous secret email router that was close to Walker's office and was used by political operatives for work on campaigns.

The complaint does not list all the officials who used the secret system, but it does say the unofficial networking system was set up in the county executive's office suite by Russell while he was Walker's deputy chief of staff.

Russell's county office was less than 25 feet from Walker's on the third floor of the courthouse, the complaint notes.

An administration's strategic focus on politics and not public policy would explain why someone like a Darlene Wink has pleaded guilty to campaigning on public time after ostensibly having been hired as a Walker constituent relations manager.

And why Kelly Rindfliesch, another former Walker Deputy Chief of Staff - - living in the County in a rented room in a West Allis residence owned by longtime senior Walker associate, adviser and campaign aide Jim Villa  - - has also been charged with allegedly performing political work on public time.

After joining the Walker office somehow without Chief of Staff Tom Nardelli knowing she'd been hired.

The complaint said Walker's chief of staff, Tom Nardelli, was unaware that Rindfleisch had been hired when she showed up on her first day of work...

Rindfleisch, 43, went to work for Walker in January 2010 as a policy adviser before replacing Russell as the county executive's deputy chief of staff at a salary of $59,560 a year. She left the county job on Nov. 12, 2010, less than two weeks after Walker defeated Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the governor's race...

Rindfleisch scaled back on her fundraising work on county time after Wink resigned, according to the criminal complaints.

"I took the wireless down," she wrote Russell in an email on the day Wink quit and the Journal Sentinel published its story about Wink's comments.

Here's a good summary of some Rindfliesch work in the Walker office, including this item pulled from her charging document:

In online chats Jim Villa told Rindfleisch "YOU are the political operation in that office now..."

Remember that Watergate was first dismissed as 'a third-rate burglary."

Let's hope the John Doe tells us whether the partisan activities unearthed in the probe were just the extra-curricular activities of overzealous underlings, if there was a first-rate  blueprint being directed and followed, or if the truth lies somewhere in between.

Walker, The John Doe, And the Implications Of Implication

The biggest news out of Kelly Rindfleisch's felony misconduct sentencing Monday was the Power Point shown in court by Milwaukee County prosecutor read into the record.

It detailed the political direction coming to County officials from then-County Executive Scott Walker's campaign staff and the political activities taking place by County staffers on the public dime - - all combined to benefit Walker's 2010 gubernatorial run - - by design.

E-mail records cited in the Power Point showed that Walker was among a group of county and campaign officials who talked regularly to coordinate their efforts to advance Walker's campaign, and the paper, editorially, sums it all up with a pertinent question:

But what's clear from the emails is that Walker's campaign staff was helping to manage county government for the benefit of only one citizen - Scott Walker. How is that acceptable conduct?

Fat chance getting Walker to answer, or to take any responsibility - - but the Journal Sentinel certainly has a special right and obligation to ask the question, as the paper endorsed Walker and recommended him to voters and readers three times for County Executive and twice for Governor.

The second of Walker's gubernatorial endorsements came as the recall election approached lin June and it dismissed any notion that the ongoing John Doe probe was close enough to Walker to tip the endorsement or election away from Walker:

Democrats claim the recall election is about far more than Act 10. The most serious of the charges on their bill of particulars is the ongoing John Doe investigation being conducted by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office. The investigation, which has been going on for nearly two years, has looked into a variety of activities during the time Walker was county executive. Prosecutors have charged three ex-Walker aides and two others; more charges may be coming. Walker has set up a legal-defense fund.

But the governor has insisted that he is not a target of the investigation and that he is cooperating. While the investigation surely is troubling, no evidence revealed so far implicates Walker. Overzealous political associates sometimes get in trouble. The John Doe probe doesn't justify a vote against the governor.

The level of coordination laid out by the DA's office involving senior campaign and public staffers, plus Walker himself, negates the finger of blame pointed at "overzealous political associates" - - associates, by the way, brought on to Walker's staff or into his campaign by Walker himself, or by people to whom Walker assigned hiring and staffing.

Overzealous is as overzealous does.

The DA's Power Point also undercuts that "no evidence revealed so far implicates Walker" argument.

So did the headline Monday in the Journal Sentinel when the story broke:

Walker, key aides implicated during Doe sentencing

Media checking record will find more Walker spinelessness

Scott Walker has recently had his behavior, programs or words rated by high-profile mainstream newspaper editors, columnists or editorial writers about as negatively as it gets:

"Cowardice."

"Spineless."

"...an ignoramus or a coward."

"...ridiculous...pernicious...clumsy."

"Sneaky, self-serving...conniving."

There's a lot more in records and prior reporting about Walker and his public and campaign staffs to justify those descriptions:

*  For example, it is known that Walker, as well as his senior campaign and Milwaukee County Executive staff at the time worked on media strategies to minimize any political fallout after a concrete slab fell off a County-owned parking ramp, killing a teen-age boy and severely injuring his mother:

A pretrial hearing Tuesday will examine a host of issues, including whether the judge should prevent testimony in the case about whether Walker's county staff destroyed any O'Donnell documents. 

The concern was prompted by an email from Keith Gilkes, Walker's campaign manager in the governor's race, that was one of thousands of documents released in July by Reserve Judge Neal Nettesheim, who oversaw the secret John Doe probe into Walker aides and associates.  

Gilkes wrote to Walker aide Kelly Rindfleisch, advising her on the day of the O'Donnell death, June 24, 2010: "Keep on top of (parks director) Sue Black, (budget director Steve) Kreklow, (administration director Cindy) Archer and all staff to make sure there is not a paper anywhere that details a problem at all."

Walker's personal role in media-managing after the tragedy was also reported:

Gov. Scott Walker worked simultaneously with his campaign staff and county aides in coordinating responses to media inquiries, open records requests and news stories about the 2010 O'Donnell Park tragedy, according to newly released emails. 

The records show that Walker was integrally involved in the efforts to challenge any negative publicity after a concrete panel fell from the Milwaukee County-owned O'Donnell parking structure, killing a 15-year-old boy on June 24, 2010, on his way to Summerfest. 

The incident occurred in the middle of the 2010 gubernatorial campaign. 

"It is disgusting that anyone would use a tragedy for such blatant political purposes," Walker wrote in a draft statement that he sent on July 20, 2010, to a small circle of campaign and county staff, including campaign manager Keith Gilkes, campaign adviser R.J. Johnson and Chief of Staff Tom Nardelli. 

The individuals in this small circle regularly emailed each other about the Walker administration's response to the incident.

*  In a separate, fatal tragedy on County property, Walker, his Milwaukee County Executive staff and Scott Walker for Governor political team leader R. J. Johnson agreed on a strategy to keep buried until after the November, 2010 gubernatorial election that a civil rights lawsuit was coming on behalf of a woman who starved to death in a County-run mental health unit.

Detailed records and context - - including racist emails exchanged by senior Walker public staffers - - are here, thanks to The Progressive, which live-blogged the disclosures. Here is a sample:

Update, 12:54 p.m. CST: We're finding more context on the first update about Cindy Anczak, the woman who starved to death in a county mental health facility. A chain of emails starting on page 1,376 of WalkerDocs 2 shows Walker's people talking about the family's lawsuit in purely political terms.

R.J. Johnson sarcastically notes that the family chose to sue close to the election. However, the documents had not yet been officially filed, so Walker himself chimes in and says the lawsuit should not be made public. "Keep it buried until Nov. 2nd and then hopefully they settle," replies chief of staff Keith Gilkes.

And Kelly Rindfleisch, Walker's deputy chief of staff at the time, who is ubiquitous in both of these matters?

*  She was charged in the so-called John Doe I probe in which it was revealed that there had been a secret Internet router and communication system set up just twenty-five feet from Walker's Milwaukee County Executive office that helped enable both Walker's public and campaign aides to quietly perform political work on public time.

Rindfleisch took the system down and removed it, according to this exhaustive review of John Doe emails and related events.

Subsequent reports indicated Walker and his "inner circle" used private email accounts to coordinate public and campaign work.

Six of of Walker's aides, associates or donors subsequently pled guilty to felonies or misdemeanors in the John Doe I probe; Rindfleisch has lost an appeal of her six-month felony conviction but has not begun serving her sentence.

*  Despite her having been charged with felony misuse of public time and resources while Walker's Deputy Chief of Staff - - see complaint, here - -  Rindfleisch accompanied Walker to a Florida fund-raising event in 2012 hosted by Rush Limbaugh.

10 reasons why WI Democrats think Walker, GOP are cheats

[Updated from 12/3] It is not surprising that GOP Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his allies are suing to stop the legal recount of votes in the Presidential election, and also are sure to rewrite state law to further restrict access to the recount process, as Walker and his party have co-opted, bent or broken Wisconsin voting and redistricting laws, and obstructed public access to the ballot box with restrictions later ruled unconstitutional.

Little wonder that Walker and GOP reactions to the ongoing recount look self-serving, even shady, given their long-running pattern of gratuitous abuse of the democratic process, including at least these ten eleven twelve (thanks to a sharp-eyed reader with a sharper memory) documented actions and events that date all the way back to his scandal-ridden, failed 1988 Marquette University student government campaign:

*  When he was Milwaukee County Executive, running for Governor and no doubt prepping for his 2015 run for President, Walker used public funds to underwrite self-promotional motorcycle tours that took him, and his name and image, far from Milwaukee.

*  At the same time, Walker secretly used public staff, Milwaukee county office space and other taxpayer-provided resources to raise his profile, organize partisan events and raise money for his gubernatorial campaign, and other GOP candidates - - moves which eventually led to convictions of six Walker staffers, associates and campaign donors in what became known as John Doe I. 

Walker won the gubernatorial election.

*  As Governor, Walker and his party pushed through a very restrictive voter ID law with known partisan overtones and with admittedly partisan objectives aimed at suppressing voting in minority and college communities which vote heavily Democratic.

*  Forced into a recall election in 2012, Walker raised and received millions of dollars in campaign funds routed through a third party advocacy group at his direction which led to another prosecutorial investigation into known as John Doe II.

Like the events which led to John Doe I, Walker and his funding and organizing methods were an additional weight in his favor on the scales. Walker won the recall election.

* Walker has since signed a bill into law written by his party which ended the use of John Doe investigations into allegations of political corruption.

*  During the 2012 recall elections, the Republican Party openly ran Republican candidates as fake Democrats in Democratic primaries to monkey-wrench the electoral process. 

*  [Update] - - GOP State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, an enthusiastic supporter of the GOP's 2012 fake Democrat candidacies maneuver, this spring wrote a bill which Walker signed into law to help protect the GOP's majority from an election challenge by a popular Democratic office-holder.

The bill prohibited sitting Wisconsin county executives from serving simultaneously in the legislature. It was a maneuver to discourage Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris, a Democrat, from running for an open Senate seat.

Harris ran for the State Senate seat, and lost.

*  Walker signed into law several restrictions to early voting in Wisconsin that were so partisan and undemocratic that a Federal judge had to void them.

*  Separately, another Federal judge determined that the Republicans' redistricting of the Legislature drafted in secret using state employees and public computer equipment inserted out-of-sight into private law firms, and which has for years helped Walker and the GOP to expand their majorities and push through their agendas, was knowingly and illegally crafted to disenfranchise Democrats.

*  Wisconsin GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel, a close Walker and Republican legislative ally, sent election monitors during the November, 2016 elections disproportionally into Democratic-leaning precincts.

*  Schimel's actions echoed the intimidating posting of billboards paid for by a GOP financier and major Walker donor in minority neighborhoods warning against election fraud - - though there had been no record in those neighborhoods of voting fraud in those areas.

All of which makes Walker's talking point of having made it "easier to vote and harder to cheat" in Wisconsin elections - - undermined by these illustrative examples and testimonials and the ten points above - - a disturbing, self-serving lie.

In A Tempest, Scott Walker Knows Nothing

Scott Walker is proving, as his John Doe appearance looms, "What's past is prologue," though who knows if he's heard of that weighty saying or that Shakespeare, with appropriate foreshadowing, inserted it into "The Tempest."

Connect these dots:

* At the end of the infamous prank, taped call between the fake David Koch and Walker that Ian Murphy, the fake David Koch said he'd fly Walker "out to Cali" for "a really good time" after Walker "crushed those union bastards."

And Walker said, "All right, that would be outstanding." (transcript here).

Not long thereafter, Walker found himself in front of a House sub-committee on Capitol Hill, where he denied, under oath, that 'fly me out to Cali' was the offer of something of value because:

"I don't even know where Cali is," he said (video). 

*  A few months ago, Scott Walker told the AP he didn't have a clue about the John Doe probe. Here's how the Eau Claire paper framed the story when running it: 

Walker says he knows nothing of investigation

"We don't know what exactly is involved," Walker said Friday when asked about the raid after a public event at Milwaukee's General Mitchell Airport.

"As far as what I know is what I've been reading in the press. I don't have any more information beyond that." 

*  Then a few weeks ago, Scott Walker drew another blank when the Journal Sentinel asked about where he thought the John Doe was headed, and he commented in this story:

Walker says he has met man jailed in investigation

In response to a question about those around him, Walker went on to say that he believed his aides - some of whom have come under scrutiny from authorities - had acted correctly as well.

"I'm not aware of anything, particularly for people working for me right now. There's nothing brought to my attention that would be a problem," Walker said.

Now this was beginning to ring a bell. Where have we seen this blank, 'I dunno,' slate before?

*  Here's one example, after a patient starved to death at the Mental Health Complex, the gubernatorial campaign was underway and a report about it could have surfaced:

Walker defends withholding Mental Health Complex report

"I don't know what's in it, so it's hard for me to say" if it should be released, Walker said. His administration had nothing to do with the report being withheld, Walker said.

But isn't there something earlier?

*  Ah, The Marquette Tribune had it in 2010, and used its files clear back to 1988, when Walker's campaign for student body president imploded over ethics and rule violations, and it was time to take responsibility:

Walker’s campaign record murky

In the run-up to election day, the Tribune’s editorial board endorsed Walker’s opponent John Quigley, but said either candidate had the potential to serve effectively.

However, the Tribune revised its editorial the following day, calling Walker “unfit for presidency...”

The revision also expressed disappointment in Walker’s campaign workers reportedly throwing away issues of the Tribune after the endorsement was initially made.

Walker dismissed this, saying he had no knowledge of what his supporters did, according to a Tribune article from February 25, 1988.

Like The Bard said, "What's past is prologue." 

 

Walker John Doe Probe In A Higher Gear

And so is the local paper's reporting.

The extensive piece in the Wednesday Journal Sentinel about the John Doe probe and Scott Walker's former Milwaukee County staff and senior campaign officials is a significant piece of journalism that advances a significant political story by leaps and bounds.

The reporting does a helluva job explaining that the probe is looking at possible irregularities - - and no one has been charged in this avenue of investigation - - surrounding real estate bids, awards, lobbying and politicking that involved millions of dollars in County-paid office real estate contracts.

The corruption investigation into Gov. Scott Walker's time as Milwaukee County executive is focusing on the bid competition to house the county's Department on Aging in private office space, the Journal Sentinel has learned.

Investigators are looking for signs of bid-rigging or other misconduct as representatives of the privately owned Reuss Federal Plaza vied unsuccessfully in 2010 to keep the department offices, according to sources familiar with the case. The offices had moved in 2005 to the blue tower, 310 W. Wisconsin Ave., in a $3 million deal.

In December, the real estate broker for Boerke Co. who spearheaded the Reuss effort in 2005 and 2010 was arrested and jailed overnight on allegations of failing to cooperate with the ongoing John Doe investigation.

The broker, Andrew P. Jensen Jr., faces an order to talk to prosecutors Wednesday.

John Hiller, one of Walker's highest-ranking campaign aides, said he worked on behalf of the building's owners on the 2005 deal. An official told the newspaper that he also had a role in the 2010 effort.

In 2005, Schlitz Park - which had housed the offices for 20 years - won an initial bid for the offices. But records show a rushed, last-minute rebid resulted in the Reuss group getting the $3 million deal...

In late summer 2010, the county ultimately rejected all private office space options as too expensive and the department's offices moved into vacant space in a county-owned building, a cost-saving move some supervisors had recommended five years earlier.

Around that time, the district attorney's office, which launched the Doe investigation in May 2010, received a tip about possible insider dealing in the lease-space competition. An email obtained by the Journal Sentinel showed the Walker administration tipped off some brokers about strategy months before any bids were formally sought.

None of the players in the deals has been accused of wrongdoing, and Walker has defended the county's actions...

The fact no lease contract was awarded in 2010 could make any potential prosecution more difficult, but misconduct charges do get filed under such circumstances, veteran Chicago criminal defense attorney Robert Loeb said. They hinge on the illegality of the behind-the-scenes acts, not necessarily on whether the contract was awarded.

This line of John Doe inquiry has been reported by the paper's Dan Bice, including in a Sunday column that said:

The next phase, insiders say, is focusing on the role some of Walker's closest associates and county employees had in a real estate deal involving a county agency. The point man on the deal, real estate broker Andrew Jensen, was arrested last month for allegedly failing to cooperate with the investigation. Jensen, who was not charged, is set to meet with prosecutors this week.

The Wednesday blockbuster takes readers to political territory in and around County government several notches above that inhabited by middling Walker staffers and associates recently charged by the Milwaukee County District Attorney with diverting funds from a Walker-founded veterans' charity to pay for personal cruises and airplane tickets - - as serious as that conduct would be, if proven.

But as a former Milwaukee Journal and Journal Sentinel reporter and assistant metropolitan editor, here's what jumped out at me about the Wednesday story: five Journal Sentinel staffers got bylines or contributor credit.

Five!

Even in the long-gone era of big newsroom staffs, five reporters does a serious team make.

Add in the copy, content, senior editing and design involvement, and it's even more clear that the paper, already owning the story, is really all-in as that story gets hotter.

If you are Scott Walker, or are on his team, or were with him in County government, trust me: this is not the way you hoped his State of the State speech Wednesday - - or the next few weeks or months - - would unfold

As Walker's campaigns grew, so did investigations, stakes

With the John Doe II probe back in the news and also at the doorstep of the US Supreme Court next month, it's rather amazing to follow a common thread linking much of Walker's career: first there is the campaign, then the investigation.

*  The pattern emerged in 1988, with a run for Marquette University student body president which ended badly for Walker: 

He was accused of violating campaign guidelines on multiple occasions. The [Marquette] Tribune reported then that he was found guilty of illegal campaigning two weeks before his candidacy became official. 

Later, a Walker campaign worker was seen placing brochures under doors at the YMCA. Door-to-door campaigning was strictly prohibited.

Walker initially denied this but later admitted to the violation, which resulted in lost campaign privileges at the YMCA. In the run-up to election day, the Tribune’s editorial board endorsed Walker’s opponent John Quigley, but said either candidate had the potential to serve effectively.. 

However, the Tribune revised its editorial the following day, calling Walker “unfit for presidency.” The column cited Walker’s distribution of a mudslinging brochure about Quigley that featured statements such as “constantly shouting about fighting the administration” and “trying to lead several ineffective protests of his own.” 

The revision also expressed disappointment in Walker’s campaign workers reportedly throwing away issues of the Tribune after the endorsement was initially made. 

Walker dismissed this, saying he had no knowledge of what his supporters did, according to a Tribune article from February 25, 1988.

*  Then there was the secret email system set up by Walker aides down the hall from his Milwaukee County Executive office used to organize and finance 2010 GOP campaigns on public time. Known as John Doe I:

The investigation – resulting in six convictions – involved embezzlement, money laundering and staffers mixing state business with a campaign effort to get Walker, then a Milwaukee county executive, to the governor’s mansion.

*  That probe set the stage for another, broader investigation known as John Doe II - - a state prosecutorial effort which unearthed millions of dark money dollars routed for Walker's 2012 recall election, and others. through a secret network.

The scheme, prosecutors said, also funded legislative candidacies that helped preserve Walker's GOP governing majority; the investigation was shut down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, a move now eligible for a review by the US Supreme Court because of conflict-of-interest allegations against two Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices who shared major donors with Walker.

Quite the progression - - from being accused in 1988 of "violating campaign guidelines on multiple occasions" in a campus election to being accused of being at the center of a multi-million dollar dark money system which led one major publication to address it with this headline:

WHY THE SUPREME COURT SHOULD TAKE ON POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN WISCONSIN

Yes, for the record - - Walker himself has never been charged in these investigations, and has managed to stay on his feet after truthiness problems on a smaller scale have cropped up - - but all it will take is four US Supreme Court Justices accepting the Doe prosecutors' petition for a review of the state's dismissal of their investigation and Walker can be credited with shining the brightest national light possible on shady money and campaign tactics.

Walker Campaign Probe Will Spur Recall Movement

It was hard not to notice the recent departures of two Scott Walker state appointees who held the most senior positions in his County Executive years.

And it will be impossible to overlook Dan Bice's reporting this week about the $60,000 that the Walker campaign has paid to the former US Attorney - - now in private practice - - at the same time that a John Doe investigation into Walker's campaign has been run by the Milwaukee County DA.

Gov. Scott Walker's campaign fund has paid nearly $60,000 to the firm it hired late last year to respond to questions raised by a John Doe criminal investigation.

From March to May, the Walker campaign made three payments to Michael Best & Friedrich totaling $59,617 for "compliance/administrative" activities this year, according to campaign records.

How much of this was due directly to the John Doe probe into campaign activity by Walker's former county staff?

The first-term governor's staff isn't saying.

Yes, Walker won the election for Governor, but it's fascinating that twice he has managed to galvanize his opponents and move their cause along.

Talk about self-inflicted wounds.

The first instance was through his imperious removal under the cover of a budget-repair bill of nearly all public sector collective bargaining in Wisconsin, thereby energizing the labor movement in Wisconsin and across the nation.

Now it appears also that just as some conventional Wisconsin wisdom after the Senate recall elections had Walker winning a political war of attrition, and looking likely to prevent his anticipated recall, a John Doe probe into his campaign appears to have legs and could lead to a far-weakened Walker, and a revived grassroots efforts against him, just as the Gubernatorial recall window opens in a few months.

For Walker - - bad Karma, worse timing.

His heavy-handed and anti-union one-dimensionality has been a poor fit for statewide leadership that demands traits he does not possess - - significant depth and moral authority.

He fancies himself Ronald Reagan.

He could end up being our own Richard Nixon.

Walker Doe probe blockbuster revelation; no one in WI is surprised

Karma alert:

Remember when Scott Walker said he was "absolutely not" a John Doe target?

Oops.

And if long-time Walker aide and appointee Cindy Archer hadn't sued Milwaukee DA John Chisholm in Federal Court over how the John Doe probe was conducted, a document naming Walker as a felony target would never have surfaced today, nor would this story have been written and published on the eve of the GOP's first debate Thursday:

Despite denials, Scott Walker was target of probe in 2011 

Records show governor was investigated over proposed real estate deal

Here is a link to the original story about the real estate deal. Also note a few days later, Walker had this to say about the deal and the real estate official involved:

Walker said that he had done nothing wrong. 

"All I know is the way through all the years as county executive and now as governor, I know how I conduct myself. I know the transparency I have and the integrity I bring to the position, so in terms of my own involvement I don't worry," Walker said. 

In response to a question about those around him, Walker went on to say that he believed his aides - some of whom have come under scrutiny from authorities - had acted correctly as well. 

"I'm not aware of anything, particularly for people working for me right now. There's nothing brought to my attention that would be a problem," Walker said.

And I included this in a 2013 postiing

It's been his pattern for 25 years beginning with his ethically-messy losing campaign for Marquette University student body president, so this new probe will be treated the same way: 'I know nothing...I have no information...I wasn't even born yet...' etc. 

Through later campaigns, his County Executive years and as Governor, too. 

The pattern, documentated, is here. 

And a sample from that posting:

A few months ago, Scott Walker told the AP he didn't have a clue about the John Doe probe. Here's how the Eau Claire paper framed the story when running it: 

Walker says he knows nothing of investigation

"We don't know what exactly is involved," Walker said Friday when asked about the raid after a public event at Milwaukee's General Mitchell Airport. 

"As far as what I know is what I've been reading in the press. I don't have any more information beyond that."  

A Primer On Scott Walker's Year Of Deceit, Wisconsin's Decline

(originally posted Tuesday, Jan. 24, 1:52 p.m.) 

Here is what you will not hear, or what will be turned on its head Wednesday night as Scott Walker delivers his State of the State speech and tries to put lipstick on His Year of Living Deceitfully:

*  Walker withheld from the public his intention to bludgeon unions and public employees statewide and strip away nearly all their collective bargaining processes, then used the phrase "dropped the bomb" in a taped phone call to describe his action. And disclosed he'd considered sending provocateurs into crowds of protesters to make mischief.

Name another elected official in American who treats citizens, law and the workplace environment with such contempt.

What we learned as this unfolded was that sneakiness, misdirection and outright falsehoods were to be Walker hallmarks  - - the exact opposite of what he told a Lakeland Times reporter in a September, 2010 gubernatorial campaign interview was the virtue and strength he'd gained in the Milwaukee County Executive's office (more about that later):

When he says he believes in government transparency, it's not just a campaign slogan, Walker said "I don't just say that, I've lived it," he said.

*  Little wonder, then that the media fact-checking service PolitiFact has examined 39 Walker statements and rated 27 of them, or 70%, as "mostly false, "false" "pants on fire." The statements vetted went across-the-board: budgets, health care, campaign disputes, education, tax relief, collective bargaining, state finances, the business climate and more.

*  Among his more brazen cynical manipulations that went beyond rhetoric was the disclosure that Walker's budget-appointees are using two sets of state fiscal figures. One allows Walker to claim in releases, interviews and self-promotional TV ads that the state budget is balanced - - but another allows him to claim an ongoing budget deficit for political reasons so the administration can toss low-income adults and children off state-supported health-care plans and pick an ideological fight with the Obama administration.

*  In a related manipulation, Walker claimed he was expanding the scope of publicly-funded health plans for the disabled, seniors and others - - and even invited advocates to a Madison news conference where he made his compassionate announcement - - then had to admit that the federal government had forced him to add people to the programs' rolls because he had removed them from coverage inappropriately. Details here.

*  Walker's ploys extend to environmental matters as he taints the state's political environment, too. Wetlands and waterways in the public domain are being readied for private takeover and probable degradation through multiple pieces of legislation initiated or sought by Walker. This giveaway of public water and land has been as narrow as a special wetlands-filling bill at Walker's insistence for one Green Bay developer (and Walker donor), and as sweeping as wetlands and mining changes statewide written into bills behind closed doors to speed-up development at the expense of clean water, treaties with Native Americans and 224 years of water protections incorporated into the state constitution's "Public Trust Doctrine."

*  Walker and his party pushed through a vote-suppressing ID law, another law with flawed and disenfranchising legislative-redistricting maps, and even - - read the next few words carefully - - openly and without apology ran Republicans posing as Democrats to extend Senate recall campaigns and the 'real' Republicans fund-raising and active campaigning time frames. Taxpayers had to pay the cost of the unnecessary primaries.

So what is the State of the State?

Stressed and suffering on Walker's watch through months of corrosive leadership, mounting job losses and negative publicity nationally.

*  All made worse by the behavior of Walker allies - - from State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser's intemperate outbursts, to Justice Michael Gableman's participation in cases argued by the high-profile law firm Michael Best & Friedrich which did not bill him for representation in a judicial ethics case worth $100,000, according to published estimates.

*  It is the same law firm that is collecting significant fees from state coffers for representing Republicans in their controversial redistricting.

*  And which is representing the Walker campaign in some aspects of the John Doe probe.

Details in the above bulleted points,  here.

All these events and revelations have played some role in fueling the recall campaigns aimed at Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, a key Walker ally - - and which no doubt Walker will evade, distort, omit, misrepresent or spin during the State of the State speech Wednesday night.

It is his pattern - - and it exceeds the normal exaggerations in political speech and self-interested strategy.

But we know the truth, and I'll bet he does, too:

The recall efforts - - like those last year that cost the GOP two Senate seats - - are genuine grassroots efforts that withstood establishment political and media condemnation, opponents' vandalism and even scattered assaults, and yet garnered against Walker and Kleefisch, in a mere 60 cold wintery days, a history-making million+recall signatures.

And the necessary signatures also to force an election on Scott Fitzgerald in his conservative district, and in three other GOP-leaning State Senate districts.

This authentic citizen achievement was distorted by a demagogic Walker who has called it a movement of paid workers and outside labor bosses. And, he claimed last year's Capitol protesters were mostly out-of-state, though PolitiFact knocked that down as "false" in February, 2011.

It's not coincidental that the same manipulative, plotting and forked-tongued Governor who revealed himself these last 12 months also has had some donors, associates and even key, former staffers charged criminally - - with others reportedly about to be named - - because of plotting activities on his behalf.

Nor is it coincidental that Walker is now raising millions of dollars out-state for his recall defense from powerful individuals

Just four individuals, using a loophole in Wisconsin campaign law, have given a total of $1 million, the Journal Sentinel reports.

The Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice, whose reporting about the ongoing Walker-related John Doe probe has been outstanding, captured in this memorable column the ironic essence underlying Scott Walker's performance:

Gov. Scott Walker says he isn't worried about a John Doe investigation of his current and former aides.

That's because, Walker said, he is a man of integrity.

"I know that throughout my career - first in the Legislature, then as county executive and now for the last 10 months as governor - I live by the standards I got from my parents," said Walker, whose father was a Baptist minister. "Certainly, they got me to the rank of Eagle Scout, and I continue to have that kind of integrity."

Wash Post slams Jeb for 'dark money,' misses Walker Doe II

[Updated, 12:20 p.m.] The Washington Post concentrates its editorial board concern about secretive, big donor dark money and allegations of campaign finance wrong-doing on Jeb Bush, but missed a chance to tell its readers that this is the second time such questions have been raised about Scott Walker.

And missed telling readers that the Walker matter, known as John Doe II, is alive in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The case, and an incomplete investigation by multiple prosecutors, aimed to nail down whether big money was illegally raised and spent in Walker's 2012 campaigning.

The case comes with an additional cloud because some of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices' campaign committees over the years reported big-dollar, third-party donations from groups which also donated heavily to the Walker campaign.

And at least two large donations by mining and hardware retail interests unearthed in the probe have been tied to favorable environmental and financial actions in Wisconsin by agencies under Walker's control, Yahoo News has reported.

Coincidentally, a former top aide to then-Milwaukee County Executive Walker surrendered yesterday to begin serving a sentence for felonious campaigning and fund-raising on public time. 

That operation which benefited Walker and an allied campaign took place right under Walker's nose in his County Courthouse office suite. Six Walker aides, associates or donors were charged by the Milwaukee County DA in what was known as John Doe I, which, in turn, led to the broader John Doe II probe still unresolved and fought to a standstill by Walker and his allies.

The Post editorial board may justify its focus on Bush believing he is the GOP front-runner, though some polls show Walker leading or with significant strength.

Media should stop giving scant attention to Walker, allowing his well-financed machine to fly under the radar.

Walker adds to his 'I don't know' list

[Updated] More holes in Walker's education and memory. This is worrisome, seeing a prospective standard-bearer of The Party of No morph it to the Party of I Don't Know.

No (no pun intended) wonder his pants caught fire over the Wisconsin Idea drafting error, and who knows if he knows if he is Governor of Wisconsin or Iowa right now?

There was that I don't know answer when asked if President Obama was Christian:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a prospective Republican presidential contender, said Saturday he does not know whether President Obama is a Christian. 

“I don’t know,” Walker said in an interview at the JW Marriott hotel in Washington, where he was attending the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.

Now it's whether people choose to be gay or are born that way:

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he “doesn’t know” whether being gay is a choice or if people are born gay.

Let's put it this way; the more you know about Walker, the more you know that he doesn't know - - or will not give you a straight story: why else would his extensive PolitiFact file contain three times the fully "False" and "Pants on Fire" ratings than fully "True?"

Here's a comprehensive and documented list of Walker facts people outside of Wisconsin may not yet have heard about.

Also - - here are a few other 'forgotten' or not absorbed gaps in Walker's head:

So what about the conversation he had just a year ago with a billionaire from Beloit about dividing and conquering the labor movement in Wisconsin and setting the stage for 'right-to-work' legislation? 

"Don't remember the particulars," he said.

And what do you know? I found more:

At the end of the infamous prank, taped call between the fake David Koch and Walker that Ian Murphy, the fake David Koch said he'd fly Walker "out to Cali" for "a really good time" after Walker "crushed those union bastards."

And Walker said, "All right, that would be outstanding." (transcript here).

Not long thereafter, Walker found himself in front of a House sub-committee on Capitol Hill, where he denied, under oath, that 'fly me out to Cali' was the offer of something of value because:

"I don't even know where Cali is," he said (video). 

*  A few months ago, Scott Walker told the AP he didn't have a clue about the John Doe probe. Here's how the Eau Claire paper framed the story when running it: 

Walker says he knows nothing of investigation

"We don't know what exactly is involved," Walker said Friday when asked about the raid after a public event at Milwaukee's General Mitchell Airport.

"As far as what I know is what I've been reading in the press. I don't have any more information beyond that." 

*  Then a few weeks ago, Scott Walker drew another blank when the Journal Sentinel asked about where he thought the John Doe was headed, and he commented in this story:

Walker says he has met man jailed in investigation

In response to a question about those around him, Walker went on to say that he believed his aides - some of whom have come under scrutiny from authorities - had acted correctly as well.

"I'm not aware of anything, particularly for people working for me right now. There's nothing brought to my attention that would be a problem," Walker said.

Now this was beginning to ring a bell. Where have we seen this blank, 'I dunno,' slate before?

*  Here's one example, after a patient starved to death at the Mental Health Complex, the gubernatorial campaign was underway and a report about it could have surfaced: 

Walker defends withholding Mental Health Complex report

"I don't know what's in it, so it's hard for me to say" if it should be released, Walker said. His administration had nothing to do with the report being withheld, Walker said.

But isn't there something earlier?

*  Ah, The Marquette Tribune had it in 2010, and used its files clear back to 1988, when Walker's campaign for student body president imploded over ethics and rule violations, and it was time to take responsibility:

Walker’s campaign record murky

In the run-up to election day, the Tribune’s editorial board endorsed Walker’s opponent John Quigley, but said either candidate had the potential to serve effectively.

However, the Tribune revised its editorial the following day, calling Walker “unfit for presidency...”

The revision also expressed disappointment in Walker’s campaign workers reportedly throwing away issues of the Tribune after the endorsement was initially made.

Walker dismissed this, saying he had no knowledge of what his supporters did, according to a Tribune article from February 25, 1988.

Scott Walker Once Had An Ethics Reform Plan

His undated, detailed ethics reform plan appears to have been rolled out during his short-lived run for the 2006 GOP gubernatorial nomination, is still posted on a Friends of Scott Walker campaign website and sure looks ironic now in light of the John Doe probe charges and disclosures. (full text of the Walker plan is below).

This text taken from another posting on Walker's campaign website attributed to a Republican Party chairman introducing Walker at a 2010 campaign speech should make Walker partisans flinch, too:

"Then, after a lot of persuasion and a lot of guts, Scott decided to get into the race for Milwaukee County executive in 2002 on a platform of fiscal conservatism, and returning honesty and integrity to the office of the county executive."

The theft and misconduct charges against former Walker county staffers and the disclosure by John Doe prosecutors of a secret email system for political operatives on set up in the fall of 2009 by a long-time Walker associate and county staffer on county property - - (criminal complaints, here) - - leaves one wondering what the heck happened to this belief that had Walker to announce his big, bold ethics reform plan:

"The culture of government has destroyed the integrity and the idea of public service," said Walker. "My plan seeks to restore the public trust, and instill the confidence that our elected leaders are working for the people," Walker added.

And were these ethics reform pledges, among others, valid during the next four years that Walker served as County Executive, and during the campaign for Governor he ran and won in 2010?

• All appointed employees will be prohibited from organizing or participating in fundraising for Scott Walker's campaign committee. (100 Day Agenda and Walker's current policy in county government) 
• Scott Walker will not accept any campaign contributions (from any source) from the time he takes office (January 3, 2007) until the state budget is signed into law.  (100 Day Agenda) 
• Scott Walker will call on Legislative leaders to enact a similar policy for all elected state officials. (100 Day Agenda) 
• Scott Walker will push legislation that prohibits contributions to his campaign from firms that are seeking to do business with the state while the contracts are being bid and awarded. (Walker's current policy in county government) 
• Scott Walker will require every member of his administration to attend ethics training every two years to ensure that all executive staff members are aware of ethics standards and laws. 

Ethics Reform Plan Walker: Proposes Wisconsin Ethics System Overhaul  Citing government ethics as one of the greatest challenges to Wisconsin's democracy, Milwaukee County Executive and Candidate for Governor Scott Walker today released his comprehensive ethics reform plan. Walker's plan calls for a major overhaul of Wisconsin's failing system to restore integrity to our state's government. "During my 100-Day agenda tour I outlined ethical reforms that could be implemented without legislation," said Walker. "Today's plan is far more comprehensive and will not only require the assistance of the legislature, but also the people of Wisconsin to step forward to make it happen." Key highlights of the Walker ethics reform plan include: Prohibit political campaign contributions until the state budget is signed into law  Five year ban on paid lobbying of the agency an individual worked in for all members of the administration, Legislature and legislative staff  Term limits on all state offices of no more than 12 years 3 terms for Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State, and Attorney General  3 terms for State Senate  6 terms for State Assembly   Return to a part-time legislature "The culture of government has destroyed the integrity and the idea of public service," said Walker. "My plan seeks to restore the public trust, and instill the confidence that our elected leaders are working for the people," Walker added. Walker cited the revolving door of professional politician to professional lobbyist and the undue influence of campaign cash as one of the most glaring problems in government today. While campaigning around Wisconsin, Scott makes it a point to listen to people's thoughts on the future direction of our great state. Wisconsin is one of 11 states that is considered to have a truly "full-time" legislature, and one of only 6 states that is always "in session" for the full two-year cycle. Most states have a defined time period for the regular legislative session, and these sessions are always shorter than two years. Walker conceded that many of these proposals may not be received warmly in Madison. However, he invites everyone to listen to the people and offer their own proposals to restore the integrity of Wisconsin's government. "Re-instilling the people's trust in our public institutions will be a top priority for my administration," said Walker. "I believe this plan begins this process and I look forward to discussing my proposals in the coming months of this campaign." REFORM PLAN All appointed employees will be prohibited from contributing to Scott Walker's campaign committee. (100 Day Agenda and Walker's current policy in county government)  All appointed employees will be prohibited from organizing or participating in fundraising for Scott Walker's campaign committee. (100 Day Agenda and Walker's current policy in county government)  Scott Walker will not accept any campaign contributions (from any source) from the time he takes office (January 3, 2007) until the state budget is signed into law.  (100 Day Agenda)  Scott Walker will call on Legislative leaders to enact a similar policy for all elected state officials. (100 Day Agenda)  Scott Walker will push legislation that prohibits contributions to his campaign from firms that are seeking to do business with the state while the contracts are being bid and awarded. (Walker's current policy in county government)  Scott Walker will require every member of his administration to attend ethics training every two years to ensure that all executive staff members are aware of ethics standards and laws  Scott Walker proposes a five year ban on paid lobbying of the agency they worked in for all members of the administration, Legislature and legislative staff.    Scott Walker will push legislation to combine the State Elections Board and the State Ethics Board  Scott Walker will call for legislation to prohibit state candidates from accepting political contributions from the owners, operators or managers of casinos and racetracks. (Walker proposed similar legislation in 1997 and 1999)  Scott Walker will propose legislation to prohibit closed caucus meetings and to require that all votes in Legislative committees take place in public.  Scott Walker will push for term limits on all state offices of no more than 12 years (3 terms for Governor, other constitutional officers and State Senate and 6 for State Assembly).  Scott Walker will push for a return to a part-time Legislature.   Scott Walker will propose legislation to prohibit the transfer of funds from federal campaign accounts to state campaign accounts. Privacy Policy Authorized and Paid for by Friends of Scott Walker, John Hiller, treasurer. Banners designed by Mark Curnes: info@markcurnesdesign.com