New Doe Memo: It's Called Writing For The Record, or CYA+
Reporters are focusing on a memo created by Tom Nardelli, former chief of staff to then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, in which Nardelli memorializes, for the record, that he told investigators right off the bat he suspected them of political motives:
He wanted a self-serving record, not information, I believe.
Bureaucrats and pols create these kinds of memos - - a variation on the more famous CYA model - - whose only value for the author is the ability to produce it later, at just the right moment if need be, complete with a time and date stamp, to prove a point or a belief or a supposition:
'As I said...,' or a more blustery 'See? Told you so way back when. Says so right here!'
Also noteworthy about Nardelli's note: it's full of projection. Walker's people were knee-deep, neck-deep in secret, partisan politicking on public time, and with public resources, but Walker's chief of staff immediately accused the investigators of playing politics.
Amazing.
"Again, John, why is this a secret John Doe?" wrote Tom Nardelli, former chief of staff to Walker, in a letter to Chisholm. "Why are you going this route? What is the motive?"Questions Nardelli could have easily asked Chisholm in a phone call, but that would not have served Nardelli's purposes.
He wanted a self-serving record, not information, I believe.
Bureaucrats and pols create these kinds of memos - - a variation on the more famous CYA model - - whose only value for the author is the ability to produce it later, at just the right moment if need be, complete with a time and date stamp, to prove a point or a belief or a supposition:
'As I said...,' or a more blustery 'See? Told you so way back when. Says so right here!'
Also noteworthy about Nardelli's note: it's full of projection. Walker's people were knee-deep, neck-deep in secret, partisan politicking on public time, and with public resources, but Walker's chief of staff immediately accused the investigators of playing politics.
Amazing.
4 comments:
Well said. Nardelli was basically saying "Hey, we only wanted you to find out about Kavanaugh. We didn't want you to find out about Russell using it as a slush fund for Walker's campaign!"
That's the problem with being a crooked liar. You get one thing uncovered, it screws up the rest of the plan.
And the IRS unfairly investigated the small businessman Al Capone who wasn't even making a profit. The humanity!
I question the Walker campaign's story that Walker himself ordered the disclosure of the missing veteran's funds. I've always thought it was more likely that an individual, perhaps Nardelli, took it upon himself to contact authorities in an attempt to protect himself. Walker has never indicated the slightest interest in abiding by laws. Indeed, he seems to think they don't apply to him. In these documents, Nardelli shows he's thinking defensively.
I also saw it that way, where Nardelli notices the money missing, knows he's not doing it, and brings it up to the rest of Walker's inner circle.
Scotty knows what's going on, but has enough plausible deniability to be directly involved, so he feigns "decency", and OKs an investigation, figuring it'll end at Kavanaugh.
But it doesn't, which is why Nardelli gets all huffy when it leads into John Doe 1.
Just like with a guy who quit 40 years ago this month, "follow the money" is a common refrain when it comes to Walker World- and not just with John Doe
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