Thursday, September 25, 2014

Walker political aides, state appointees at same donor retreat

As long as we're having a discussion in Wisconsin politics and courtrooms about coordination of campaigns, outside financing and government transparency - -  take a look at the squadron of senior Walker-appointed public employees and Walker political aides listed by the Appleton Post-Crescent who attended a confidential retreat with GOP campaign funders.

Corporate donors paid up to $250,000 to attend, and dozens reportedly paid tabs of $100,000.

Details about the funders' retreat were accidentally put on line and reported first by The New York Times; the Wisconsin information below is from the Appleton Post-Crescent story:
Senior members of Gov. Scott Walker's administration and his top campaign and political advisers are listed as attendees at a Republican Governors conference along with corporate titans and lobbyists who donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Republican Governors Association, according to documents published Wednesday by the New York Times
Invites to such retreats with high-level decision-makers are listed as a benefit for contributing to the RGA, according to the documents, leading some good-government groups to criticize it as a pay-for-access scheme. Among those who were slated to attend the conference and retreat in California in July 2013 were Walker's Chief of Staff Eric Schutt, Secretary of Administration Mike Huebsch, campaign manager Stephan Thompson and political adviser Keith Gilkes. 
Also listed were Deputy Chief of Staff Rich Zipperer, senior advisers Eileen Schoenfeldt and Waylon Hurlburt and Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health Services Kevin Moore.
Note also in this list the presence of big donors from businesses and groups with a major presence in Wisconsin including Johnson Controls, MAXIMUS and the MMAC.




10 comments:

Anonymous said...

One can only assume that we the taxpayers footed the bill for those representing Wisconsin agencies. I hope some journalist does a Freedom of Information Act or Open Records request for this as the governor isn't talking.

Jake formerly of the LP said...

And note that 3 members of the MMAC paid $250,000 each to attend this event. Know who serves on the MMAC Board of Directors? JournalComm CEO Steven Smith.

Wanna know why the J-S hasn't touched this story and wants it to drop? Follow the oligarchs' money train.

Anonymous said...

Looks like some Dems attended too: Jeremey Shepherd, Principal, Schreiber & Associates
Ken Walsh, Principal, Schreiber & Associates

James Rowen said...

info about the MMAC presence, among others, added.

Anonymous said...

This is exactly how it appears in the document and would seem to indicate coordination:

Eric Schutt, Chief of Staff, Wisconsin
Keith Gilkes, Senior Political Advisor, Wisconsin
Mike Huebsch, Department of Administration Secretary, Wisconsin
Stephan Thompson, Campaign Manager-Friends of Scott Walker, Wisconsin

Anonymous said...

This is exactly how it appears in the document under senior staff retreat and would seem to indicate coordination:

Eric Schutt, Chief of Staff, Wisconsin
Keith Gilkes, Senior Political Advisor, Wisconsin
Mike Huebsch, Department of Administration Secretary, Wisconsin
Stephan Thompson, Campaign Manager-Friends of Scott Walker, Wisconsin

A. Wag said...

@ Anonymous Sept 25 at 12:46 PM:

'dem Dems are DINOs.

A. Wag said...

Pay to Play . . . with each other.

Anonymous said...

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes (I hope.)

Anonymous said...

What is the CEO of a news organization doing at a pay to play event like this?