With Scott Walker Target in John Doe, a Governor Kleefisch Becomes Much More Likely

With Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker a target of the FBI John Doe investigation, it's becoming more and more likely that Walker will be charged with campaign finance or election fraud. If Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch survive the recall and Walker resigns over Walkergate, we'll have a Governor Rebecca Kleefisch on our hands and Wisconsin will really be in trouble.

We knew that Walker was either breaking the law, or he's been lying to us and he's under investigation. It's much more likely that he's under investigation by the FBI in their John Doe probe, and the reporting by David Shuster confirmed it. Scott Walker is John Doe.

"According to government lawyers familiar with a Milwaukee criminal corruption probe, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is now a 'target' of the investigation."

With so many close associates charged, a secret email network operating feet from his office, Walker's secrecy and refusal to release any information that could exonerate him, there's a good chance Walker was aware of the corruption, if not involved. And Walker doesn't seem very confident in the evidence in his favor. Since Walker is under investigation, it's very likely he'll be indicted and resign, especially in an investigation that has already resulted in more than a handful of closely-associated suspected felons, two convictions, and thirteen grants of immunity. The FBI doesn't investigate just anyone, which is why Walker hasn't been truthful about his involvement in the investigation and his criminal defense fund.

Rebecca Kleefisch will be far worse for Wisconsin than Scott Walker. She's in bed with ALEC, just as ideologically stubborn and even further to the right. Kleefisch would eliminate embryonic stem cell research in Wisconsin, a huge financial driver and achievement of this state. Kleefisch is anti-abortion in all cases, even rape and incest, and she pushed heavily for the abstinence-only bill. She also believes Rick Santorum's "man-on-dog" theory that gay marriage is equivalent to people marrying animals.

Kleefisch's lack of professionalism and intellect is appalling. Her YouTube channel is so hilarious and unbelievable that she named it RebeccaForReal, and her husband is "the man who votes three times."

If we don't remove Rebecca Kleefisch, Wisconsin could likely and very easily end up with a Governor Kleefisch and some really idiotic and damaging laws. If Walker survives the recall, no matter by how many votes, you know he'll be championing his "mandate." Kleefisch will feel empowered by the same "mandate" if Walker resigns his office to her.

But there's just no way, unless everything really comes down to a few votes, that we elect Mahlon Mitchell but not Tom Barrett. So, we must ensure anyone who stands with Wisconsin or who doesn't want the possibility of a Governor Kleefisch gets out to vote. We'll likely end up with a Governor Kleefisch if we don't remove Walker.

The far-right will win whether Walker is indicted or not, as long as Walker survives the recall, and life under a Governor Kleefisch will be far worse.

What Has Scott Walker Done for Wisconsin Lately?

In an update to the popular post What Has Scott Walker Done for Wisconsin, this post adds to the list of things Walker has done for Wisconsin in the last few months. Walker still hasn't created any jobs, the numbers he provides are unverifiable statistics which deviate wildly from official verified statistics, and thus can't be trusted until verified. Walker still hasn't balanced the budget, and contrary to Walker's claims, he raised taxes on the poor and middle class to support tax breaks for the very rich.

But all of that was already covered in the previous post. A lot has happened in the three months since.

Walker's Criminal Mind

In March, Walker opened a criminal defense fund, becoming the first ever governor in the United States to do so. According to Wisconsin Statutes, Walker can only legally open a criminal defense fund if he "is being investigated for or charged with a violation of campaign finance laws or prohibited election practices." However, Walker continues to say that he is not under investigation by the FBI in their John Doe probe (Walkergate) that has resulted in two convictions and four apprehensions on felony charges, all connected to Walker. So, Walker is either lying or he's breaking the law.

Walker stole millions from victims of the mortgage crisis in order to help offset his budget deficit. That's right, Walker has a budget deficit, i.e., he did not balance the budget. Not only that, he used money from the poor and unfortunate to help bolster his budget.

Walker and the Republican leadership killed any hope of jobs or mining legislation by not even compromising within the Republican party to provide what Gogebic Taconite wanted instead of an additional far-right wishlist. The Democrats had a bill that gave the mining company what they wanted without the ideological rollback of environmental protections that Walker wanted, the Wisconsin Way Mining Reform Act. However, the Republicans did everything they could to prevent a vote on the sure-to-pass bill, holding out for their impassable bill and thus killing the Republicans' only jobs plan.

Throughout Walker's term, particularly this spring, Walker signed into law a wide array of secretly corporate-backed model legislation from ALEC.

Policies of the War on Women

Instead of any jobs legislation, Walker amped up the far-right War on Women in Wisconsin.

To start, Walker repealed part of Wisconsin's Fair Employment Act so that women and minorities will find it even more difficult to get the same pay as white men. Republicans in Wisconsin have stated that they believe men should make more than women, and this bill helps to ensure that continues to happen.

Walker banned abortion coverage from future Wisconsin private health insurance plans that will be setup through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. So, women on those health plans, the least fortunate women and many in the middle class, won't have insurance coverage for potentially life-saving abortions.

Walker signed into law a bill that requires women to make unnecessary appointments with their doctors 24 hours before having an abortion. This forced Planned Parenthood to stop offering the morning after pill to rape victims.

Walker then allowed schools to teach the myth that abstinence is the only effective way to prevent pregnancy or STDs and not teach anything about condoms or contraceptives, because Walker doesn't like to use facts so neither should our teachers.

In a blatant sign of Walker's ignorance for women, Walker ignored the bombing of a medical clinic for women in Appleton.

Far-right and Unconstitutional Legislation

Rolling back environmental protections in mining wasn't enough for Walker, he and the Republicans successfully repealed wetland protections in the middle of the night. No jobs were created as a result of the legislation.

Nearly every one of Walker's legislative achievements were found unconstitutional including the Voter Suppression Law, the collective bargaining rights-stripping law and the Republicans' illegal gerrymandering. So, IDs are not required to vote and parts of the union busting law were struck down, but Walker refused to fix the illegal gerrymandering, costing more taxpayer money in court where new maps will now be drawn.

Collective Secrecy

In the previous post, I mentioned video that showed Walker saying he would negotiate with unions during his campaign, contrary to his statements that Wisconsin knew he was going to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers. Walker hadn't made any public statements to that effect prior to releasing the bill.

Now, recently released video shows Walker in January 2011 telling Diane Hendricks, a billionaire heiress who paid $0 in state taxes that year and gave Walker a record $510,000, that he plans to get rid of unions in Wisconsin through a "divide and conquer" plan that begins with the public employees. Walker hid this plan from the rest of us, but gladly told his rich donors who are the only people to gain from such efforts. This divide and conquer plan turned out to be the collective bargaining rights stripping bill that Walker released less than a month later.

Rich Kings and Queens

All the while Walker has been either under investigation or breaking the law, very rich donors have been donating over 25 million dollars to his campaign as well as Super PACs, billboards and TV ads. Nearly all the way up and down Highway 41, you see billboards from rich a**holes who want to buy tax breaks for themselves at our expense. What's not to like about Walker if you're rich? Well, other than the fact that his policies don't improve the economy, Walker hasn't done anything in the open and cordial Wisconsin way.

But money means way more to top Walker donors like Diane Hendricks who doesn't pay any Wisconsin taxes and wants to turn Wisconsin into a unionless state, otherwise known as Right-to-Work. They could care less what happens to us as long as their bank account gets fatter. Heck, they don't even care that Walker is either investigation or breaking the law. Most of all, the lies don't seem to bother these rich donors one bit. Many of the out-of-state donors don't care what happens to Wisconsin as long as Walker's anti-union, anti-women, anti-minority messages prevails here and spreads.

Tea Party Hero, Wisconsinite Zero

Walker is a national hero to the Tea Party crowd, and he's been using his far-right hero status with a rich donorbase by travelling across the nation to raise over 25 million dollars in campaign donations from the aforementioned rich. Compare that to the nearly 1 million that the entire effort against Walker has raised. How dare Walker complain about the "millions from out-of-state union thugs," when that's not happening, and instead he's the one brining in millions from out-of-state. "Out-of-State" Scott Walker has spent so much time travelling the nation that he refuses to tell us how much time he's been out of Wisconsin.

Haven't we had enough of Walker's lies, secrecy and damage to Wisconsin?

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Broke the Law

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker broke the law when he opened his historic criminal defense fund, the first ever in Wisconsin for a sitting governor. Either that, or "Out-of-State" Walker is lying and he is under investigation by the FBI in their John Doe probe (Walkergate) for using taxpayer money for his political campaign. Because that's the only legal purpose for creating a criminal defense fund, according to Wisconsin Statutes. The statutes say that Walker can only set up a criminal defense fund if he "is being investigated for or charged with a violation of campaign finance laws or prohibited election practices." However, Walker continues to say that he is not a target of the investigation by the FBI (maybe he's under investigation by someone else?). But then, Walker must have broken the law in March when he opened his criminal defense fund.

We don't know whether Walker is a criminal or just under investigation for being a criminal, because Walker refuses to tell us the truth about his legal defense fund which currently holds $160,000 in donations to pay two big-time criminal defense lawyers from Chicago and Milwaukee. Why would Walker need to set up a criminal defense fund if he isn't under investigation? Walker even lies about who started the investigation, Walker did not ask to start the investigation as he said in the first debate last Friday.

The answer clearly isn't good for Walker's recall campaign, but the answer is critical in light of his coming recall. The FBI probe has already resulted in conviction of a Walker aide and apprehension of four other close associates, as well as the conviction of a top donor to Walker's 2010 campaign. More arrests are expected in the continuing investigation, and Walker is suspected to be John Doe.

Wisconsin deserves to know what Scott Walker knew about the corruption surrounding him and whether or not he's breaking the law by funding his criminal lawyers with donations. We also deserve to know who's funding Walker's criminal defense, but he refuses to provide any information after countless attempts from the media, Tom Barrett and others.

Scott Walker's secrecy stinks, and it's time Wisconsin citizens and media demand answers from Out-of-State Walker. The media really makes this way too easy for Walker. What happened to journalists who asked follow-up questions? I guess the far-right media corporations Gannett, Journal Communications and Lee Enterprises have forced their bias on their employees.

There's no ethical way to vote or endorse Scott Walker's re-election without knowing whether his criminal defense fund is legal and Walker is lying or not. Here's looking at you far-right Journal Sentinel...

Is Scott Walker Breaking Wisconsin Law?

Is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker breaking the law right now?

Walker set up a legal defense fund several weeks ago in response to the FBI's criminal John Doe investigation, otherwise known as Walkergate. This lead many to believe Walker must be a target of the investigation - most likely the John Doe.

However, Walker continues to say he's not a target in the investigation. Yet, if he's not a target in the investigation, then he's breaking the law, because that's the only time a legal defense fund can be setup under Wisconsin law. Several news organizations have asked Walker since, and none have gotten a straight answer. If Walker isn't breaking the law, then we deserve to know how and why.

It's time this gets investigated. Either Walker is breaking the law or he is not, and Wisconsin deserves to know. Who begins such an investigation? If it's Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, that explains why we still don't know. This is someone's responsibility, and these questions need to be answered now, particularly because he'll soon be standing before Wisconsin's recall.

Can someone please tell me how we determine if Scott Walker is breaking Wisconsin law? And has Walker met with prosecutors or the FBI yet?

Walker is either being investigated for breaking the law or he's breaking the law now.

Wisconsin needs answers now.

Did Scott Walker Meet with John Doe Prosecutor Today?

DailyKos blogger ForestLake spotted Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, the first governor to ever set up a legal defense fund, rushing into the Milwaukee County Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse around 9 this morning. I tried finding any news about his trip to the Federal Building, but I haven't found anything. Was Walker finally meeting with the DA in the FBI John Doe investigation?

That's a great question, with an interesting answer most likely no matter what, and we might know if he made his schedule public on his website.

Another great question that hasn't been answered is, is Walker breaking Wisconsin law?

Walker set up a legal defense fund several weeks ago. However, he says he's not a target in the investigation. If he's not a target in the investigation then he's breaking the law, because that's the only time a legal defense can be setup under Wisconsin law. Several news organizations have asked Walker since, and none have gotten a straight answer. If Walker isn't breaking the law, then we deserve to know how and why.

It's time this gets investigated. Either Walker is breaking the law or he is not, and Wisconsin deserves to know. Who begins such an investigation? If it's Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, that explains why we still don't know. This is someone's responsibility, and these questions need to be answered now, particularly before he stands before Wisconsin's recall.

Can someone please tell me how we determine if Walker is breaking Wisconsin law?

Wisconsin needs answers.

Update: (2:11pm) No one yet seems to know what Walker was doing. Walker's sighting at the Federal Building may not have anything to do with the John Doe investigation, given that neither the FBI nor the DA would probably meet with Walker there. There aren't any better explanations yet.

Update: (2:43pm) I called Walker's staff, but they didn't have Walker's schedule for today and weren't able to tell me where he was. I was told to email Cullen Werwie to find out, and I have. Waiting...

Update: (8:37pm) No response from Werwie so far, and I can't find any more information. Jud Lounsbury at UppityWis believes that Walker may have been visiting the RICO prosecutor. If the visit was just normal governor business, why are we being kept in the dark. What was Walker doing?

Update: (4/9 2:37pm) No response from Werwie after several attempts from several addresses. I haven't seen anything in the press about Walker's whereabouts that day.  So, I guess we'll just never know. Annoyingly secretive Walker!

Scott Walker Confirms He's Under Investigation - Sets Up Legal Defense Fund

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker confirmed today that he is under investigation by the FBI in their secret John Doe probe. Walker announced that he has set up a legal defense fund (JS paywall). For the first time in Wisconsin history, a sitting governor has set up a legal defense fund. According to Wisconsin Statutes, the only way that Walker is permitted to set up such a fund is if he "is being investigated for or charged with a violation of campaign finance laws or prohibited election practices." So, Walker most likely is "John Doe," and it looks like the rumors of a possible arrest and subsequent resignation by Walker aren't without some merit. Walker made the announcement late Friday to try to keep this as quiet as possible, and Daniel Bice from the JS noticed Walker must be under investigation to start the fund.

Walker already announced last month that he hired two big-time criminal defense lawyers from Chicago and Milwaukee to represent him in the investigation (JS paywall). The scandal has always pointed to Walker, who was only feet away from a convicted aide, several others who have been charged, and a secret email network. Now, Walker has confirmed our suspicions.

Update: Daniel Bice now points out that there appears to be a consensus among election lawyers that Walker has confirmed he is under investigation or has been charged. A Walker spokesperson says that "Walker has been told that he is not a target in this investigation," but that appears to be another lie, because if he isn't, then how is he not violating Wisconsin law right now? Neither Bice nor WisPolitics received a straight answer.

Scott Walker IS John Doe.

For more information on the Walkergate scandal, visit Walkergate.info.

Will Walker Resign Over Walkergate?

There are some rumors and blog posts saying Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker may resign very soon due to his involvement in the FBI's John Doe investigation otherwise known as Walkergate. The thought is that the investigation is inevitably leading right to Walker (Walker is "John Doe"), and apparently there are "sources of sources" that have heard Walker may be arrested as early as this week. The arrest would then put immense pressure on Walker to resign.

72% of Wisconsinites are aware of the investigation. So for those of you who don't know about Walkergate, or just want to learn more, check out Walkergate.info which (much like Watergate.info) details all of the people, charges, convictions and nearly everything in between.



Will Walker be arrested this week or sometime before the recall election? Will he resign before we ever get a chance to recall him? Blue Cheddar examines what would happen.