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...

Republicans Found Guilty of Partisan Unconstitutional Gerrymandering - Refuse To Fix

The Federal panel of two Republican-appointed judges and one Democrat-appointed judge overseeing the gerrymandering case against the Republicans found that they unconstitutionally gerrymandered Wisconsin districts strictly for partisan gain, and they have ordered at least a portion of the maps fixed before any of the new maps can be used. The Republicans had already been ordered by the court to reveal their secret emails which showed they signed agreements to keep secret the maps and discussions that took place at a private attorney's office through intimidation, and the emails also showed that the Republicans orchestrated public testimony in favor of the maps. The judges had already given the Republicans a chance to fix their gerrymandering, but Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald refused.

The Republicans have already wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money trying to protect their illegal gerrymandering. The panel said, "Regrettably, like many other states, Wisconsin chose a sharply partisan methodology that has cost the state in dollars, time and civility." And Fitzgerald wants to waste far more by refusing to fix their gerrymandering. He said there is "not a chance" they will be willing to fix their gerrymandering.

The Democrats are pleading on the side of Wisconsin citizens to fix the gerrymandering. Senate Democrat Leader Mark Miller said, "It is ridiculous that Republicans would ignore a court order to fix an unlawful map. Maybe they should sleep on it," and Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca said, "We need to immediately begin to redraw the maps in a manner that is fully open and transparent and does not, in the words of the court, 'needlessly move' more than a million citizens of Wisconsin."

If the Republicans are unwilling to fix their gerrymandering, Wisconsin taxpayers will likely pay millions of dollars to get maps through the courts. Tell the Republicans to stop wasting taxpayer money and fix their illegal gerrymandering!

The judges began their decision with, "There was once a time when Wisconsin was famous for its courtesy and its tradition of good government."

Doug La Follette can help get us back to those traditions as Governor of Wisconsin by renewing the Wisconsin Idea.

Wisconsin Supreme Court is FUBAR

Secret discussions, lack of ethics, and blatant conflicts of interest make for a FUBAR Wisconsin Supreme Court.

State Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman refuses to recuse himself from at least three cases of blatant conflict of interest. He received free legal services from the same Wisconsin law firm that has argued three recent cases in front of him. That is, he received tens of thousands of dollars in professional legal services without having to pay for them. And now these lawyers are arguing cases in front of him, asking him to side with them, which he has all three times. He's been asked several times to recuse himself, but he refuses saying the free legal services aren't "a gift as defined under law."

Free is free, and a gift is a gift, buddy. Any other justice would be removed from such a case by someone like...um...you Mr. Gableman. Just because you sit on the highest court in Wisconsin doesn't mean you get to do what you want. Well it kinda does, as we can see, but it shouldn't and that's one reason the Wisconsin Supreme Court is FUBAR.

Gableman received the free legal services during the ethics trial against him. He was exonerated of the charges, but it appears to very many people that Gableman is severely in violation of ethics. A sitting justice in clear violation of ethics is another reason why the Wisconsin Supreme Court is FUBAR.

Earlier this week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted on ideological lines to end a long Wisconsin tradition of public discussions by the court, making the discussions private instead. The conservatives on the court are following the lead of the Republicans eroding open government to keep things secret. Of course they did it because the conservatives are sick of looking bad in public. They may have even done it because they plan to make some moves on a case soon, and they want to keep their discussions private. Who knows why, either way it can't be good for Wisconsin, and it's another reason why the Wisconsin Supreme Court is FUBAR.

WI Rep. Joel Kleefisch Caught Voting Illegally

Wisconsin Rep. Joel Kleefisch has been caught on video committing voter fraud, voting in someone else's name. In the video below, you see Kleefisch recording votes for absent members on their machines during Tuesday's session.


Notice how he glares down the videographer after noticing he was caught. What a creep!

According to Assembly Rules, "only the members present in the assembly chamber may vote."

WTMJ asked Kleefisch whether he broke a rule, and he responded, "It depends upon how you interpret the rule."

Kleefisch is referring to the Assembly's definition of the chamber which states, "Assembly chamber: The entire area west of the easternmost doors of the assembly, including the visitor's galleries, lobbies, offices of the speaker, majority leader, and minority leader, and hallways."

If you interpret the rule as applying to only the chamber room, Kleefisch would admit he was in violation of Assembly rules. If you interpret the rule as applying to the Assembly's definition of chamber, then Kleefisch says he was within the rules.

However, Kleefisch is trying to distract us from the core issue with his behavior. The issue isn't whether or not someone is in the chamber. The issue is that Kleefisch is voting in someone else's name. That's voter fraud!

Kleefisch was so worried about voter fraud that he voted for the Voter Suppression Law last year. Apparently, Kleefisch feels voter fraud applies to everyone but him. However, the comparison is somewhat mute. We all know the Voter Suppression Law wasn't passed to prevent voter fraud, because it doesn't stop any case of voter fraud Wisconsin has seen, but it does prevent many poor, elderly and minorities from voting. In fact, the Advancement Project sued Wisconsin today over the discriminating law. Kleefisch doesn't give a crap about voter fraud, and he has no problem committing it himself.

Psychologists have a name for this type of behavior, projection. If there's anyone who's been messing around with votes and elections it's been the Republicans, and since they do it, they assume other people must be, too.

Governor Scott Walker used to think this behavior was unacceptable when he worked in the Assembly. Walker wanted to change the rule so that only actively participating members may vote. "Change the rule to apply to people we are talking about who aren't in the chamber and aren't aware of what is going on," Walker once said.

What does Walker think of his Lt. Governor's husband voting in someone else's name?

Wisconsin Republicans Refuse to Fix Gerrymandered Maps After Judges Plea

A three-judge panel in Federal court, who has lambasted the Republicans for their secrecy many times, gave the Republicans the option yesterday to make changes to their gerrymandered maps to fix the issues that brought them to court. The Republicans responded by saying they wanted to, but couldn't change the maps because of some ancient one-time Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling.

Today, the three-judge panel called out the Republicans for their ridiculous assertion. Judge Diane Wood said, "Nothing stands in the way of further revision of the redistricting plan."

By fixing the maps, the Republicans could have ended the court case. Judge Robert M. Dow Jr said "We wouldn't be sitting here if we didn't think there were some issues for trial. You guys can take those issues off the table."

The Republicans were given until 2pm today to decide if they would fix the maps. At 2pm, the judges gave them more time to decide, until 4pm. However, the Republicans continue to waste taxpayer money in court and refuse to make any changes. They have officially refused to fix their gerrymandered maps.

So, now that they can change the maps, they don't want to. Seems they were lying when they said they had any desire to fix their gerrymandering.

Keep wasting the taxpayers' money on frivolous arguments to keep your gerrymandering process secret and the result unchanged, Republicans. You could have stopped this now and saved a lot of time and money. Instead, you continue to stick your nose in the sand, believing in your own twisted reality.

I guess we'll see you Republicans in court again tomorrow.

Wake the f**k up, Wisconsin, and get these Greedy Bastards out! -> Walker is still a toss-up in the latest polls!

Secret Republican Documents Reveal They Orchestrated Public Testimony in Gerrymandering

The Journal Sentinel has inspected the 84 documents that Republicans fought tooth-and-nail to keep secret, now that they were made public today when the Republicans were "slammed" by three judges for their secrecy.

The Journal Sentinel's inspection of the documents shows "among other things, that those who drew the maps orchestrated the testimony in favor of the maps for a public hearing that occurred just after they were made available publicly."

"The records provide an inside view on the process Republicans used to draw the maps and show the testimony in favor of the maps was largely orchestrated by those who drew the maps. They recruited people to testify and supplied them with talking points."

Wisconsin Republican leadership was able to keep these secret in part through intimidation of their peers.

Last year, Republicans rudely denied any plans to draw new maps in secret.

'“You talked to Democrats who ‘think’ that Republican leaders have these grand plots,” Andrew Welhouse, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, says in an email response to questions about GOP plans. “I guess I’ll leave it up to your journalistic standards if their motivated speculation is worth reporting on.”'

Update: (7:16pm) The Journal Sentinel has updated their page with additional information.

From the Journal Sentinel, "The redistricting team considered forcing some senators who were not up for re-election in 2014 to go through special elections in 2012, the emails show. They did not pursue that plan after determining it might violate the state and federal constitutions."

WI GOP "Slammed" for Secrecy in Gerrymandering

The latest decision in the federal court case against the Wisconsin Republicans for gerrymandering is a harsh review of recent Republican tactics, calling them "shameful," the Journal Sentinel reports. The Republicans were fighting tooth-and-nail to keep some 84 documents secret, but have now been ordered to make the documents public.

The Republicans were claiming the documents fell under attorney-client privilege, because they consisted of only legal advice. However, the panel of three judges (2 Republican appointees and 1 Democrat) found the documents to primarily consist of political advice. Thus, the documents can't fall under attorney-client privilege. The panel wrote,

"In the court's view, it is quite apparent that these email discussions involve advice on political strategy, as opposed to legal strategy, and, therefore, are not afforded attorney-client privilege protection."

"Without a doubt, the Legislature made a conscious choice to involve private lawyers in what gives every appearance of an attempt -albeit poorly disguised - to cloak the private machinations of Wisconsin's Republican legislators in the shroud of attorney-client privilege. What could have - indeed should have - been accomplished publicly instead took place in private, in an all but shameful attempt to hide the redistricting process from public scrutiny."

The court gets it. The Republicans did the work of the people in private through intimidation, when they should have done it in public. Now they think they can keep the documentation behind that work secret. The Republicans are dead wrong.

The Republicans in Wisconsin are finally being called out for their intimidation, secrecy and lies.

We now have a glimpse into why the Republicans fought so hard to keep the documents secret.

Republican Intimidation, Secrecy and Lies

Last week, we learned through a court order that the Republicans signed confidentiality agreements and were told to ignore the public comments of their fellow Republicans while gerrymandering Wisconsin. The memo read, "Public comments on this map may be different than what you hear in this room. Ignore the public comments." Republicans kept this secret all while doing the work of Wisconsin at a private law firm, and then later fought tooth-and-nail in court to keep this stuff secret.

Today, PolitiScoop has an article regarding an anonymous Republican NDA-signer who says they were threatened into signing the NDA. Zak Schultz from Wisconsin Public Television has the scoop in this video from WPT's Here and Now on Friday.

"According to one lawmaker who asked not to be named, the logic they were given was the maps and the documents would be protected by attorney-client privilege, and the secrecy pledges were needed to protect that. But this lawmaker told me he felt part of the pledge was intimidation, to keep the rank and file from complaining. He was even shown two versions of the map, one more favorable and one less favorable, and was told if he didn’t go along, the less favorable version would become law."

The WPT Here and Now clip has lots more background information, including an interview with UW-Madison Professor Barry Burden.

Last year, Republicans rudely denied any plans to draw new maps in secret.

'“You talked to Democrats who ‘think’ that Republican leaders have these grand plots,” Andrew Welhouse, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, says in an email response to questions about GOP plans. “I guess I’ll leave it up to your journalistic standards if their motivated speculation is worth reporting on.”'

Now they have.