Scott Walker's aide agrees to cooperate with prosecutors

Chris

Gold Member
May 30, 2008
23,154
1,967
205
Two staffers who worked directly for Gov. Scott Walker while he was county executive were charged Thursday with illegally doing extensive political work while being paid by taxpayers to do county jobs.

One of the two, Darlene Wink, cut a deal with prosecutors under which she agreed to provide information in a related investigation about the destruction of digital evidence and to aid in further prosecutions. This is the first indication that the multifaceted John Doe investigation may be pursuing charges of evidence tampering.

Milwaukee County prosecutors also made the surprising disclosure that top Walker aides set up a private Internet network to allow them to communicate with one another by email about campaign as well as county government work without the public or co-workers' knowledge.

The emails Walker officials traded via the shadow network could provide investigators with a trove of information as they pursue other angles in the case. Earlier this week, the Journal Sentinel reported that the probe was focusing on possible bid-rigging and other misconduct in the competition to house the county Department on Aging in private office space.

In a statement, Walker's campaign said he had a policy against county employees using government resources to do campaign work.

"Scott Walker expected everyone to follow the law and made that clear publicly and privately," the statement said.

Walker faces a potential recall election later this year.

On Thursday, prosecutors charged Kelly Rindfleisch, deputy chief of staff to Walker in 2010, with four felony counts of misconduct in office for working for then-Rep. Brett Davis' 2010 campaign for lieutenant governor while on the county clock. Davis, who lost in the Republican primary, is now Walker's state Medicaid director.

Two ex-Walker aides charged with illegal campaigning - JSOnline
 
Milwaukee County officials expressed shock at the criminal charges and said Walker or another high-level Walker staffer should have known about the alleged campaign activity and stopped it.

"Scott's no neophyte - he knows what the rules are," said Supervisor Mark Borkowski, who noted that he doesn't view Walker as someone who would condone something so blatantly illegal but was at a loss to explain it.

The charges are the latest in a 20-month John Doe investigation into the activities of Walker's former and current staffers. A John Doe is a secret probe in which prosecutors can compel testimony and subpoena documents while looking into possible criminal activity.

Already, District Attorney John Chisholm's office has charged Russell, former Walker deputy chief of staff, and former county veterans official Kevin Kavanaugh with stealing more than $60,000 in donations intended for Operation Freedom, an annual event honoring veterans at the county zoo. Both are facing multiple felonies.

Russell's domestic partner, Brian Pierick, was also charged with two felony child enticement counts.

Two ex-Walker aides charged with illegal campaigning - JSOnline
 
No charges against Walker....

So sad......

She just started cooperating with prosecutors yesterday.

All in due time, my pretty, all in due time....

Another worthless prediction by OctoChrissy.

The only thing that is going to happen in due time is that Obama is going to get his ass kicked this November.

I can't hardly wait.
 
So basically this all boils down to people on his staff using computers at work to send emails to each other.


YAWN!


Two staffers who worked directly for Gov. Scott Walker while he was county executive were charged Thursday with illegally doing extensive political work while being paid by taxpayers to do county jobs.

One of the two, Darlene Wink, cut a deal with prosecutors under which she agreed to provide information in a related investigation about the destruction of digital evidence and to aid in further prosecutions. This is the first indication that the multifaceted John Doe investigation may be pursuing charges of evidence tampering.

Milwaukee County prosecutors also made the surprising disclosure that top Walker aides set up a private Internet network to allow them to communicate with one another by email about campaign as well as county government work without the public or co-workers' knowledge.

The emails Walker officials traded via the shadow network could provide investigators with a trove of information as they pursue other angles in the case. Earlier this week, the Journal Sentinel reported that the probe was focusing on possible bid-rigging and other misconduct in the competition to house the county Department on Aging in private office space.

In a statement, Walker's campaign said he had a policy against county employees using government resources to do campaign work.

"Scott Walker expected everyone to follow the law and made that clear publicly and privately," the statement said.

Walker faces a potential recall election later this year.

On Thursday, prosecutors charged Kelly Rindfleisch, deputy chief of staff to Walker in 2010, with four felony counts of misconduct in office for working for then-Rep. Brett Davis' 2010 campaign for lieutenant governor while on the county clock. Davis, who lost in the Republican primary, is now Walker's state Medicaid director.

Two ex-Walker aides charged with illegal campaigning - JSOnline
 
The complaint reveals a "secret email system" that was "routinely used by selected insiders within the Walker administration" for county business as well as unofficial purposes such as campaigning.

"It should be (illegal) because it defeats the public's right to know," said Bob Dreps, an attorney who handles open records cases for clients such as the Journal Sentinel. "If it's official business, it belongs in the official system."

The existence of the email system was a closely held secret, and it was not made known to the county employee responsible for gathering county emails in response to requests for information by the public, reporters and groups, the complaint said. The secret system used personal Internet email accounts.

"In the course of the investigation, it was learned that a private email network was established and operated out of the county executive's office and that the private network was used to communicate both political campaign and government-related information to select individuals," Chisholm said in a statement.

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.

The complaint does not say whether Walker was aware of the secret email system.

Two ex-Walker aides charged with illegal campaigning - JSOnline
 
Yes,

And someone will take a hit so the unions can feel like their dues (bribes) are being well used.

In the end, it all adds up to sour grapes on the part of the greedy teachers in Wisconsin.

Fire all of them and start over. There are a lot of people looking for work.
 
The complaint reveals a "secret email system" that was "routinely used by selected insiders within the Walker administration" for county business as well as unofficial purposes such as campaigning.

"It should be (illegal) because it defeats the public's right to know," said Bob Dreps, an attorney who handles open records cases for clients such as the Journal Sentinel. "If it's official business, it belongs in the official system."

What was this "secret email system," yahoo?

What we have here is an overzealous prosecutor trying to turn a molehill into a mountain.
 
I didn't even notice who this was posted by or I wouldn't have bothered to click on it.

I only hope the majority of the people in Wis. aren't STUPID enough to see this as anything but what it is. Chicago style, strong arm politics come to the dairy state in attempt to oust Walker!

MORON LIBERALS!!!

Excuse me...MORALLY BANKRUPT LIBERALS!!!
 
Yes,

Another "inker" by OctoChrissy.

The guy who needs VA to grow so he can contiue to live off he government indirectly.
 
One aide charged with stealing money from a veterans charity organization and another charged with child enticement.

And this is just the beginning....
 
One aide charged with stealing money from a veterans charity organization and another charged with child enticement.

And this is just the beginning....

All witchhunts have an end too.

Hows that 12% real unemployment working out for you ?
 
Asked about the proximity of his office to space occupied by Kelly Rindfleisch, his then-deputy chief of staff in 2010, and whether he knew what Rindfleisch was doing, Walker declined to comment, saying he wanted to abide by the rules of the John Doe probe and not provide details publicly.

Rindfleisch was charged Thursday with four felony counts of misconduct in public office on allegations of working in then-Rep. Brett Davis' 2010 campaign for lieutenant governor. Davis, who lost in a primary for lieutenant governor, is now Walker's Medicaid director.

Walker: John Doe investigation is not targeting me - JSOnline
 
Good posts Chris. Isn't it amazing how much these right wingers will defend government when a right wing dictator tries to run roughshod over the laws and over people. And of course 'personal responsibility' never applies to them.

But Wisconsinites should have seen what he did to teachers coming from Walker's record as a County Executive.

Just as he did as Milwaukee County executive, Scott Walker, now the governor, has chosen to bypass labor negotiations and include major wage and benefits concessions—and a drastic attack on long-standing principles of employee relations—in his budget repair bill.

Typically, the executive honors labor agreements that have been negotiated with unions.

But Walker is not a typical executive.

He’s not negotiating. Instead, Walker said if necessary he would literally call in the National Guard.

As Milwaukee County executive, Walker submitted two budgets that included tens of millions of wage and benefits concessions that had not been negotiated with the unions that represent county employees. Walker’s 2010 budget included $32 million of concessions that were not included in a tentative agreement his own labor negotiator had struck with unions at the time Walker had proposed his budget.

Walker’s 2010 budget was so unfair that an examiner for the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission declared that Walker had bargained in bad faith.

But that hasn’t deterred Walker from using the same tactic now as governor.

Walker's Renewed War on Workers

And from his conversation with who he thought was David Koch, we know Walker thought about planting troublemakers in the crowd of peaceful protestors and calling in the National Guard.

The man should be removed from office. He's lucky Americans are a moderate people. In other countries, he'd be at the end of a rope.


Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist.
Edmund Burke
 
Last edited:

Forum List

Back
Top