MADISON – Following a January request for investigation by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, the Government Accountability Board is reporting that the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce PAC has been fined for making illegal contributions to Scott Walker’s recall campaign, and the campaign has been forced to return $170,000 of the $175,000 in donations it accepted from MMAC in December 2011.
In the investigation request to the Government Accountability Board, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate stated, “To be certain, we are all navigating in uncharted waters, but the people of Wisconsin must have some reassurance that the rules of fair play still apply, especially in light of a quirk in our campaign finance laws that allows candidates to accept multiple six-figure donations from out-of-state activists and corporate special interests. The mere suggestion of a potentially corrupting influence on the democratic process is disturbing and must be investigated to the fullest extent of the law.”
The illegal MMAC donation was only one of many six-figure donations received by the Walker campaign.
“Wisconsinites can find some reassurance in the fact that the Government Accountability Board is committed to upholding the rule of law by seeing that excessive, illegal donations made by corporate special interests have no place in Wisconsin elections,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Tuesday. “But even though the unlawful $170,000 from Scott Walker’s Milwaukee corporate benefactors sounds like a lot, it will barely make a dent in his piles of special interest cash. Luckily our people-powered grassroots movement is stronger than sleazy corporate cash.”
