In advance of today’s plea hearing for Tim Russell, Scott Walker’s closest aide, Scott Walker has spent this week making antagonistic and self-serving claims questioning the judicial independence of the John Doe proceedings, and speculating that the criminal corruption probe is “winding down” – a statement dismissed by the judge overseeing the probe as “pure conjecture.”
To date, the John Doe investigation into Walker’s current and former administrations has netted four convictions of top Walker associates, with Kelly Rindfleisch sentenced to jail time for her felonious role in running the Milwaukee County Executive’s office as an adjunct of the Walker campaign.
Scott Walker’s acknowledgement that he approved, authorized and even directed coordination between his County and campaign staffs as a “routine” part of day-to-day activity, along with evidence introduced by prosecutors at Rindfleisch’s sentencing hearing, fills in part of the picture when it comes to Scott Walker and the John Doe criminal corruption probe, but there are still questions unanswered.
Seventeen Questions For Scott Walker
1. Scott Walker has acknowledged that his campaign and his Milwaukee County office “routinely” coordinated on both matters of public (taxpayer) policy and campaign strategy, and stated that this coordination was neither unusual nor improper. Does, or did, Walker’s campaign similarly coordinate with the governor’s office?
2. The extent to which the secret computer network installed in the Milwaukee County Executive’s office was used to conduct illegal campaign activity for Scott Walker’s benefit has been revealed as larger than perhaps originally thought. Does Scott Walker himself appear as a sender or recipient of any messages exchanged on this network, and has this practice been repeated into his current administration?
3. Is Scott Walker in possession of digital and/or hard copies of any of these messages?
4. Has Scott Walker been informed by state and/or federal prosecutors that he definitively is NOT a target of this investigation, and/or that he will NOT be charged with criminal misconduct related to this investigation?
5. Why did Scott Walker think it was appropriate and/or lawful for his campaign to direct Milwaukee County policy, as it was revealed in the Kelly Rindfleisch sentencing?
6. Why did Scott Walker think it was appropriate and/or lawful to compel County employees to misuse taxpayer resources to participate in campaign activity on his behalf?
7. Did Scott Walker direct any County employees to suppress, hide or destroy evidence related to the O’Donnell Park tragedy, as apparently suggested by his campaign manager, Keith Gilkes?
8. Did Scott Walker believe it was appropriate and/or lawful for him to personally review, approve and authorize County press releases drafted by his campaign?
9. Did Scott Walker believe it was appropriate and/or lawful for him to personally review, approve and authorize campaign material drafted by his County staff?
10. Does Scott Walker believe the Milwaukee County taxpayers should be reimbursed for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in County resources that were illegally used to advance the Walker campaign?
11. Has Scott Walker directed any more funds into his criminal defense fund?
12. In light of new revelations that implicate Scott Walker as a knowing and willing party to the illegal campaign activity carried out on his behalf, will Scott Walker agree to disclose the identities of his criminal defense fund donors in advance of the statutorily required deadline for such disclosure?
13. Did Scott Walker personally approve payments to John Doe figures facing prosecution from his campaign and/or from entities associated with the Republican Party of Wisconsin?
14. As was evidenced in Milwaukee County, is Scott Walker or his administration causing the subversion of Open Records laws for his political gain?
15. What has Scott Walker been told about his role in the John Doe criminal corruption probes?
16. Why does Scott Walker believe it is appropriate for a sitting governor to challenge the judicial independence of a John Doe proceeding?
17. Scott Walker confirmed that he was a daily participant on 8:00 a.m. calls between his campaign and County staffs, including Kelly Rindfleisch. How was he unaware that Kelly Rindfleisch was campaigning on taxpayer time when he was participating in the very same activity?
