Scott Walker on Monday called it a “slippery slope” to answer specifics about the more than 27,000 pages of emails from the “John Doe” scandal released last week because as he claims, “once you start on one thing, then there’s hundreds of questions on each of those.” Then on Tuesday, when he finally took questions from Wisconsin reporters, Walker continued to dodge the key question surrounding this scandal: did he know about the secret email network his staff used to conduct campaign business on government time?
The evidence from the 27,000 pages of emails released last week makes a compelling case that Walker must have known. Given the volume of emails he received and responded to on it, and his directive to staff to stop using the laptops the morning before a search warrant was executed, it’s nearly impossible for Walker’s previous claims of ignorance to hold water.
While Walker continues to deliver evasive responses to questions about his involvement in the John Doe scandal, three big questions remain unanswered:
1. Did Scott Walker know his government staff was breaking Wisconsin law by using a secret email network to conduct campaign business on government time?
2. How can Walker claim he didn’t know about the secret email network when he exchanged numerous emails with then deputy chief of staff Kelly Rindfleisch’s “secret” email account during work hours?
3. Did Walker deliberately use his campaign email account to bypass public records laws, or were his campaign emails discussing county work made available to Milwaukee County’s public records officer?
-Brad Woodhouse
President, American Bridge 21st Century
Published: Feb 26, 2014