Bridgegate Part 2: My Way On The Skyway
Bridgegate one has been a box office success thanks to a thrilling plot that has included lawsuits, lies, and retribution.…
What Does Rick Scott Have To Hide?
This week, PolitiFact confirmed that when deposed in lawsuits involving his company in 2000, Rick Scott invoked the Fifth Amendment 75 times. That’s the one that protects you against self-incrimination. Scott was deposed in a civil case against his former company, Columbia/HCA, who later plead guilty to at least 14 corporate felonies including Medicare and Medicaid fraud, and paid a whopping $1.7 billion in criminal fines. Scott was under advisement from his attorney to invoke the Fifth Amendment in his deposition due to those ongoing criminal investigations. Whether Rick Scott is under oath or he’s on the campaign trail, he just won’t answer questions. When it comes to tackling problems, the voters of Florida don’t need a Governor who pleads the Fifth. They need real answers.
Cory Gardner "Discovers" Women's Rights
Last week, Cory Gardner penned an op-ed in support of over-the-counter birth control. What he didn't mention in the op-ed…
Wisconsin headlines from Scott Walker's no good, very bad Thursday
Yesterday, documents released from an ongoing John Doe investigation into illegal campaign activities by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his allies implicated the Governor himself as being central to a "criminal scheme." While Gov. Walker insists that "this is a case that’s been resolved," the front pages of Wisconsin's newspapers this morning tell a different story.
Scott Walker: Just Ask My Koch-Crony Judge, I'm Innocent!
Scandal-tainted Scott Walker’s fortunes grew even dimmer yesterday when newly released documents showed that prosecutors have alleged he was at the center of a criminal scheme to evade Wisconsin election laws. Now, Walker is coming out firing, claiming that the accusations are nothing more than unfounded partisan attacks, and pointing to a ruling from a state judge and a ruling from a federal judge that’s under appeal Only there’s one catch. The federal judge who halted the original campaign finance probe against Walker, Rudolph Randa, has attended multiple expense-paid judicial summits funded by Koch brothers’ groups who explicitly fight against campaign finance laws. Those would be the same Koch brothers who poured money into the very Pro-Walker outside groups that lie at the heart of this investigation. And Judge Randa didn’t just halt the probe. He originally ordered prosecutors to destroy the evidence they had obtained. But according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “the appeals court found he couldn’t issue such an irreversible order in the early stages of the case.” What’s more, Randa’s assistant is married to a Walker campaign attorney. Yes, Scott Walker has been temporarily cleared of wrongdoing by a federal judge. A federal judge who is part of the same shadowy conservative network as Walker, the Koch brothers, and the outside groups that helped flood the Wisconsin recall elections with dark money; and a federal judge who seems extremely eager to make this case go away. Background after the jump.
The Grand Old Tea Party Has A New Majority Leader
Kevin McCarthy is your new majority leader, a victory for the Republican establishment in the ongoing battle with its identical twin, the Tea Party. Then again, who can tell who's who? Take a quick look at McCarthy's record on women. He's repeatedly voted against legislation to help women fight back against pay discrimination. He's voted to defund Planned Parenthood and control women's access to reproductive health care services. And oh, last but not least, he co-sponsored extreme, anti-woman legislation to redefine rape as "forcible rape." Sound familiar? It's tragic, really, watching the Tea Party and the Republican establishment continue to fight like this, and over what? We'd tell them to put their differences aside, but there are no differences. Even Speaker Boehner says so. Now that they have a new majority leader, can't everyone just get along in the Grand Old Tea Party?
BREAKING: The 5 Things You Need to Know About Scott Walker & John Doe
The release of new documents today in the most recent Wisconsin John Doe investigation is making major headlines for one key reason: we now know that Scott Walker is a direct subject of this investigation into potentially illegal coordination between Walker's recall campaign and outside groups. More importantly, prosecutors are alleging that Walker's campaign "tacitly admitted to violating Wisconsin law." Bridge has posted all of today's newly released documents here for your review, but we've done one better and read through them all for you. Here are the 5 things you need to know about Scott Walker and this latest John Doe investigation:
- Prosecutors are citing the existence of a "wide ranging scheme" to illegally coordinate activities between Walker's campaign and outside groups
- Scott Walker's campaign "tacitly admitted to violating Wisconsin law" per prosecutors - Page 139-140
- Prosecutors argue that this scheme "pervaded nearly every aspect of the campaign activities during the 2011 and 2012 elections" - Page 144
- Even the national Club for Growth raised concerns about the coordination - Page 126
- Scott Walker personally emailed Karl Rove to praise the coordination efforts of R.J. Johnson, who was at the center of the alleged coordination - Page 128
Dave "No Questions" Brat to Hold "News Conference"
Since Tea Party prince Dave Brat did the unthinkable and dethroned Majority Leader Eric Cantor, he's been hard to get a hold of. In fact, he actually shot a text message to the Associated Press saying he wasn't doing any public appearances. That might cut it for a teenager who isn't coming home for dinner, but Dave Brat is running for the United States Congress. Well Brat is putting an end to his disappearing act this morning. He's putting on what his campaign is calling a "news conference." We're just trying to figure out what makes something a news conference when you announce in advance you won't take any questions... Then again, it's understandable. The last time Brat tried to take a question, the economics professor didn't "have a well-formed response" to whether we should abolish the minimum wage, though as Chuck Todd pointed out, getting rid of the minimum wage certainly seemed to be the argument Brat was making. So the world will have to wait for Dave Brat to answer questions on his plans to slash social security and education funding. But hey, he's answered one important question already: Is the Tea Party dead? Far from it. Watch:
Rick Scott's tax returns: unearthed and searchable
Yesterday, in an attempt to give off an air of transparency, Rick Scott released a few years of tax returns. Of course, he didn't want to make it too easy on anyone who might be interested in digging through them--they were not downloadable or searchable. Luckily, American Bridge is here to help Scott take his disclosure efforts a step further. Feel free to search through his records after the jump.
Thom Tillis Is Back And More Racially Divisive Than Ever
You may remember him from his hit single "Divide and Conquer." Well he's back with an all new track. Your…