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News Wednesday, Jul 20 2016

Scott Walker's Own Secret Email Scandal

Jul 20, 2016

That awkward moment when you ask a governor whose political career includes a secret email scandal to go on the attack…

Following their pattern of asking governors who have no moral high ground to play attack dog, Wisconsin Scott Walker took the stage tonight. In 2009, Wisconsin opened a John Doe Investigation (a state specific type of probe) into Walker’s time as Milwaukee County Executive during which thousands of dollars went missing from a veterans charity fund.

Walker’s office did their best to block the inquiry, but investigators were able to find evidence that a secret email router had been set up to illegally conduct political activities to help his gubernatorial campaign. From what’s been released publicly, there is strong support to suggest that Walker knew about the emails. Though the governor was never charged, six Walker allies were convicted for their actions, including two aides who were charged with embezzling funds from a veterans charity. (Read American Bridge’s background on John Doe part 1 here.)

But the scandal doesn’t end there. In 2012, the state opened a second John Doe investigation surrounding Walker — this time focusing on his recall election and the possibility of illegal coordination with 29 outside groups, such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth and Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity. (Read American Bridge’s background on John Doe part 2 here.)

The probe overlapped with part of Walker’s presidential campaign, but in 2015, the Wisconsin Supreme Court effectively ended the investigation. Why? Named the “worst court in America,” two of the judges that ruled on the case were asked to recuse themselves because they received millions in financial support from several of the conservative groups under investigation.

Scott Walker’s attacks tonight are desperately hypocritical to say the least.

Published: Jul 20, 2016

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