Dan Knodl’s sweetheart deal
By Zach W On February 25, 2009 · 5 Comments · In News, Those Kooky Conservatives!, Wisconsin Politics
Do you remember Dan Knodl, an aspiring Republican State Assembly candidate who back in 2008 was charged with with one count of making false statements in a campaign flier that listed as supporters people who had not endorsed him? Knodl, who was elected to the State Assembly in November 2008, just had that case resolved, and thanks to a sweetheart deal, his election law violation was knocked down from a criminal offense to a $250 municipal ticket for disorderly conduct. The sweetheart deal came courtesy of the Ozaukee County District Attorney Sandy Williams, herself a member of the Republican Party.
Tagged with: Dan Knodl
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
opinions powered by SendLove.to
5 Responses to Dan Knodl’s sweetheart deal
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Our Blogroll
- AFSCME Council 24 SEPAC
- Badger Blue, Times Two
- Badger Democracy
- BattiestGrrl Recalls: Putting the 'All' in 'Recall'
- blue cheddar blog
- Blue Collar Blogger
- Brett Cottrell
- Brew City Brawler
- Caffeinated Politics
- City of Contempt – The Scroll of Reason
- Cognitive Dissidence
- Constructive Debate
- Democracy Interactive
- Down With Tyranny!
- Eschaton
- Eye on Wisconsin
- FDLFVR
- Firedoglake
- First Draft
- folkbum’s rambles and rants
- Forward our Motto
- ForwardSeeking
- FoxPolitics.net
- Freak Out Nation
- freshthoughtz
- Grassroots Tosa
- Haas414
- Happy Circumstance
- illusory tenant
- Jake's Economic TA Funhouse
- Labor Chicks
- Left on the Lake
- Left Take
- Letter From Here
- Mildly Relevant
- MisLeading Wisconsin
- Moneyed Politicians
- Monologues of Dissent
- One Wisconsin Now
- Plaisted Writes
- Playground Politics
- Political Heat
- Ramona's Voices
- Red State Progressive
- Sly in the Morning
- South Milwaukee's 4th District
- The Bearded Crank
- The Blue States
- The Chief
- The Lost Albatross
- The Masses
- The Motley Cow
- The Other Side of My Mouth
- The Paul Ryan Watch
- The Plum Line
- The Political Carnival
- The Political Environment
- The Sara Schulz Show
- The World According to Nick
- Turning Over the Rocks
- Uppity Wisconsin
- Urban Milwaukee
- Waukesha Wonk
- Wisconsin Gazette
- WisPolitics.com
Watch the GAB sort through recall petitions LIVE!
Join the Discussion…
- Jeff Simpson on About Kathleen Falk’s Union Endorsements
- super Id. on About Kathleen Falk’s Union Endorsements
- Dan on Why I’d vote for Jan Pierce if I lived in the 14th Aldermanic District
- AK on Why I’d vote for Jan Pierce if I lived in the 14th Aldermanic District
- Dan on Why I’d vote for Jan Pierce if I lived in the 14th Aldermanic District
- AK on Why I’d vote for Jan Pierce if I lived in the 14th Aldermanic District
- Zuma Bound on Verify The Recall – It’s Working
- Jane on About Kathleen Falk’s Union Endorsements
- Zuma Bound on You want vote fraud? Rep. Joel Kleefisch has your vote fraud right here!
- John Foust on You want vote fraud? Rep. Joel Kleefisch has your vote fraud right here!
- Dan on Why I’d vote for Jan Pierce if I lived in the 14th Aldermanic District
- Zach W on You want vote fraud? Rep. Joel Kleefisch has your vote fraud right here!
- Jeff Simpson on You want vote fraud? Rep. Joel Kleefisch has your vote fraud right here!
- tweetster on You want vote fraud? Rep. Joel Kleefisch has your vote fraud right here!
- Jeff Simpson on You want vote fraud? Rep. Joel Kleefisch has your vote fraud right here!
Site Login
Earth to Zach! Earth to Zach!
Do you think that Knodl printed the names intentionally? That on purpose he used names of people that hadn’t endorsed him? Do you really believe that this is what went through his mind — “Here’s a list of my known supporters, now let’s add some more who haven’t endorsed me just to make the list look better!”
Use your brain — it was an error! The lawsuit was filed and Knodl took the PR hit prior to the election. Unless you can prove actual intent to use false names, this is how these things get settled!
RO, I know what the statute says about the candidate knowingly making false statements, and while I don’t know if Knodl knowingly made false statements, it seems more than a little odd to me that he didn’t proofread his own campaign flier before it was finalized. After all, shouldn’t he as the candidate have had the final say over what was printed and utilized? As Harry Truman was fond of saying, “The buck stops here,” and in Knodl’s case the buck should stop with him.
But the buck HSS stopped with him! He got the bad newspaper headlines plus the criminal charge filed before the election!
Unless you can prove mens rea — a difficult standard in a case like this — what he settled for is a pretty fair resolution. Don’t you think that he will be hyper-careful in the future?
RS, I’d like to think he’d be hyper-vigilant in the future, so you might be right that the DC ticket served the purpose, but I still think it’s a pretty sweet deal.
Do I think Dan Knodl purposely used names of people that hadn’t endorsed him? Assuming that wasn’t meant as a rhetorical question, yes, that’s exactly what I believe!
Knodl was looking for a way to give himself an edge over other assembly hopefuls tried to create the impression he had broad-based support.
Don’t get me wrong; I actually think Dan Knodl is a fairly effective representative, but one would have to be naive in the extreme to think his falsified list of supporters was the result of a clerical error.