Where’s the CRG’s outrage over the criminal charges filed against former Walker staffers?

Back in 2010, the right-wing conservative group Citizens for “Responsible” Government (CRG) filed a complaint with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office accusing lefty blogger Chris “capper” Liebenthal of “operating three political internet blogs during work hours,” which the folks from CRG alleged to be felony Misconduct in Public Office.

As a result of the CRG complaint, Liebenthal’s work computer was seized and he was forced to hire an attorney to defend himself against the allegations of criminal wrongdoing. Ultimately, the DA’s office found absolutely no evidence Liebenthal had engaged in criminal behavior during the course of his work for Milwaukee County, but the DA’s decision did nothing to restore the damage done to Liebenthal’s reputation as a result of CRG’s initial complaint. At the time they filed the complaint, the folks from CRG (which is led by Chris Kliesmet and Orville Seymer) made a point to widely publicize their ultimately meritless complaint against Liebenthal, a complaint that was so farcical it alleged Liebenthal engaged in illegal behavior by blogging on days that County employees were either furloughed, on paid holidays, or on days that Liebenthal was actually not even at work.

Fast-forward to 2011, and felony criminal charges began to be filed by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office against former staffers and close aides to former Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker as part of a still-ongoing John Doe investigation. To date, three former staffers of Scott Walker have been charged with criminal behavior related to illegal activities done at the expense of Milwaukee County taxpayers, and curiously there’s been not a peep from the folks at Citizens for “Responsible” Government expressing their outrage over the allegations of gross misconduct in public office, which certainly doesn’t strike me as “responsible government.” A search of CRG’s website shows nary a mention of Tim Russell, Darlene Wink, or Kelly Rindfleisch, the three staffers who worked for Scott Walker during his time as County Executive, each of whom has been charged with criminal behavior related to their misconduct in their taxpayer-funded positions in Milwaukee County.

So here’s a suggestion: since the folks at CRG are really only concerned about “responsible” government when their targets are liberals or Democratic elected officials, how about a name change for the sake of accuracy?

How about….Citizens for Conservative Government?

Or how about…Citizens for Republican Government?

Or maybe…Citizens Sometimes for Responsible Government, Unless Republicans in Government are Engaging in Misconduct? Okay, that really doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as “CRG,” but at least it’s accurate.

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17 thoughts on “Where’s the CRG’s outrage over the criminal charges filed against former Walker staffers?

  1. This is spot on. CRG hiding their true motives behind the perception of “good government” has always bugged me.

  2. Zach,
    CRG has always been upfront about their objective to facilitate the election of fiscally conservative candidates. I don’t understand the feigned surprise, however if your trying to point out hypocrisy, you may want to examine your writing “Liebenthal’s work computer was seized and he was forced to hire an attorney to defend himself against the allegations of criminal wrongdoing. ” and contrast that with your March 9th posting blasting Governor Walker for having a defense fund. Innocent people need lawyers too.

    1. I don’t recall writing that I was surprised about anything relating to CRG. My issue is the hypocrisy of a group that proclaims to support “responsible government” not being at all upset/disappointed at the allegations of misconduct in public office by staffers of Scott Walker.

      If the folks at CRG are so worried about misconduct in public office that they’d try to crucify Chris Liebenthal, why aren’t those same folks upset about Darlene Wink, Kelly Rindfleisch, and Tim Russell?

    2. Also, I didn’t mention Scott Walker’s criminal defense fund in my entry; that has nothing to do with my point about CRG staying silent about the criminal behavior of Walker’s staffers.

      Try to stay focused on the topic, not tangents.

      1. I correctly ascertained that your point was the hypocrisy of CRG. I am sorry that my pointing out your hypocrisy is somehow off point.

        1. Kim, you seem to be having a hard time with this.

          Where in my original entry did I write about Scott Walker’s criminal defense fund?

          I ask because you brought that up out of the blue in a weak attempt to call me a hypocrite, when you seem to have COMPLETELY missed the point of my entry, which was the hypocrisy of CRG in regards to the criminal allegations against Tim Russell, Darlene Wink, and Kelly Rindfleisch.

          If you’re going to attack me as a hypocrite, try to come at me with something better than the weaksauce you came at me with, and please….please try to stay on topic.

  3. CRG are as sleazy as they come. And…if Walker is so innocent why doesn’t he say so? He has a criminal defense fund because he is being investigated. That is why he won’t answer the simple and direct question about his criminal defense fund. He only deflects away from the question when asked about it.

  4. Monica,
    CRG’s tactics are no different than moveon.org and ACORN, you simply call them sleazy because you don’t agree with their objectives.
    Since there have been no charges levied against Walker, I don’t know what you’d like him to declare his innocence about. What is the simple question that is being deflected? Barrett’s asking him why he has a defense fund? That is a simple answer, innocent people need to defend themselves too, proven by the Liebenthal example above.

    1. Poor, fearful, dishonest creature. Maybe one day, you will come into the light.

      1. I am not poor, fearful only of God Almighty and not dishonest. I would certainly appreciate you pointing out exactly what was dishonest in my comments, you may not agree with me, but that is no reason to assault my character.
        And I am the one scolded by Zach to “Try to stay focused on the topic, not tangents”

        1. I scolded you because you frequently seem to have a hard time staying on topic.

          I wrote about the hypocrisy of CRG in relation to the criminal activities of Tim Russell, Kelly Rindfleisch, and Darlene Wink, and you went way off on a tangent about Scott Walker’s criminal defense fund, which I didn’t even mention in my entry.

        2. You are completely fearful, poor thing. You fear change. You fear whatever Fox News tells you to fear. You fear whatever Rush Limbaugh tells you to fear. You believe lies and hatred and utter bullshit because it’s easier than facing your own fears and inadequacies. You are the Deluded %.

  5. Rule Number 1 for any Republican- “Our rules don’t apply to us.”

    Can the media stop giving Cretins for Republican Goonery any credit as a legitimate organization, and just call them the Scott Walker front group that they are. As in “Scott Walker front group CRG claimed responsibility for helping to distribute fliers that denigrating Janesville teachers and including their salary information as a way to stir up resentment against them.”

    They are weaklings that degrade our state. Time for them to be exposed.

    1. Interestingly enough, Orville Seymer of CRG is apparently very concerned about elected officials being fiscally responsible, despite the fact that Seymer himself can’t seem to act in a fiscally responsible manner, at least according to CCAP.

  6. I could say the same of you Zach and others — where’s your outrage over Tom Barrett’s wife? Didn’t she do some of what the Walker staffers were charged with? Again, I must have missed your incessant postings about her actions. Do you think she’s part of the John Doe? Explain your hypocrisy.

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