Yesterday I wrote about the revelation that Republican Gov. Scott Walker had been subpoenaed to testify in the criminal trial of former aide Kelly Rindfleish, who had served as Walker’s Deputy Chief of Staff during part of Walker’s tenure as Milwaukee County Executive.
At the time, I wondered about the possibility of Walker pleading the fifth if called to testify, but it appears Walker may not have to testify. According to a check of the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) website, earlier today a plea hearing date was set for October 11 in Rindfleisch’s pending criminal case. The request for a plea hearing date was made at the request of ADA Bruce Landgraf and with the agreement of Rindfleisch’s attorney, Frank Gimbel.
To be honest, I’m more than a little saddened by this development in Kelly Rindfleisch’s criminal case, because I was looking forward to seeing Scott Walker squirming as he was sworn in and forced to testify.
UPDATE: Dan Bice and Steve Schultze of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have confirmed a plea deal is in place in the Rindfleisch case.
Fear not. There is the Tim Russell case for which he is also listed as a witness.
Sure, but given how green Russell’s public defender is, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if we see a plea deal there too. I’m betting tremendous pressure is being brought to bear on Russell to keep his mouth shut and take a plea, as opposed to spilling his guts more than he already has about where Scott Walker’s political “bodies” are buried.
I’m trying to get inside the heads of these followers in the Walker cult of personality, wondering just how mesmerized they would have to be in order to A) break the law in the first place to further their bosses political ambitions, and B) be willing to do jail time to protect him after being caught. With type of candidate I can imagine being committed to 100%, the chances of that happening would be ZERO, and if it did, I would be out the door before you could say “put this in the dumpster.”
I wouldn’t want to spend 1 second in jail or prison on account of a ‘political’ associate no matter what ‘power’ he/she might have.
Nor I.
Ultimately though, I’m willing to bet cash money Rindfleisch will be taken care of by the Republican establishment once her case is resolved. She’ll land on her feet, because apparently some establishment Republicans value loyalty more than they value an adherence to the laws of our state.
Jim, keep in mind the lawbreaking we’re referring to (at least in Rindfleisch’s case) isn’t confined to Scott Walker. Kelly Rindfleisch was elbows deep in the caucus scandal earlier in the 2000’s, resulting in her being given prosecutorial immunity in exchange for what she knew.
What we’re seeing is a pattern of disregard for the laws of our state as relates to illegal campaign/political activities, and it shows that Republicans aren’t interested in clean government – they’re only interested in lining their own pockets or keeping their grasp on power.
I believe the prosecution has a rock solid case against Rindfleisch and would only make a deal if it guaranteed her cooperation with the investigation. While I was too looking forward to seeing Walker on the stand, I think that this plea deal will help convince Russell to roll over and result in a big payoff down the road.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Thanks so very much, to all you people for your coverage of this and for your comments about possible scenarios moving forward. The apparent actual moving forward being the key to so very many of us following this whole affair.