What follows is part two in a series of guest blogs by Graeme Zielinski, who will be reporting on the latest developments in the Milwaukee County John Doe investigation of Scott Walker.
Scott Walker and the New John Doe Emails
“Do you want to be standing with your pants around your ankles…?”The release of hundreds of pages of John Doe criminal corruption probe documents this week provides a revealing look into the criminal enterprise masterminded by Scott Walker, but it also begs a critical question: What about the rest of the documents?
I spoke to lawyers on Thursday with knowledge about the case, who spoke on the condition they not be identified, and they put the onus on local news organizations, NONE OF WHICH has motioned formally for the John Doe judge to modify or lift the secrecy order, and NONE OF WHICH have committed to an appellate process to fight the judge if he were to rule negatively.
WHAT THE HELL?
As with reporting on the John Doe case itself, which has led to convictions of several members of Walker’s inner circle in crimes that point directly to Walker himself, the Milwaukee and Wisconsin news media have thrown their hands in the air, even though there are dozens of unanswered questions about Walker’s own conduct in the case – and about which he has made demonstrably dishonest claims.
The main culprit is Journal Communications, which, the lawyers told me, is the only in-state entity with the money to pursue the legal action to let the sun shine in. Yeah, THAT Journal Communications.
The recently-released documents show how eager Walker was to use Journal resources for his own political benefit. At one point in the limited release of emails this week, Walker happily mentioned that he’d appeal directly to Marty Kaiser, editor of the Journal Sentinel. At another point, a Journal Sentinel reporter’s promise of “good ink” is bandied about by Walker’s unified political command, which was illegally operating using Milwaukee County resources in the wake of the June 2010 tragedy at O’Donnell Park that killed a 15-year-old boy.
And then there is the liar Charlie Sykes, who the emails show to be a willing lapdog for Walker as he engaged in a political coverup after questions were raised about Walker’s actions preceding the collapse of the deadly parking structure.
The investigative reporter Daniel Bice (who, the record shows, has been no great friend to me, but that’s another story), has pursued the Doe story along with some other reporters. but Bice and others are simply reporters – they don’t control the purse strings and make decisions about legal appeals. The decision not to pursue a full release of the documents compiled in the John Doe investigation could end up to the peril of Journal Communications, one lawyer told me, especially given all the relevant and newsworthy information contained within the recent release (which represents only a tiny fraction of documents put under seal by reserve Waukesha County Republican Judge Neal Nettesheim).
“This first disclosure ought to be confirming to these local media outlets, if they haven’t figured it out already, “LOOK, You WANT to get this, if for no other reason than when its 2015 and (Walker) is in the midst of the Republican primaries,…you local people are all going to look like a bunch of dolts.”
“Think ahead to 2015. Do you want to be standing with your pants around your ankles when the HuffingtonPost comes in?”
Another lawyer intimately familiar with the case said that the secrecy interests diminish with each new disclosure.
“And that could be the argument to (Judge) Nettesheim. The problem is, who is making that (expletive) argument? So far nobody, and that’s cowardly by the local press,” the lawyer told me.
Another lawyer estimated the financial commitment to ensure the release of the Walker Doe documents at between $15-50,000, adding, “The question is for (local media), how much is the truth worth? Or maybe how much does pissing off Scott Walker cost you?”
“What is truth”
“The truth shall set you free”
“Let the truth be known”
“To thine own self, be true”
“Yours truly”
Graeme, thanks, a strong piece imho.
FWIW, JS’ editorial page made a very compelling argument back in March:
“Release the emails from the John Doe investigation”
“Those who set up a secret email system in Scott Walker’s county office are getting away with at least one of their goals.”
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/release-the-emails-from-the-john-doe-investigation-2294lov-197665821.html
OT, I do not remember at what exact time the panel fell, killing Jared Kellner. The emails make clear that County Exec Walker’s cell phone battery was “dead.”
Is that statement accurate?
Can anyone confirm it?
How dumb does one have to be to not carry a spare battery?
If the panel fell during regular working hours/or at a time when the County Exec was supposed to be on County business, we have every right to his whereabouts.
According to the emails, Fran McLaughlin is the first one to “find” the County Exec, but then she is not answering her phone either.
Was the “battery is dead,” excuse designed to hide Walker’s location?
IMHO, the emails that reveal Walker’s daily schedule confirm that he rarely worked as County Exec. As both parties have already suggested, he simply used the office as a taxpayer funded platform from which to campaign for Governor.
“Neumann accuses Walker of working part time so he can campaign ”
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/93965284.html
“The main culprit is Journal Communications, which, the lawyers told me, is the only in-state entity with the money to pursue the legal action to let the sun shine in.”
Maybe we could crowdfund the Shepherd Express, see if we can get Lisa Kaiser a few bucks to hire a lawyer. She seems like she’d know what to do with the info once she got it.
Lot to like about your idea.
Trust in the lawyer/or law firm is critical.
They can drag out the process as they milk the people who donate for more money in exchange for favors from the Walker administration, lots of other powerful folks (cough, cough Bradley Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Committee….), and a few emails released which add little to what we already know. I’m not saying they would do that, but any firm would think long and hard before angering so many powerful people.
Another issue is that if you donate, expect your name and address to be published in the public record, just like re-call petitions.
If the liberal/progressive blogs unify around it, it would put more pressure on the JS to cover the fundraising and the FOIA process.
AFAIK, Rick Perry’s trying to make another run at the GOP nomination for POTUS.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/ford-oconnell/2013/07/19/rick-perry-will-run-for-president-in-2016-but-can-he-win
If he or someone like him, could fund it, as a way of knocking Walker out of the GOP primaries, that would be nice.
This is indeed an excellent idea, Sue. It’s obvious that JournalComm refuses to do its job because they feel it would hurt their bottom line (notice they reported lower earnings this week because of a lack of political advertising?), so why not support organizations like the Shepherd and Bill Lueders at the WCIJ and work to get the truth out in other ways?
Well summarized, Graeme, although calling him “the liar Charlie Sykes” isn’t needed. First because it’s redundant, and second because calling him “WisGOP spokesperson Charlie Sykes” is a much more accurate description.
Then again, Chris Abele could also claim the emails as property of his office. But then again, we know that Abele is not on the side of the people nor very much interested in transparency.