Among the more interesting items in the massive dump of 27,000 pages of documents relating to the prosecution of Kelly Rindfleisch, a former close aide to Scott Walker who was convicted of Misconduct in Public Office, was an email exchange between Walker campaign manager Keith Gilkes and AP reporter Scott Bauer (@sbauerAP) during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
Bauer initiates the email exchange with Gilkes by giving Gilkes information on a line of attack that Walker’s Republican gubernatorial primary opponent Mark Neumann planned on using against Walker, namely the amount of time Walker took off from his job as County Executive. Here’s the email:
I hope conservatives remember this the next time they want to scream about perceived “liberal media bias.”
Disgusting. What did Bauer get in return, I wonder…
I really am interested in learning more about this matter. It is troubling. But there are many reasons for that feeling in these emails.
Zach, nice catch.
So Bauer has an underlying conservative agenda and quite possibly the AP. Good to know.
Correction: Pro-Walker conservative bias. Wonder why, though? I hope we learn more.
Another email on the same day as this one (copied in below, from page 131397) makes it sound more like Bauer was simply asking for comment on an upcoming attack by Neumann. (Also, other emails show Bauer making other normal reporter requests for information.) See what you think:
From: gopfran@yahoo.com
To: Scott Walker
Cc: Tom Nardelli; Kelly Rindfleisch; Bob Nenno; Keith Gilkes – Friends of Scott Walker; Jill Bader; RJ Johnson Subject: MEDIA – AP Scott Bauer on CE timesheets
Date: Monday, May 17, 2010 12:04:52 PM
Good morning.
I have some questions related to time sheets that Scott Walker fills out in his role as county executive.
One of his opponents in the governor’s race obtained some records through the open records law that shows how many hours of personal time he has taken since January 2009. I’m trying to understand many things, including what these documents show me, why or if the county executive has to report personal hours taken, if he’s given an allotment every year, etc.
I am getting a reaction to the political attack from the campaign side, but I and they believe answers related to the reporting of his working hours should come from your office.
Can you help me?
Thanks,
Scott
Scott Bauer
P.O. Box 962 Madison, Wis. 53701
(page 131397)
No … Bauer, like the AP, isn’t biased for the conservatives. They’re nonpartisan — so they can get slammed by any side, or even both at times.