Good for the goose…
Thursday, Jun 19, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Bruce Rauner’s Facebook page on May 2, 2013…
Governor Scott Walker took on the powerful protectors of the status quo in Madison and reformed Wisconsin. It was great to see him today at the Kane County Republican Advisory Council. Click “LIKE” if you think Illinois needs bold leadership too.
* From today…
Newly released documents show prosecutors are alleging Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was at the center of a nationwide “criminal scheme” to illegally coordinate with outside conservative groups.
The documents were filed as part of an ongoing lawsuit challenging the probe by the conservative group Wisconsin Club for Growth. They were ordered publicly released Thursday by a federal appeals court judge after prosecutors and the Wisconsin Club for Growth did not object.
One of the filings from prosecutors outlines previously unknown details about the investigation that began in 2012 as Walker was facing a recall election.
Prosecutors say Walker, his chief of staff and others who worked for him were discussing illegal coordination with a number of national groups and prominent figures, including GOP strategist Karl Rove.
* Illinois Freedom PAC is attempting to push the connection between Rauner and Walker…
Rauner “Role Model” Scott Walker Participated in “Criminal Scheme” Prosecutors Allege
Chicago, IL – Prosecutors allege in court documents released today that Bruce Rauner’s “role model,” Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, was at the center of a nationwide “criminal scheme” to circumvent state campaign finance and election laws.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Scott Walker sent an email in 2011 to Karl Rove telling him that Walker campaign adviser and Wisconsin Club for Growth spokesman R.J. Johnson would lead the coordination efforts now under investigation.
“These serious allegations of criminal behavior against Bruce Rauner’s ‘role model’ Scott Walker should worry every Illinois voter. We can’t trust Bruce Rauner when he chooses his role models so poorly,” said Neal Waltmire, Communications Director for Illinois Freedom PAC.
Meh.
* As long as we’ve fired up the Way-Back Machine…
In 2006, when Quinn was the incumbent lieutenant governor and allegations of scandal were swirling around the administration of his running mate Blagojevich, Quinn’s failure to say or do anything about it was widely reported. “In all my interactions with him I’ve found him to be an honest person,” Quinn purred of Blagojevich at one point during the campaign.
At another he refused to criticize Blagojevich, saying “the governor speaks for himself. If I see anyone in state government that’s doing something illegal, I’m duty-bound to report that to the proper authority, and I would do that without blinking an eye.”
“He’s [Blagojevich] always been a person who’s honest and one of integrity,” Quinn told reporters. “I have confidence the governor does the right thing all the time.”
Rauner has tied Quinn to Blagojevich before. Click here for just one example. So, I suppose turnabout is fair play. Still…
- fed up - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 3:12 pm:
Hmm I think we can find a lot of nice qoutes from Quinn supporting Jessie Jr. so thats two convicted criminals vs one huy who admires how someone turned a state around Quinn should run away from any type of corruption headlines. I seem to recall some investigations currently involving the Quinn Administration you know the one Quinn is in charge of and supposedly responsible for.
- A guy... - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 3:18 pm:
==Bruce Rauner’s ‘role model’/Quinn was the incumbent lieutenant governor===
Illinois Freedom PAC. Hmmm. I guess these are parallel positions on some planet.
- Jeff Trigg - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 3:18 pm:
Has Quinn said anything about Madigan’s disgusting endorsement and campaign cash given to Derrick Smith?
- Soccermom - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 3:20 pm:
Purred? PQ purred? Is there tape? I find that very difficult to believe…
- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 3:33 pm:
I agree with those who say the connection between Rauner and Walker is not substantial enough to attack Rauner. Quinn’s side needs to do better rather than just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. They need to find a few things that work and focus on them rather than quibble like this.
To digress a bit, Wisconsin was just ranked 37th in job creation, with Walker so far falling far short of his jobs goal. Wisconsin is lagging behind the national average in job growth.
Well, well, well, the job creation god is failing. I considered what others said about governments having little to do with job creation, but Walker still made the pledge of 250,000 jobs.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/wisconsin-ranked-th-in-job-creation-last-year/article_a3ed9bd2-f3f8-5f02-8be2-179f9ff6acfd.html
In some good news (yes, we need to still do better), Illinois’ unemployment rate fell again in May, to 7.5%.
- x ace - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 3:48 pm:
Investigations usually keep digging deeper. Perhaps, they will find an Illinois Connection in the nationwide “criminal scheme” and maybe …..?
Hard to be surprised by anything these days.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 3:50 pm:
Six of Walker’s peeps from his days as Milwaukee County Executive were convicted of various crimes, so you can kind of see why he would be a role model for an ambitious Illinois insider.
- JSlim - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 4:09 pm:
Those Walker allegations were so damning that the federal prosecutors didn’t think it even merited continuing to pursue them.
Quinn was the running mate for Blago, appearing on ballot w/him twice. Big difference.
- D.P.Gumby - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 4:12 pm:
Walker is small change compared to the little old ladies Brucie killed in his nursing homes…
- walker - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 4:18 pm:
Anyone who thinks Crossroads (Rove’s group), the Koch Brothers groups, and the other superPacs and funding hybrids from both parties, don’t find ways to get on the same page as candidates and their campaign staffs, is frankly stupid.
Proving it however, can be difficult. Unless you have an ego-driven politician who likes to get on the phone with the principals.
For them to claim some kind of tax exemption and confidentiality as charitable or public information groups, as Rove openly recommended they do, is fraudulent and cheating all the rest of us taxpayers. The IRS is right about these groups, but of course the Congress now won’t let them even review such groups to enforce the laws.
- OneMan - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 4:35 pm:
And you can replace those groups with other groups from the other side of that and likely say the same thing….
Also if we are going to start going with guilt by association based off what is in a document a prosecutor put together and not an actual indictment I think anyone supporting an incumbent Illinois elected official who has been around a while will want to ask themselves if that is a good standard to use.
The way some stuff lit up today you would think Walker had been indicted…
- walker - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 5:08 pm:
OneMan: Agree. Did you notice I said “from both parties?”
I mentioned Rove and Crossroads, because they were one of the first to use these legal covers, and he publicly recommended others do the same. It’s all over the place now.
Walker should be judged on his performance as Governor, which is mixed.
It doesn’t match what he promised - but which Governor’s ever does?
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 6:13 pm:
The key words are “good for the goose”. The whole attempts to tie Walker to Rauner is a wild goose chase.
Quinn ran with Blagojevich twice. He supported him. He endorsed him. He covered for him. They are political running mates.
Huge difference.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 6:20 pm:
–The whole attempts to tie Walker to Rauner is a wild goose chase.–
Yeah, Bruce Rauner really should stop trying to tie Bruce Rauner to Scott Walker.
- Wally - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 10:53 pm:
Illinois unemployment fell to 7.5%.
Wonder what the U6 unemployment number is, 14%?
Wonder how many people dropped out of the labor force to get the number down? Hard to find that info in these articles. I don’t think many people out there feel the state of IL has a 7.5% rate.
- Upon Further Review - Thursday, Jun 19, 14 @ 11:22 pm:
The lefties keep targeting Walker to no avail. Is this their fourth attempt to consign him to the ash can? Wisconsin has some stringent laws on campaign ethics that makes it easy to bring charges at the drop of the hat, but Walker remains extremely popular.
- wordslinger - Friday, Jun 20, 14 @ 7:10 am:
==but Walker remains extremely popular.–
Extremely might be extreme. 52% in general election, 53% in recall.