Connecting Some Dots in Fitzwalkerstan
So far, Scott Walker doesn’t seem to have been caught in the widening probe into members of his administration. But I detect a funny smell in the room. Here’s why:
First, a necessary bit of background:
Mark Gundrum, a Republican state legislator, was elected Circuit Court judge in Waukesha County in 2010, in the same election that swept his buddy Scott Walker into the Wisconsin Governor’s mansion. Gundrum had outspent his opponent, incumbent judge Richard Congdon, by about $110,000 to 17,000, or about 6 to 1.
Then a vacancy occurred on the Waukesha-based District II Appeals Court. Here is what happened:
Gov. Scott Walker had plenty of choices to fill the open position on the District II Court of Appeals bench. But he chose his former legislative seat mate, Mark Gundrum.
Gundrum’s an able political player, to be sure. He and Walker were close political and ideological allies in the Legislature and in the broader work of the Republican Party.
But Walker was moving Gundrum up the nonpartisan judicial ladder awfully quickly. Gundrum, 41, served in the Assembly from 1999 until he was elected as a trial court judge in Waukesha County Circuit Court in 2010. He has served only a year on the bench, and there are still legitimate concerns about whether he has put his partisan days behind him.
When he announced that he was running for that judgeship in 2009, Gundrum made it clear that he wanted to be an ideologically driven jurist. “I think it would be good to have a person with a solid conservative view of the law,” the Republican stalwart said.
Read more: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/article_b57dbd12-3099-5149-b3f6-e24d290b0b50.html#ixzz1imng0PIT
OK—That’s Mark Gundrum.
On to the current story.
To summarize for all who are still sleeping off the effects of their mourning for the Badgers, here is a quick synopsis.
This week, the headline news in Wisconsin is about three Walker cronies: Tim Russell, Kevin Kavanaugh, and Brian Pierick.
Russell is Walker’s former Deputy Chief of Staff, Treasurer of the Milwaukee County Republicans, and Treasurer of the Soldiers Home Foundation. He was charged with embezzling “at least $42,232” from the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, and stealing at least $21,000 from an organization he controlled, called the Heritage Guard Preservation Society (HGPS).
Walker was asked twice [by reporters] to explain why he chose in 2009 to transfer control over the funds raised for Operation Freedom from the Alonzo Cudworth American Legion Post 23 to the Heritage Guard Preservation Society, an organization controlled by Tim Russell. In response to those question, Walker indicated control of the funds was transferred to the group controlled by Russell because of allegations of financial improprieties with the previous group that had control of the funds, however according to the criminal complaint filed against Russell, there were no allegations of financial impropriety leveled against American Legion Post 23.
http://bloggingblue.com/2012/01/05/longtime-aide-to-scott-walker-charged-with-2-felony-counts-of-embezzlement/
Now, here is where it gets interesting.
Mark Gundrum—remember him?—served in Iraq while a Wisconsin legislator and donated his legislative salary to—Operation Freedom. The amount he donated was about $28,000. This was a big part of the funds that ended up being transferred from the American Legion group to Russell’s HGPS, from where Russell embezzled it.
So—Gundrum contributes $28,000 to a Walkerite slush fund disguised as a charity. The money gets embezzled by Walker cronies. Then, coincidentally, when the opportunity arises, Walker appoints him to a seat on the state Appeals Court. Was this whole operation a poorly-constructed money laundering operation?
And now for the next layer of intrigue:
Remember this story from September?:
On Wednesday morning, 14 September, FBI agents descended on the Madison home of one of Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker's closest aides, Cynthia Archer. The federal agents seized Archer's computer files and other documents. A wider investigation involving another Walker aide may be in the works.
…
Archer, a long-time Walker loyalist and staffer, served for three years as director of administrative services for Walker while he was Milwaukee County executive, including during his campaign for governor. She helped craft the county budgets that defined Walker as an anti-union, anti-tax conservative. Archer then took a high-paying position in Walker's administration when he became governor in January 2011. Last week's FBI raid appears focused on whether she and another top Walker aide used public time for political purposes. If Walker is significantly connected to any such transgressions, it will add impetus to a possible recall election next year.
…
Last May, theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Darlene Wink, a Walker staffer, had used public time to post partisan opinions on the paper's online comment walls. Walker had been Milwaukee's County executive at the time and was then running for governor. Wink resigned when confronted with the charges. This incident did not affect the outcome of the governor's race; it did prompt a local investigation, which is now apparently also a federal investigation, into misuse of public time for political purposes.
The current investigation so far seems to be focusing on two high-level figures very close to the governor. Investigators are using "John Doe" proceedings to compel testimony from witnesses and keep them from discussing the case in public. So we know very little. What we do know is that in addition to Archer, the second high-level Walker loyalist in the spotlight is Tom Nardelli, Walker's former chief of staff at Milwaukee County. Like Archer, Nardelli got a plum position in state government when Walker became governor. And like Archer, Nardelli abruptly quit his job at the state this summer as the investigation heated up.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/129801878.html
Tom Nardelli abruptly quits his state job with Gov. Scott Walker in late July, pulling the plug on his $90,000-a-year position just days after accepting the post.
His resignation ends more than 3½ years of close asssociation with Walker, including three years as his chief of staff when Walker was Milwaukee County executive.
Nardelli speaks of the reason for his resignation by saying he is leaving the post as administrator because he decided it would be unfair to keep the job knowing he planned to resign soon anyway. “I was toying with leaving at the end of September,” he said. He picks the exit date because it is the 100th anniversary of another state division Nardelli led – Safety and Buildings. He held that job for the first six months of Walker’s tenure as governor.
Source: http://myplayfulself.com/wordpress/archives/tag/tom-nardelli
We next hear from Nardelli as the person who turned in Russell & Kavanaugh.
My bet: Nardelli was the first domino to topple.
Who will be next?
Update 2/8/2012
—Next, of course, as we now know, is Delightful Darlene.
= new reply since forum marked as read
