Attorney: Hurtgen's Career Ruined (GOP and Thompson activist)

[LiberalFighter]

Full Story Madison Capital Times - 6 Jan 2005

Excerpts below

STEVE HURLEY, the Madison attorney for embattled former Tommy Thompson administration figure Nick Hurtgen, said Wednesday that unproven allegations have not just cost Hurtgen his job, they've ruined his career.

In May, Hurtgen had made big headlines in Chicago when the Sun-Times broke an explosive story alleging that Hurtgen, who left Wisconsin state government to work for the investment banking firm Bear Stearns, tried to shake down a suburban Chicago hospital that was seeking to expand.

When the Sun-Times story first broke, I had thought it worth mentioning because of Hurtgen's extensive connections to Wisconsin politics. At that wedding in 1993, not only was Thompson an usher, but his top aide Jim Klauser and the venerable lobbyist Bill Gerrard were too. You can't get much more connected than that.

That's not quite accurate. Hurtgen actually got his political start working in the offices of Republican legislators, including Thompson before he was governor and state Sen. Donald Stitt. He also worked for U.S. Sen. Bob Kasten. Earlier, he'd served as head of Wisconsin Youth for Reagan.