Saturday, April 14, 2012

I hired her to work while I campaigned, she did campaign work for me, but it's a pure coincidence!

That is what you have to believe if you believe Scott Walker has nothing to do with the criminal charges that Kelly Rindfleisch is facing as part of the John Doe investigation, and two developments this week prove it.

The first is the release of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin's Open Records request to Milwaukee County, which shows that Scott Walker signed off on accused Walkergate criminal Kelly Rindfleisch's appointment in January 2010, and promotion to Deputy Chief of Staff 2 months later (and making a tidy $58,000 a year). And a County Executive or Mayor is the one who is responsible for the staffing his or her office, it is a different and more direct hiring method than lower-levels positions, which are usually funneled through the DOA office and approved that way. This means Rindfleisch was WALKER's PICK FOR THE JOB.

Now combine that with Rindfleisch's motion this week to again ask that her trial be moved from Milwaukee County (where she allegedly broke the law by campaigning on the taxpayer's dime) to Columbia County (where she has a home in Columbus). If you look at Pages 8 and 9, this passage proves mighty interesting:
...Rindfleisch acknowledges staying at a friend's home in Milwaukee County a few night a week while she was employed by the County,[the home of former Walker Chief of Staff Jim Villa] but she asserts that at all times relevant to these proceedings, her permanent residence was her home in the City of Columbus, in Columbia County, Wisconsin. Specifically, Rinsfleisch averred that she purchased a home in Columbus, Wisconsin in 2001, that she still owns that home and, but for seasonal clothing and a few personal items, she left her possessions in that home when she traveled to Milwaukee County for work....

Rindfleisch futher stated in her affidavit that she has never owned property in Milwaukee, registered to vote in Milwaukee County, resided in Milwaukee County for more than a few days at a time or intended to establish a permanent domicile or residence in Milwaukee County. She stated that she has always intended to return to her home in Columbia County.

That second part is the real smoking gun. If she was hired at the start of 2010 to work in Milwaukee County, but never intended to work there full-time and planned to go back to Columbia County, why would she take the job? The answer is obvious: SHE WAS DOING WORK FOR THE 2010 ELECTIONS, and would get some state staffer job after the election was over.

And how do we know this? Because Kelly Rindfleisch admits it herself in the evidence against her! Straight from Rindfleisch's criminal complaint, Pages 3-6:
(Rindfleisch is Internet chatting with a friend, I've cleaned up the language and line breaks to give a clearer view of what is said)
Friend: do you have a residency requirement?
Rindfleisch: yep, I live on the corner of 93rd and Greenfield, you actually get six months to move, which in this case, if he (meaning Scott Walker) wins, it wouldn't matter
Friend: dude, did you sell your house?
Rindfleisch: no, it's my friend villa's house
Friend: nice
Rindfleisch: I stay 2 nights a week, hence having Michaela take care of the beasts
Friend: so when he wins, you can just live in Columbus
Rindfleisch: yep

(later on, Rindfleisch is chatting with another friend)
Friend: Who do you work with?
Rindfelsich: tim russell
Friend: What are your policy areas
Rindfleisch: fran, I don't have specific policy areas, I do projects tim gives me
Friend: what's your title?
Rindfleisch: policy advisor
Friend: that's fancy
Rindfleisch: but I don't need fancy
Friend: I wish you didn't work for government...now I can't talk to you about campaign stuff online
Rindfleisch: I'm on my laptop, separate system
Friend: oh...not shit, so it's cool?
Rindfleisch: yah
Friend:are you going to be helping out the campaign too?
Rindfleisch: really, half of what I'm doing is policy for the campaign, its policy stuff but its for use over there
So Rindfleisch just admitted in her court filing that these statements are true, and that she only took the Milwaukee County job as a campaign position for the election season. Put this together with then-County Exec Walker being the sole person signing off on Rindfleisch's hiring and promotion, and you see that Scott Walker brought Kelly Rindfleisch on as a campaign worker, but paid her out of the County Executive's Office, in clear violation of state law.

And lastly, let's not forget that Rindfleisch admits in the chats that she does projects for Tim Russell and has the separate laptop and computer system. And what did Scott Walker do on the night the Darlene Wink resignation happened, and the Walkergate web was starting to be revealed? He sent Tim Russell (who Rindfleisch was doing projects for on the separate laptop and wireless system, remember) the following message:
We cannot afford another story like this one. No one can give them any reason to fo another story. That means no latops, no websites no time away during the work day, etc.
As Garry Trudeau put it during another scumbag GOP's scandal nearly 40 years ago:

2 comments:

  1. Well done, young man. So well done, in fact, that I just might forgive you for stealing my thunder. ;^)

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  2. Early bird catches the worm, capper. I don't know if you had the Rindfleisch appeal part (it came out Thursday), but to me that's the one that ties it all together.

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