One Wisconsin Now

On Thursday One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint against Michael Gableman with the state Office of Lawyer Regulation. The complaint centers around dozens of telephone calls that Gableman made as the Ashland County District Attorney, using state phones. These calls were made to Republican operatives, fundraisers, campaigns and even the Republican Party itself. The calls happened right around the time of a fundraiser for then-Governor Scott McCallum, which was hosted by Gableman.

Why would a public official make such calls on a state phone, particularly at a time when campaigning on state time was so prominent in the news? This and many other questions should be asked of Michael Gableman, but apparently he isn’t talking. I have not seen one report where someone has even been able to reach him directly.

In a 4-3 decision the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled against the State of Wisconsin in the Department of Revenue v. Menasha Corporation case. Of all people, ethically challenged Justice Annette Ziegler wrote the majority opinion. Last year hundreds of Wisconsinites called for her to recuse herself from the case because it was a major priority for her benefactors at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. Who could forget that they spent some $2 million helping to get her elected? That was more than she spent on her own campaign and almost more than both campaigns combined. She refused to recuse herself and now has delivered a big victory to her benefactors.

It looks like WMC just won a $265 million return on a $2 million investment in just one year. Unfortunately this special interest gain is a big loss for Wisconsin. During this troubling economy and a time of tough budgets, Ziegler’s decision gives us $265 million less to invest in schools, public safety, or to fix our crumbling infrastructure.

Although she chose to step down from many cases last year, oddly this was one that she refused to leave. At the time she said that she would only consider recusing herself if one of the parties in the case requested it. The person that was supposed to represent Wisconsin in the case was Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, who also owes his current job to WMC’s deep pockets. Naturally Van Hollen didn’t cross them by asking for their latest installation to step aside. WMC really covered their bases on this one and it got what it paid for, meanwhile the rest of us just get the shaft.

After asking three separate law enforcement agencies and the Government Accountability Board to investigate questionable calls made by then-Ashland County District Attorney Michael Gableman, One Wisconsin Now has filed a complaint with the state Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR).

Months ago, One Wisconsin Now discovered that Michael Gableman made many questionable calls, when he was the Ashland County District Attorney. Those calls were to many key Republican officials, operatives, campaigns, and fundraisers, all on a state phone. These calls didn’t happen in a vacuum, they happened weeks surrounding a fundraiser that Gableman hosted for then-Gov. Scott McCallum. Further, the calls happened at the same time that campaigning on state time was prominent in the news because of the caucus scandal.

Van Hollen’s second act of legislation was within another hazy area of legislation, the issuing of permits to retired officers. This is an area of legislation that Wisconsin differs from in all but one state (Illinois), however, if this is to be changed then it should be changed with new legislation, rather than through another attempt to use a gray area of the law to legitimize his own political ideology, once more using himself as a precedent (and once more entering the spotlight). He also intentionally goaded others to follow, but no one felt comfortable enough to follow suite.

Earlier this week the Capital Times newspaper called for the recall of ethically challenged Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler. They point to her blatant violations of very clear conflicts of interest rules prior to taking her seat on the high court. Her serious and repeated violations of judicial ethics rules are not the only reason for them making the call. They also cite her dishonesty with the public up until the point that she won the election. She continually denied that she did anything wrong during that time and put out many misleading statements to suggest and actually say as much.

The editorial further cites the fact that she now has so many conflicts on the high court that she is not effective for the job which she now holds. The Capital Times says that the slap on the wrist that she got from her colleagues was not sufficient for the violations that she committed. They suggest a recall election in the editorial because such serious decisions do not belong in secret deliberations but in full public view with full public participation. The Capital Times suggests that the only way to properly accomplish this is through a recall of Annette Ziegler.

Shortly after Annette Ziegler was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court she closed her campaign committee and took her seat on the high court. Not so for the latest Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) empty suit Michael Gableman. He has started campaign fundraising some 10 years early. He is scheduled to have a fundraiser in Pewaukee this evening at a private residence. The going rate to meet WMC’s latest rubber stamp is between $100 and $500. It would be interesting to see what types of people show up and exactly what special interests they may represent. Perhaps my standards are too high, but there is something unseemly about a Justice-elect having a special interest pow-wow only weeks before he takes his seat on the high court.

The contact person for the Gableman fundraiser is Republican insider Mary Stitt. It is no surprise to find her name associated with a Gableman fundraiser. After all Gableman did his share of fundraising for Republican causes, some of it appears to include calls to her. Stitt’s phone number is listed as being one of the questionable calls that he made from a state phone when he was Ashland County District Attorney. The record actually shows that he called her at least 11 times. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall at tonight’s event. Maybe we could actually catch them in one honest moment as they reminisce about the good old days of fundraising for Scott McCallum. Maybe we could finally get a straight answer about Gableman’s questionable calls to her and others. As nice as it would be, I have a funny feeling that the event will amount to little more than a special interest love fest. Apparently it is never too early to have one of those, even if you are preparing to take a seat on the state’s highest court.

Gableman's disgusting campaign focused on racial fear-mongering. How low will McCain go?

Once again John Torinus has written a column trying his best to minimize the serious violations of Justice Annette Ziegler. Like Ziegler, Torinus is willfully ignoring many factors in the unprecedented decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to discipline one of their own. Once again he fails to inform readers of his own conflict while at the same time putting hypocrisy on full display.

John Torinus again failed to tell his readers that he is hardly an objective viewer of the Ziegler scandal. He is a long-time board member for corporate lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC). They shattered all kinds of records by spending unprecedented millions to get Ziegler elected. They not only spent more than Ziegler did on her own campaign but they spent more than both campaigns combined. To present his severely biased views of the Ziegler scandal without making full disclosure of this conflict is deliberately misleading.

Several months ago One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint with the new Government Accountability Board regarding Supreme Court Justice Elect-Michael Gableman. At the center of the issue are what appear to be political calls that he made from a state phone when he was the Ashland County District Attorney. Calls were made to Republican fundraisers, the McCallum for Governor Campaign, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and to the campaign of Republican Attorney General Candidate Vince Biskupic. Doing political work on state time and with state resources is illegal. To make matters worse, these calls were made at a time when the newspapers were full of stories about the caucus scandal in the Legislature.

The GAB refused to take up the complaint saying that they were not allowed to investigate matters that happened more than three years ago. OWN then forwarded the complaint to Burnett County District Attorney Ken Kutz and Ashland County District Attorney Sean Duffy. Kutz decided not to investigate the matter because it did not actually happen in his county. Sean Duffy, a long-time Gableman supporter, said that he did not have jurisdiction even though the actions actually did happen in his county. Duffy suggested that OWN file the complaint with the State Attorney General’s office. Late last week OWN received a letter from J.B. Van Hollen’s office saying that they cannot investigate the complaint and directed us right back to the District Attorneys. Shortly after Van Hollen’s refusal to investigate, the six-year statute of limitations expired.

In an editorial today the Tomah Journal highlights a case that came before the Wisconsin Supreme Court last week. The case involved the family of a three-year-old boy suffering from brain cancer and a large HMO. The same day that the court slapped fellow Justice Annette Ziegler on the wrist for her willful violation of ethics rules, the court narrowly ruled for the family of the young boy. In a surprise to no one Ziegler dissented favoring the corporation.

The editorial reminds its readers that the state’s corporate lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), spent unprecedented millions on her campaign. Even in the midst of facing a Judicial Conduct Panel last year over her conflicts, she still refused to step off a case involving her benefactors at WMC. It should be no surprise that she ruled against the young boy and his family and for the big corporate interests.

On Wednesday the State Supreme Court issued its ruling in the disciplinary case against Justice Annette Ziegler. The matter has been a dubious first in the history of the high court. As expected, Ziegler’s colleagues took the recommendation of the Judicial Commission and the Judicial Conduct Panel and gave her a public reprimand, which was the very least form of discipline possible.

Ziegler’s immediate response after her colleagues handed down the decision, seemed like it was lifted directly from her non-responsive and misleading campaign statements. In her reaction Wednesday, she said that she was pleased that the Supreme Court “confirmed” that her “mistake” was “inadvertent” and that her family didn’t benefit financially from her violations. Her canned response lacked contrition and totally ignored the more pointed observations of her colleagues. They affirmed that her violations did constitute misconduct and that they were “serious and willful.” Further, they spoke of the “gravity with which this court views Judge Ziegler’s violation”.

In April One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint against Burnett County Judge Michael Gableman with the new Government Accountability Board (GAB). The complaint centered on what appear to be political fundraising phone calls that he made from the Ashland County District Attorney’s office. These troubling actions took place at the same time that the caucus scandal was in the news. One would think that a lawyer would know that he should not give an appearance of campaigning on state time and with state resources. Given the fact that Gableman’s actions took place at the height of the caucus scandal makes them even more troubling.

The phone records that OWN obtained show Gableman calling several McCallum Campaign operatives just before hosting a fundraiser. He made calls to McCallum’s top fund-raising aides, his campaign office, the state Republican Party, donors who gave to McCallum, and the campaign office of Vince Biskupic. These calls all took place only weeks before Gableman hosted a June 2002 fund-raiser for then-Governor McCallum. Only two months later McCallum appointed Gableman to an open judgeship in Burnett County, even though he never applied and did not go through the prescribed process.

Shame on conservatives from letting 2006 hangover result in putting up such a completely lame slate of candidates. Gleisner-Neubauer, (and even Gableman) were embarrassing choices to have on the ballot, and were the result of Republicans moping around buying into the "death of the party" woe is me message the MSM has been spinning

Paul Singer has come to Wisconsin in the form of $40,000 in late contributions to Judge Mike Gableman from himself, an executive at his company and couple of people with Singer’s same last name.

Singer is the slug who’s made his money by operating so-called “vulture” funds, where he purchased government bonds from poor counties and got an enormous return on the loan. As Greg Palast reported, he jacked Peru for $58 million on an $11 million debt and sued Congo for $400 million on a $10 million debt.

Singer’s the guy who ponied up $250,000 to the radical-right Club for Growth. He’s the guy behind the California referendum to slice up California’s electoral votes. He’s the guy who was helping Rudy 9u11iani’s aborted campaign including raising $500,000 and bundling $200,000 from his employees for the thrice-married historical footnote.

Over the weekend the Associated Press ran a story pointing out the striking similarities of the current fight for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court and a new John Grisham novel, The Appeal. I have not read the book but just hearing some of the details, it seems like someone at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) got an advance copy and used it as a play book.

In the book: Corporate Interests lose a big liability case.

In Wisconsin: Corporate Interests lose a lead paint decision.

In the book: Corporate Interests plot to take out a sitting Justice that they have deemed “liberal” and an “activist”.

In Wisconsin: WMC attacks the high court in general and specifically takes aim at a sitting Justice that is up for election. They paint him as “liberal” and an “activist.”

Honestly, is this some kind of a sick joke? The guy that has been running around the state claiming to be tough on crime sat on a murder case for two years or more? Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Dan Bice has revealed the details of a homicide case while Michael Gableman was Ashland County District Attorney. Although the homicide happened the same year he was appointed DA, the straight forward case was not prosecuted by Gableman at all and had to be taken up by his successor almost three years later.

The suspect was a man named John Wirner who admitted to shooting his wife in 1999. He claimed that the shooting was an accident but after the investigation and medical examiner’s report, it was pretty clear that it was a murder. Although Michael Gableman often touts how great he is at working with victims of crimes, the cousin of this victim didn’t seem to remember it that way.

"I was mad as hell," Bauch said. "I was frustrated because the case simply went nowhere during the three years that he was district attorney."

It was just last week that the state media did blanket coverage on issues of open records and open government. It is part of a tradition that they call Sunshine Week. Apparently after only a week they are already burnt out from open records issues. Yesterday the Burnett County District Attorney began looking for a “special prosecutor” for an open records complaint filed by OWN against Michael Gableman. I’m not sure what the traditional media uses to judge the value of a news story but it is hard to argue that this is not one. A sitting judge that aspires to the highest court in our state is hiding emails from his state account, refusing to fully honor a request made under Wisconsin’s open records laws? After a complaint was filed, a District Attorney is now looking for a “special prosecutor” and this is not news?

The virtual lack of reporting on this important development makes even less sense when one considers that members of the media have had the same problem with Gableman. For example the AP briefly mentioned last week that they made similar requests for state emails and that they have not even received a response. This, even though the Attorney General’s office says that 10 days is usually a reasonable amount of time to get out a response to an open records request. So Gableman is hiding his state email from not only OWN, but from the media and the public. Given these specific circumstances, how could it not be newsworthy when a District Attorney begins looking for a “special prosecutor” to investigate the matter?