If there was ever any doubt that J.B. Van Hollen’s lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board was partisan at its core, the latest events this week should eliminate it. First, in a surprise to no one, the Republican Party of Wisconsin has decided to jump into the lawsuit and has filed a motion in the case. Now the Wisconsin State Journal is reporting that the Republican Party Chairman, Reince Priebus, has admitted to having conversations with Van Hollen’s top aide and Deputy Attorney General Ray Taffora. This is in addition to the contact that republican lawyers have also had with the Wisconsin Department of justice before the partisan suit was filed.

Previously Van Hollen and his aides had denied contact with Republican officials but now after OWN’s open records request and serious inquiry by the media, we are finding that these initial statements were not accurate. We already knew that Van Hollen was presiding over a DOJ war between law enforcement professionals and his partisan hires, but now it looks like he has gone even further. Van Hollen has turned the Wisconsin Department of Justice into the taxpayer-financed legal arm of the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the McCain for President campaign. The public is not going to stand by and let J.B. Van Hollen use our own tax dollars to take away our voting rights.