Wis. Dems discuss John Doe probe, question what Walker knew about former aides and associates

GREEN BAY - State Democratic officials toured the state Wednesday, including a stop in Green Bay.

They're talking about Gov. Scott Walker and the probe into his former aides and associates when he served as Milwaukee County Executive.

Tuesday, one of Walker's former staffers pleaded guilty to posting pro-Walker messages online on work time.

Darlene Wink's conviction stems from a secret investigation that has also led to charges against four others.

Those four worked for or were associated with Walker's county executive office in Milwaukee.

Kelly Rindfleisch, his former deputy chief of staff, is charged with felony misconduct in office.

Tim Russell and Kevin Kavanaugh, both Walker associates, have been charged with theft.

Another man, Brian Pierick is charged with child enticement.

"We're simply talking about people who have been charged publicly with crimes, and people that are directly linked to the governor, and we think this is going to end up implicating the governor in criminal activity," said Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Mike Tate.

State Democrats say the governor was very much involved in the details of his office and likely knew about the alleged crimes.

They also accuse Walker of knowing about a private email system set up to try to hide activities that directly benefited his political career.

"He is somebody that we believe knew about, orchestrated, and oversaw the setting up of a secret email system that existed in the Milwaukee County Executive's office so that he could evade public records requests that he could evade transparency that so many people in the media and the public demand of our elected officials. And we believe that he committed crimes with the intent of raising money for his governor's race," said Tate.

The Democratic Party has also released a new online ad, titled "What Scott Walker Knew."

It showcases television news coverage of the alleged criminal activity committed by Walker's top aides.

The ad closes with two questions: "What did he know?" and "When did he know it?"

Walker, who did not respond to our request for comment, said last month: "We had a clear, expressed policy against any county employee, be there in my office, be there in the cabinet or anyone else; an expressed policy against using county time or county resources for political purposes."

Last week, Walker said he voluntarily set up a meeting with John Doe prosecutors.

He added he still believes he is not the target of any investigation.

"Our campaign for more than a year now has cooperated, given them, literally tens of thousands of emails. I would imagine this would be the same," said Walker, R-Wisconsin.

The governor said he couldn't talk about what he may discuss with investigators, or when the meeting will happen because of the strict requirements of the case.

Walker has hired two attorneys at no expense to the public.

The secret investigation comes at a politically delicate time for Walker because he faces a potential recall.

It's motivated by anger over his push to effectively end most collective-bargaining rights for public workers.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin declined to comment, and referred any questions to Walker's office.