Scott Walker—Scandal as Aides Get Walker Donor $100,000s; Letter Cced to Walker

Scott Walker had to comment from New Orleans on the growing scandal back home but it isn't because Walker is digging the Blues-Jazz scene and drinking in the Quarter enjoying the nightlife.

Walker was out trashing public schools at a for-profit private school conclave. (Williams, New Orleans Times-Picayune)

Back in Wisconsin, calls for a federal investigation of Walker's slush fund are growing (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal), after audits revealed a rash of highly questionable loans and grants from Chairman Walker's Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC).

http://WWW.BCIHQ.COM - Unavailable but appreciative
of the $500,000 from Wisconsin taxpayers

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Stein, Marley) breaks a story this morning Walker lied about his knowledge of a six-figure WEDC loan going to a major Walker backer.

Write Stein and Marley in their lede: "State records say that Gov. Scott Walker received a copy of a 2011 letter pledging a $500,000 taxpayer loan to a now-defunct Milwaukee construction company headed by a Walker donor, seemingly contradicting statements by the governor and his aides that he was not aware of the award."

Walker said he played no role and his spokesperson said Walker had no knowledge, though the Journal-Sentinel notes: "The Sept. 9, 2011, letter from Paul Jadin, WEDC's chief executive officer at the time, was sent to William Minahan, owner of Building Committee Inc., a company that is now being sued by WEDC for defaulting on the unsecured loan without delivering the promised project and the jobs it was supposed to create.

Jadin said in his letter of intent that he was writing "on behalf of Governor Scott Walker" and noted "cc: Scott Walker, Governor" at the bottom.

No role from the Chair, Scott Walker, of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp?

Something smells.

Writes the State Journal's DeFour:

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said at a news conference at the Capitol that a State Journal investigation of a $500,000 state economic development loan to Building Committee Inc. (BCI) that has never been repaid shows evidence of “possible corruption.”

The State Journal reported its findings in a two-part series that ran Sunday and Monday.

“$500,000 in taxpayer funds were wasted by Gov. Walker and his administration on a loan that never should have been granted to a major campaign contributor,” said Barca, a board member of Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. “As a taxpayer and someone who cares deeply about economic development in this state, as a legislator and a board member, I am outraged.”

Barca and Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, who also serves on the WEDC board, called on U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and U.S. Attorneys John Vaudreuil and James Santelle to launch an investigation into missing documents, whether taxpayer dollars were misused, and whether criminal violations may have taken place at WEDC.

Likely, Walker's I-don't-know line will change to a 'We moved on," and then "We are cooperating with federal investigators ... and concentrating on jobs and families.'

Serving the Wisconsin people would be nice.

As would Walker trade missions to Milwaukee, Kenosha, Beloit and Racine.

Scott Walker's Pay-to-Play Scandal Lights Up Corruption

Scott Walker Evades the Nation yesterday

Epic Failure Is Now Full-fledged Scandal

Scott Walker found an inventive way to award political donors when he took office: Take the state Dept. of Commerce, partially privatize it and use the money in a slick pay-to-play scheme, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC).

Never mind recipients of WEDC largess, Walker's political backers, promptly took the money and shipped jobs overseas (Brown, One Wisconsin Now) while making out like bandits.

As WEDC's Chair, Walker has crowed about WEDC since he took office and he and WEDC officials have taken a series of recent overseas junkets that Walker calls "trade missions."

Scott Walker suggested yesterday this makes him the most qualified candidate for the presidency because of his gubernatorial "leadership," enhanced by the tax payer-financed 'trade missions' from which Walker has divined foreign policy wisdom (CBS Face the Nation (May 17, 2015, via Raw Story)).

WEDC has become another dirty scandal for Walker, and a series of state audits ripped Walker's operation seemingly since its inception in July 2011, forcing Walker to defend WEDC from South Carolina in early May (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal), and then this weekend hurriedly calling for the elimination of all economic development loans without notifying the WEDC Board. (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal)

WEDC Chairman Walker is head-deep in dirt chronicled in a new series by the Wisconsin State Journal: Dissenting a Bad Idea. (DeFour and Hall), and Company Obtained Loan from WEDC, Unsuccessful Elsewhere (Hall) detailing how Walker cronies fronted for Walker donors to get money from WEDC.

A bill authored by State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) that would ban companies receiving WEDC money shipping jobs overseas is being blocked by Wisconsin Republicans with no comment from Walker on the bill who avoids questions like Poison Oak in mid-Summer.

Walker has presided over WEDC that has funneled $100s of millions in state grants, loans, bonds and tax credits, many to Walker donors maxed out in political donations to Walker, after which WEDC created arguably a paltry 5,000 jobs as of 2014 after Walker promised 50,000 new jobs (Bottari, The Capital Times).

Scott Walker presents the WEDC disaster and its trade missions as making him fit to lead the country as president because Walker says—in a fast-talking, semi-coherent answer—he has garnered foreign policy insights, in response to this question below from Bob Schieffer of CBS Face the Nation yesterday. Walker's response this morning to the WEDC scandal is here.

Though Walker's response is typically impenetrable, the question now is: Is what Walker and WEDC did legal?