Authorities from the federal, state and local levels announced Thursday that they will join forces to probe whether a state contract was awarded fraudulently.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Attorney's Office, Wisconsin Department of Justice and Dane County District Attorney's Office are on board in a joint effort to investigate whether campaign donations given to Gov. Jim Doyle influenced the granting of a state travel contract to Adelman Travel Systems.
Questions were raised when it was revealed two top Adelman officials each donated $10,000 to Doyle's reelection campaign around the time of the procurement process and subsequent contract award favoring Adelman over other competitors.
Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard and U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic will look into the Adelman deal in an action that is receiving praise from state Republicans.
"This is a lucrative state contract that appears to have been a reward for padding the governor's campaign coffers," Rick Graber, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said in a release. RPW alleges Adelman's closest competitor, Omega Travel was really the better choice for the state travel contract.
However, Doyle said in a release he was "confident that the review will find that nothing inappropriate was done" and added he had no say in the decision to give Adelman the state contract.
"The contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, saving taxpayers $30,000," Doyle said. "It was conducted by civil servants who were not appointed by my administration and who were simply doing their jobs as best they could."
Mark Graul, campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., who is running against Doyle for the 2006 gubernatorial elections, said Doyle has put the state government "up for sale."
"We're hoping that this investigation will finally clean up the mess he's created," Graul said.
The other Republican gubernatorial hopeful, Scott Walker, was equally critical, saying the contract — which could be worth up to $250,000 — is part of "a sad pattern of business as usual for Governor Doyle."
"Jim Doyle's pay-to-play shake downs of people seeking to do business with the state seem to be his top priority," Walker said in a statement.
Department of Administration Secretary Steve Bablitch said the procurement process, by which Adelman was granted the state contract, followed the same process used for other state contracts. Though Adelman and Omega were tied for much of the bidding process, Adelman was granted the contract after further bidding offers were made.
"I trust that when objective parties look at the travel documentation and interview the people involved in the process, they will conclude that the entire bid was carried out carefully and without bias, in accordance to the state's procurement rules," Bablitch said in a release.
The DOA will fully cooperate with officials investigating the contract and will provide any information pertaining to the award, Bablitch added.
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Joe Wineke also said the allegations made against Doyle are false.
"Jim Doyle is a very ethical man," Wineke said. "He's a former district attorney and he's a former attorney general."
Wineke said the contract bid was a "very close call" and added Doyle was not involved in the procurement process.
"It's an insult to argue that somehow Gov. Doyle is cooking the books to take care of his buddies," Wineke said. "The Adelman family has been friends of Doyle's for years."
