A federal grand jury indicted a member of Gov. Jim Doyle's administration Tuesday on two felony charges that she allegedly fixed a state contract selection process.
According to the indictment, Georgia Thompson, chief of the Wisconsin Department of Administration Procurement Bureau, faces two felony counts for swaying the state's procurement process in favor of a company whose top executives donated a combined $20,000 to Doyle's reelection campaign.
Controversy arose in October when allegations that a different company bidding on the contract was the favorite of procurement committee members but Adelman was chosen after further evaluation measures. It was later revealed that Craig Adelman, president of Adelman Travel Group, and another top official of the company each donated $10,000 to Doyle's campaign fund.
The indictment states Thompson used "political considerations" and "intentionally inflate[d]" her scoring of Adelman during a portion of the selection process, used that score as "a negotiating tool" to further Adelman in the award process, prevented other procurement committee members from awarding the contract to a company other than Adelman and urged committee members to likewise change their evaluation scores.
"As a result of the actions of Thompson, an additional evaluation step was utilized that resulted in the … contract being awarded to Adelman by the State of Wisconsin," the indictment stated.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Attorney's Office, Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Dane County District Attorney's Office then became involved in an investigation into the matter after suspicions were raised.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that at least one committee member testified in front of a grand jury in Milwaukee; however, the nature of the testimony is unknown.
In a previous interview Sunday, Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said grand jury involvement like this is extremely rare in the state.
"This is not something Wisconsin is accustomed to seeing," McCabe said. "We have had a reputation for squeaky-clean government in Wisconsin."
The second count of the grand jury charges against Thompson suggests her motivations were "to cause political advantage for her supervisors" and also to "help her job security."
Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said it is unknown if Thompson acted on her own volition or whether her actions were due to pressure from other people in the DOA.
"But I think it safe to say the 'political considerations' involved may very well be the $10,000 contribution that Craig Adelman gave to Gov. Doyle's reelection campaign," Heck said. "He gave $3,000 before the contract was awarded and $7,000 afterwards."
DOA Secretary Steve Bablitch, however, said in a statement that no foul play was used during the procurement process, but added that Thompson would be given "different duties" until the issue is resolved.
"As far as we have been able to determine, this contract was awarded to a Wisconsin company that was the lowest bidder, and all appropriate procedures were followed," Bablitch said in the release.
According to the DOA, Thompson was hired during former Gov. Scott McCallum's term more than four years ago.
Adelman Travel Group was awarded a $750,000, three-year travel contract with the state for state employees and the University of Wisconsin System, but the DOA said that since July 2005, the travel company has received only $36,000.
"Georgia Thompson is a career civil servant with strong protections under the state civil-service law," Bablitch said in the release. "We hope that this matter will get a swift and fair resolution, free from partisan politics."
But Thompson could face up to 20 years imprisonment if she is found guilty of misconduct.
Not only has the controversy surrounding the Adelman contract caught the attention of people in Wisconsin, but the scandal has "cast a cloud" over the state which "grows darker and darker every day," said Mark Graul, campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., who is vying for the Republican ticket for the 2006 gubernatorial election against Doyle.
"This is further evidence that we need to not only replace Gov. Doyle, but we have to take affirmative steps to restore the confidence of the public and the integrity of their elected officials," Graul said.
Both Green and Republican opponent Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker said they have proposed state government reforms which would disallow state contract bidders from donating campaign money to the governor.
