The Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Board against Gov. Scott Walker Monday regarding the conversation he had with an impostor posing as an influential campaign contributor.
DPW’s complaint alleges Walker violated campaign finance and state ethics laws by illegally soliciting coordination for independent expenditures, using state facilities to do it, discussing putting the public safety at risk by inserting troublemakers into the protests and engaging in unfair labor practices by using the threat of layoffs to bargain politically.
Walker spokesperson Cullen Werwie said DPW’s allegations were baseless.
“It looks pretty much like Walker is willing to put democracy up for
sale,” DPW spokesperson Graeme Zielinksi said. “What he’s doing in
Madison has nothing to do with the budget but with raw, political,
partisan power. [The phone call] brought the dignity of the governor’s
office into disrepute.”
The prank phone call was made by left-wing blogger Ian Murphy, who identified himself as David Koch, one of two brothers who donate heavily to conservative causes across the United States. The Koch brothers’ political action committee gave $43,000 to the governor’s campaign in 2010, the highest amount allowed from a PAC.
Murphy recorded the phone conversation and released it on the Internet. Walker confirmed one of the voices was his, but said in multiple press conferences the information he divulged to Murphy was nothing new.
Last week, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said he was troubled by the governor’s conversation with Murphy, but found nothing that warranted a criminal investigation.
Zielinksi said he did not fault Ozanne for not investigating further.
“The district attorney doesn’t want to get into a political fight with this hot climate,” Zielinksi said. “We don’t blame him for that. It’s up to the Government Accountability Board, an independent group that takes the political heat out of the equation.”
He added the case has only been filed and GAB has yet to accept and decide to investigate.
–The Associated Press contributed to this report.
