For nearly two years, the Milwaukee district attorney’s John Doe probe has investigated Gov. Scott Walker’s administration during his term as Milwaukee County Executive in 2010.
Two of the most important advances in the investigation came in January when authorities arrested former Deputy Chief of Staff Kelly Rindfleisch and former employee Darlene Wink.
Rindfleisch was charged with four felony counts of misconduct in public office and allegedly spent time in office working on campaign fundraising for lieutenant governor candidate Brett Davis. She pleaded not guilty in March to all four charges.
Wink was charged with two counts of intentional political solicitation for working on fundraising activity while in a county building. She entered a guilty plea in February on both counts.
Earlier in January, the DA’s office also charged three other former Walker associates with crimes, two for embezzlement and one for child enticement.
The probe took an additional turn when Walker opened a legal defense fund in March to help pay for the legal expenses surrounding the investigation to pay for the expenses incurred in cooperating with the investigation.
The most recent campaign reports show Walker transferred $60,000 to his legal defense fund before last week’s primary. The money transferred to the defense fund was part of the $231,439 Walker spent on legal fees over the period, which ended April 23.
Throughout the semester, Walker has said his campaign and office have cooperated with information requests from Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who is leading the investigation.