Pure bribery taking place here. And yes, bribes are almost always done through intermediaries.
The political organization of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, an influential Democrat with longstanding ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton, gave nearly $500,000 to the election campaign of the wife of an official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation who later helped oversee the investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s email use.
Stranger things have happened.
But this, after all, is 2016. And to a string of electoral impossibilities that suddenly became reality — including Britain voting for Brexit and Donald Trump winning the Republican nomination — the world may soon add a Pirate Party-led government in Europe.
Victory for the Pirates may not mean much in isolation. This exceptionally scenic, lava-strewn rock just beyond the Arctic Circle has a population less than half that of Washington, D.C., with no army and an economy rooted in tourism and fishing.
But a Pirate Party win would offer a vivid illustration of how far Europeans are willing to go in their rejection of the political mainstream, adding to a string of insurgent triumphs emanating from both the far left and far right.
To Jónsdóttir and other Pirate true believers — who define their party as neither left nor right, but a radical movement that combines the best of both — the election here could also be the start of the reboot that Western democracy so desperately needs.
“People want real changes and they understand that we have to change the systems, we have to modernize how we make laws,” said Jónsdóttir, whose jet-black hair and matching nail polish cut a distinctive profile in a country where politics has long been dominated by paunchy blond men.
Meanwhile, the GOP’s presidential nominee is attacking down ballot Republicans and making their elections more difficult.
The one-time vice-presidential nominee will use his star power to help raise money and stump for some of his closest friends in the Senate facing competitive reelection races this fall. In the five-week stretch before Election Day, Ryan is headed to Pennsylvania to help his former roommate, Pat Toomey; to Missouri to raise money for Roy Blunt; and back to his home state of Wisconsin for a string of appearances with Ron Johnson.
Ryan has already sent emails soliciting campaign cash, transferred money and had fundraisers to help Republican Senate hopefuls.
His efforts underscore Ryan’s view that a Congress under full GOP control is crucial to passing conservative legislation and promoting his agenda, sources close to him say. It also suggests he feels confident enough about his party’s House prospects that he’s willing to juggle the much bigger challenge of maintaining the party’s tenuous hold on the Senate.
Well, I guess Trump’s supporters were right when they said that Trump would put normally solid states into play this year.
The political tracking site RealClearPolitics, which collects and averages polls in every state, declared Sunday that Texas is now a tossup in the presidential election.
This is an interesting personal tale of someone learning that while racism is more a facet of humankind’s sinful nature and not exclusive to the American Experience. In fact, America is far more advanced in terms of race relations than many other cultures.
With each year that passed, I became increasingly aware of the morally fragile foundations of the lifestyle I enjoyed. I had believed that spiriting myself to Hong Kong would mean that I wouldn’t have to face racial discrimination anymore. Bewitched by the possibility of transcending the racial totem pole, I only later realized that I had merely relocated to the top, and the view wasn’t what I expected. Being brought up in the United States meant my standards for racial equality were forged in a culture built around the dissent, dialogue, and disruption that the First Amendment vouchsafes.
It was only after six years in Hong Kong that I began to understand why people leave their countries to come to the United States, and why it’s so difficult to repatriate. You can’t unlearn what you’ve learned or unsee what you’ve seen. Neither could I unlearn the promises of equality that I’d repeated every time I took the Pledge of Allegiance.
I had been running away for a long time. I had run away from being a “victim” of American racism to become part of the perpetrating class in Hong Kong. I had hid from the yellow face in the mirror and pretended, with my perfect English and my elite education, that I was someone else. I had tried to “go back to China,” only to find myself more American than I’d realized.
After giving thousands of California soldiers bonuses for re-enlisting in the National Guard, the Pentagon is now asking soldiers to return the money they were paid almost 10 years ago, according to a new report.
The payments came during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when the Pentagon feared a shortfall of troops, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation published Saturday.
Recently completed audits revealed that the California National Guard was overpaying bonuses due to a lack of oversight at the time, the investigation found.
Veterans who spoke to the newspaper expressed their frustration and financial difficulties with the payment demands, which include wage garnishments, interest payments and tax liens for soldiers declining to pay.
The soldiers should not be burdened with correcting the mistakes of bureaucrats in the back office. This is very easy to fix if only Congress and the President would lift a finger.
Sad to see what this once great country has become.
Today has been a day of sober reckoning in Caracas, as Venezuelans process the death of the recall process and its implications. It’s easy to overdramatize these things, I realize, but it’s also important not to lose the forest for the trees: a relatively large, relatively sophisticated major oil producer just three hours’ flying time from the United States has just become the second all-out, no-more-elections dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere.
It is a heady lesson for Americans as we choose between two of the most autocratic, unscrupulous people ever to run for president. Our liberties are granted by God, but they are preserved by people. The decline to totalitarianism can happen quickly, and often comes n the guise of a helping hand.
Horrible, horrible people.
(CNN)ISIS rounded up and killed 284 men and boys as Iraqi-led coalition forces closed in on Mosul, the terror group’s last major stronghold in Iraq, an Iraqi intelligence source told CNN.
Those killed Thursday and Friday were used as human shields against attacks forcing ISIS out of southern parts of Mosul, the source said.ISIS dumped the corpses in a mass grave at the defunct College of Agriculture in northern Mosul, the intelligence source said.The victims — some of them children — were all shot, said the source, who asked for anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. CNN could not independently confirm the killings.
Tommy Schwai goes Hollywood
Tommy Schwai was sporting a white boa and signing autographs Friday night as he made his big-screen debut on the new TV series State Plate with former American Idol Taylor Hicks.
“This was awesome,” said Travis Dowden, co-owner of Bibinger’s. “He was a celebrity before this and now he’s an official celebrity.”
Cars packed the parking lot at Bibinger’s and some vehicles moved to the surrounding streets in Cedar Creek as friends and neighbors gravitated upstairs at the former Schwai’s to watch the making of a new leading man.
Ron McMullen from Germantown said he came out to Bibinger’s special to see the show. “He’s a movie star,” he said. “I got his autograph.” McMullen flipped his fluorescent baseball hat off his head and proudly showed off his the collectible Tommy Schwai signature.
“I’ve known Tommy for 25 years,” said Dee Dee McMullen. “I was here when he and Kathy had their first date; they’re a hard working couple and they deserves this.”
Hicks featured Schwai in the second segment of the show, which was uniquely sponsored by Marie Osmond and a weight-loss product.
In typical Tommy Schwai fashion, he worked the crowd – greeting guests and posing for photos with his fans.
There was a raucous cheer when Tommy came on the screen. Hicks greeted him with a “Mr. Schwais.”
Tommy rolled with it and pretty soon the two were filling sausage casings and Hicks was twisting off hearty links of brats.
After a hard day’s work the pair sat down to enjoy some of brats hot off the grill.
“He had four of them,” said Tommy. “Best brats he ever had – that’s what he said.”
Tommy interrupted the celebration to make an announcement of a new Bibinger’s brat and then plates full of the steaming sausage were passed around for guests to try.
“He was bound to be a star,” said Nancy Oinas of Menomonee Falls. “Tommy is larger than life; he’s been the star of Cedar Creek for more than 40 years.”
“I hope that people who see it bring us a lot more business,” said Tommy. The life of a celebrity meant Tommy will get up early Saturday morning so he can help set up for his booth at the West Bend Farmers’ Market and then it’s off to Regner Park as he’s catering lunch for the volunteers at Enchantment in the Park.
Former Ziegler building for sale
The former Ziegler Building also known as 215 N. Main Street is for sale. According to archives at WashingtonCountyInsider.com the building last sold Sept. 15, 2011.
The article read: The B.C Ziegler building, 215 N. Main St. was recently sold at public auction to John Kreilkamp and his son Tim for $450,000. The Kreilkamp’s were the only bidders at the Aug. 31 auction. The building had been on the market since Dec. 2008 with a sale price of $2.95 million. The total 2011 proposed assessment for the property is $1,802,800. The building was last sold May 2004 to Leisure Investments for $2 million. The Kreilkamp’s are exploring their options regarding the future of the building; ideas on the table include retail, non-profit, some residential and maybe even a deal with the City. City administrator Dennis Melvin refused comment on a rumored proposal to swap the current City Hall for the Ziegler building.
According to the city assessor the building dates to the 1900 and was last assessed at $1,298,000. The Kreilkamps have listed the property at $1.6 million with Marcus & Millichap.
Some of the tenants in the building include Client First Investment Management Inc., Greymont, GrandCare Systems, and nonprofits including the Downtown West Bend Association, Volunteer Center of Washington County and the United Way of Washington County.
Washington Co. attorney is on leave
Washington County attorney Kimberly A. Nass is not in the office. When questioned about her current status County Board Chairman Rick Gundrum refused comment as did County administrator Joshua Schoemann. Washington County Sheriff Dale Schmidt confirmed he was not conducting any criminal investigation on Nass.
Nass, 49, started with the county in the early 1990s as an assistant to Washington County Judge Patrick Faragher.
The job of the county attorney according to the county website is “provides legal advice to county board, it’s committees and county departments; drafts and reviews ordinances and resolutions for county board action; advises the county board with respect to parliamentary procedures; prosecutes mental commitment cases, guardianship, protective placement/services cases, termination of parental rights cases and shoreland, wetland, floodplain and sanitary code violations; attends county committee meetings and other county-related meetings; reviews contracts in which the county is a party and commences legal proceedings to collect on outstanding accounts due the county.”
There was no comment on when Nass would return. Attempts have been made to contact Nass. This is the response received to the email. I am out of the office. Please contact the County Attorney’s Office at 262-335-4374. Thank you, Kim Nass
Lightning strike damages vehicles
Three ambulances from LifeStar Medical Transport were damaged during a fire caused by a lightning strike early Sunday morning. LifeStar owner Mike Krueger said two EMS drivers who were at the building during their shift managed to escape unharmed after lightning apparently came in through the electrical service.
“There was about $75,000 to building and contents,” said Krueger. “Mostly smoke damage to the vehicles; I’ll know how much once the insurance adjusters review the situation.”
Krueger said the incident happened around 12:45 a.m. Sunday as a line of strong storms passed through the community. The West Bend Fire Department was able to quickly knock down the main part of the fire; it took several hours to put out hot spots and get We Energies on site.
“I’d really like to thank the fire department and police department for their efforts,” said Krueger.
Delays for opening of St. Peter Church in Slinger
Rev. Rick Stoffel sent a miserable message to parishioners at St. Peter Church letting the congregation in on the news that the much-anticipated Christmas opening of the newly remodeled church would not be happening.
Notes below explain some of the problems contractors ran into.
The soil for footings beneath the new south addition was rock solid, but the new north addition the solid was poor; we poured 20 loads of cement, assuring a firm foundation.
We had problems getting the amount of cream city brick we needed to have our new wings blend in with the original church. After using up bricks from our own inner walls and bricks donated from a local demolition, our original brick supplier proved less than reliable; we fired them.
A new firm with a great reputation was quickly vetted, hired, and all the brick we will need was delivered in one week. Of excellent quality it came from the demolition of Annex No. 3 building on Washington County grounds near Samaritan Home in West Bend and originally made in Slinger’s historic brickworks; coincidence or providence?
What will delay our final occupancy is totally another matter of material procurement involving windows. In order for church to have thermal pane windows, providing greater comfort in heating and cooling season as well as protection for placement of our old/new stained glass as being planned by our Stained Glass Committee, a system of sophisticated, specialized extruded frames is needed. These frames have many productions steps to meet installation needs; the company making them suddenly changed their lead time from two to four months.
Window delivery will now be mid-November, not mid-October; they must be installed before we finish the drywall, put case-work around the windows, prepare the floors (new surfaces on both levels), and install the pews. So, Christmas Masses will be in the St. Peter School gym and St. Lawrence Church for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Proposal for new homeless shelter in Wash. Co.
Initial designs have been released for a proposed homeless shelter in West Bend. The $1.3 million project would be privately funded with $400,000 coming from St. Vincent De Paul. The proposed 14-bed shelter would sit on county property just to the east of Indiana Avenue, south of the Public Agency Center and overlooking the Little League diamonds.
Vote of ‘No Confidence’ for County Treasurer Jane Merten
During the next Washington County Board meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 25, a resolution vote of ‘No Confidence’ in County Treasurer Jane Merten will be brought before Supervisors.
The resolution stems from a pair of wire transfers that occurred June 1, 2016 when Merten sent two separate wire transfers to fraudulent accounts. The total was $87,760 although the Washington County Sheriff said half of that never went through.As a result $32,163.76 was returned to Washington County on Sept. 15, 2016.
Merten is up for reelection and her name is on the Nov. 8 ballot. She is running uncontested.
District 21 Supervisor Donald Kriefall initiated the resolution for a ‘no confidence’ vote. His comments are below.
“As an elected official we’re limited in what we can do in our scope of authority over another elected official. If it would have been an administrator or county employee there would have been disciplinary action taken, up and including termination.”
-“I met with Jane and standard practice was not followed with this transaction.”
-“We’re caretakers of the taxpayers money and we need to have some sort of consequence for this error and a vote of no confidence is the least we can do.”
-“This kind of puts her on notice and she made a mistake and this is our way of putting a letter in her file.”
-Questioned whether this vote will help Merten do her job better, Kriefall said, “I don’t know.”
-Raises for elected officials are approved by the County Board and increases were approved for all elected officials.
-Kriefall said the resolution wasn’t brought up immediately because the situation was under investigation. He said numerous supervisors have complained and wanted some action taken. A simple majority on the 26 member board is needed for the resolution to pass.
-“I didn’t get the impression this was an intentional act but there were quite a few wire transfers made before and they were all done with an invoice, RFP or a signature by the person sending them and this is the only one that was not done that way.”
-Questioned if Merten has made other, numerous mistakes Kriefall said, no. “Typically when you make a wire transfer of that amount there are checks and balances for it and they weren’t followed.”
-“The treasurer can choose to step down and there are other steps that could be taken too like a call for resignation.”
-“In the long run it still was an error in judgment by the treasurer and her checks and balances should have been followed and they weren’t for whatever reason.”
County Board Chairman Rick Gundrum: -“This is the best way to deal with this and we’ll see where it goes from here. We are not asking for her to resign, at this stage.”
-“We sat down with Jane and asked for her side of the story and from there Don decided he still wanted to do the resolution.”
County Supervisor Kris Deiss: -“I just got the paperwork. I’m thinking about it. I want to hear what comments are made. I don’t know the specifics to form an opinion at this point. This resolution does not mean she loses her job.”
Washington County Administrator Joshua Schoemann: “The problem the County Board really has is with the timing because the November election is three weeks from now and her name is on the ballot but she’s uncontested.”
Discover Wisconsin filming in Hartford
The Discover Wisconsin film crew was back in Hartford on Tuesday for a second day of filming as businesses in the community, Holy Hill and the Town of Erin will be featured in a segment set to air May 20, 2017.
“We’ve been working on this the last six months,” said Scott Henke, executive director of the Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce. “They were at Pike Lake, Mickey’s Fresh Frozen Custard and Erin Hills Golf Course,” Henke said.
On Monday the film crew was at the Westphal Mansion, Wisconsin Auto Museum, Mineshaft, Scoop DeVille, and Rustic Road No. 33 in the Town of Erin. Henke said it wasn’t difficult at all to convince the Hartford Chamber Board to move ahead with the idea.
Discover Wisconsin has been around since 1986, it was “the first public and private sector partnership under Governor Tommy Thompson’s Administration.” The segments are paid for by the communities that are showcased. “Just the number of people that will see the segment is a big plus,” said Henke.
All members of the board thought it would greatly benefit local tourism. The cost of the show also covers publicity, marketing and advertising.
Updates & tidbits
– The new Kwik Trip sign was installed along Highway 45 just north of Paradise Drive this week. Landscapers are also put down sod and border plants. The new gas station opens Oct. 27.
-The Knights of Columbus is having a ‘Fifth Sunday’ Pancake Breakfast at the Columbian on Oct 30 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. It is $5 per person or $15 family. Proceeds will support Seminarians in their studies.
– First place finishers at Sunday’s 4th annual Downtown Dash include Aidan Schmidt, 14, of West Bend who finished the 3.1 mile race in 21 minutes and 11 seconds and Elizabeth Bird, 38, of Cedarburg who finished in 21:52 and in third place overall.
-Mike Hartwell is the new president of the West Bend Optimist Club.
-Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner was spotted last Saturday at the St. Mary’s Rummage Sale. The congressman was looking for a onesie as he is expecting his first grandchild. When I asked the congressman if he knew what a onesie was he said, “Yes, I have one – it was given to me by Congressman Duffy.”
– Paul and Kathy Melius and business partner in the dairy farm, brother Jim, are retiring after 40 years of milking cows. The Melius farm on Sherman Road in Jackson held a 170 head cattle auction this week.
-Some excitement at Allenton Elementary School on Wednesday as about 380 students were evacuated and bused to Slinger High School after the fire alarm sounded. It ended up a faulty sensor was to blame and there was no actual danger. Students were returned to school after they watched the H.S. marching band practice and they had lunch.
-Kristin Bayer is the new Development Coordinator at St. Frances Cabrini Parish.
– Slinger High School students volunteered their time last Saturday to help set up the mega trees for this year’s Enchantment in the Park at Regner Park. The students said they learned the value of donating their time for a good cause. There were also volunteers this week from WB Friends of Park & Rec and the WB Fire Department.
– There’s a new wooden fishing platform at the Early Risers Kiwanis Fish Pond at Regner Park. It’s opposite the extended platform with seats on the south side of the pond.
– Help is available to families in Washington County that need assistance with winter heating bills. Contact Kay Lucas with the Washington County Human Services Department which oversees the Energy Assistance Program. The number is 262-335-4677.
– UW-Washington County women’s volleyball team captured 2nd place at the Wisconsin Collegiate Conference State Volleyball Tournament last weekend in the Wisconsin Dells.
It’s worth paying attention to how these networks are put together and managed as our government seeks to surrender control of the internet’s backbone.
A number of popular websites like Twitter and Netflix went down for some users on Friday in a massive cyberattack with international reach.
Affected sites included Twitter (TWTR, Tech30), Etsy (ETSY), Github, Vox, Spotify, Airbnb, Netflix(NFLX, Tech30) and Reddit.
Dyn, which manages website domains and routes internet traffic, experienced two distributed denial of service attacks on its DNS servers. A DDoS attack is an attempt to flood a website with so much traffic that it impairs normal service.
“If you take out one of these DNS service providers, you can disrupt a large number of popular online services, which is exactly what we’re seeing today,” said Jeremiah Grossman, chief of security strategy at cybersecurity startup SentinelOne.
The massive outage drew the attention of the FBI which said Friday that it was “investigating all potential causes” of the attack.
Good.
UPDATE (WKOW)– Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel says a recent video posted by conservative group Project Veritas shows concerning comments that will require a lengthy investigation.
Project Veritas released two videos earlier this week. They feature Scott Foval, a well-known democratic operative in Madison political circles. The videos, which are highly edited, appear to show Foval taking credit for disrupting a Scott Walker presidential rally, and also talking about how to commit voter fraud.
“I’ve got strong instincts that say if you see a bad guy, go after a bad guy. Those videos appear to have someone bragging about breaking Wisconsin laws and some federal laws. So, my instincts are to take a look at it, and we will do that.”
Since the videos went public the policy group Americans United for Change has fired Foval. Foval tells 27 News these accusations are part of a sinister plot that is nothing more than a ruse.
Schimel says he will examine any materials he and his office can legally get their hands on, so they can take a deeper look and determine if any election laws were broken.
For the Chairperson of the State Ethics Commission, Lautenschlager sure does turn a blind eye to unethical people who are fellow travelers – not to mention her own ethical issues.
Lautenschlager has worked closely with Foval, and the Wisconsin chapter of the People for the American Way he once led, on election initiatives.
They are among several members of Our Democracy 2020, a coalition of left-wing groups that insists on working together on election reforms. Lautenschlager fought side by side with Foval and others to help defeat a ballot issue that effectively removed liberal state Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson from the chief justice position she long held, and they have worked on killing Wisconsin’s voter ID law.
Foval included a link to a video of the liberal pep rally launch of Our Democracy 2020 on his Vimeo page.
In a March 2015 story in the liberal Capital Times, days before voters approved the ballot giving the court the power to decide its own chief justice, Lautenschlager and Foval were quoted as saying the referendum was just one big power grab by Republicans.
On Thursday, however, Lautenschlager didn’t want to answer questions about her old friend Foval.
Now THAT’S racist.
NBC affiliate KFOR reported on the controversy last week after receiving a recording from an offended student at Norman North High School.
In the recording, the teacher shows a YouTube clip about imperialism. A man in the video uses white-out on a globe to illustrate how European influence spread across the world.
The discussion follows.
In the recording, the teacher asks: “Am I racist? And I say yeah. I don’t want to be. It’s not like I choose to be racist, but do I do things because of the way I was raised.”
“To be white is to be racist, period,” the teacher says.
Something strange is going on in Washington County government. The accidental loss of money, the odd development of a homeless shelter, and now this from the Washington County Insider. Is there something in the water?
Oct. 20, 2016 – West Bend, WI – Washington County attorney Kimberly A. Nass is not in the office. When questioned about her current status County Board Chairman Rick Gundrum refused comment as did County administrator Joshua Schoemann.Washington County Sheriff Dale Schmidt confirmed he was not conducting any criminal investigation on Nass.Nass, 49, started with the county in the early 1990s as an assistant to Washington County Judge Patrick Faragher.The job of the county attorney according to the county website is “provides legal advice to county board, it’s committees and county departments; drafts and reviews ordinances and resolutions for county board action; advises the county board with respect to parliamentary procedures; prosecutes mental commitment cases, guardianship, protective placement/services cases, termination of parental rights cases and shoreland, wetland, floodplain and sanitary code violations; attends county committee meetings and other county-related meetings; reviews contracts in which the county is a party and commences legal proceedings to collect on outstanding accounts due the county.”There was no comment on when Nass would return.Attempts have been made to contact Nass. This is the response received to the email.I am out of the office. Please contact the County Attorney’s Office at 262-335-4374.
Results from Wisconsin’s newest standardized math and English tests released Tuesday show just over 42 percent of the state’s public school third- through eighth-graders scored proficient or above on each exam. Proficiency rates for students enrolled in three state-run private school choice programs were 19.1 percent for English and 14 percent for math.
The Wisconsin Forward Exam was the second new set of standardized tests students took in the last two years. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction officials said a team of 100 Wisconsin educators raised cutoff scores for proficiency this year to better align with more rigorous national expectations, leading to a decline in the portion of students scoring at proficient or higher compared to last year.
Viji Somasundaram, director of DPI’s Office of Student Assessment, said the decline is a reflection of the more rigorous standards, not an indication of a drop in student performance.
Meeting a proficient or advanced benchmark means the student is at or above where the state expects the student to be at a given grade, according to the DPI.
I’ll be over on Twitter having a little fun. @bootsandsabers
UPDATE: Well, that escalated quickly! My overall conclusion is that America is screwed. So, so, screwed.
I was unable to watch the debate last night between Senator Ron Johnson and challenger Russ Feingold. In reading the coverage of it this morning, one thing continues to stick out to me that I mentioned in my column a few weeks ago. Feingold is running a campaign from 1992. His rhetoric is to old. So tired. So worn. He is utterly vapid with seemingly nothing new to offer other than to warm Wisconsin’s senate seat with musty farts and occasionally belch out Che quotes. For example, take this:
Dem Russ Feingold on Tuesday knocked U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson for taking a $700,000 salary from his former plastics company, but voting against efforts to raise the minimum wage.
Really? I saw his TV commercial about this too, but really? This is just rank class warfare. It’s not even pretending to be nuanced. If you planning to vote for Feingold because you are jealous of Johnson’s salary – which he earned in the private sector – then you are too stupid to vote. But I guess that’s the electorate to which Feingold is appealing.
From the email… this should be interesting!
Are you tired of hearing Trump VS Clinton? Do you wish there were other options?
Well, next Wednesday (Oct 26th) at 7PM at the West Bend Moose Lodge we will be having our “Presidential Forum”, where representatives from the Libertarian Gary Johnson and Independent Evan McMullin campaigns will be stopping by to tell you their candidates positions on the issues and how they plan to win in this tumultuous election.
It would be true to form.
The ex-agent told the FBI that they were aware of Clinton or her aides ‘removing lamps and furniture from the State Department which were transported to her residence in Washington, D.C.’
The female agent did not know whether the items were returned, the FBI noted.
The claim is particularly resonant for the Clintons, who left the White House with massive amounts of furniture and other items which they then either returned – including sofas, a chair, and an ottoman – or paid for.
In total they declared $190,000 in gifts as they left the White House, but ended up paying $86,000 in cash and handing back $48,000 worth of items – after public outrage at what they had done.
The State Department denied the ex-agent’s allegation, saying it was ‘not true’ and that the items removed from the building had been paid for by the then Secretary of State.
It’s good to see some accountability. It doesn’t appear that there was any malice involved, but poor management of the people’s money requires sanction of some sort. Given that she is an elected official, there’s not much that the board can do to her.
Oct. 18, 2016 – West Bend, WI – During the next Washington County Board meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 25, a resolution vote of ‘No Confidence’ in County Treasurer Jane Merten will be brought before Supervisors.
The resolution stems from a pair of wire transfers that occurred June 1, 2016 when Merten sent two separate wire transfers to fraudulent accounts. The total was $87,760, although the Washington County Sheriff said half of that never went through.
As a result $32,163.76 was returned to Washington County on Sept. 15, 2016.
Merten is up for reelection and her name is on the Nov. 8 ballot. She is running uncontested.
District 21 Supervisor Donald Kriefall initiated the resolution for a ‘no confidence’ vote. His comments are below.
“As an elected official we’re limited in what we can do in our scope of authority over another elected official. If it would have been an administrator or county employee there would have been disciplinary action taken, up and including termination.”
