Government Accountability Board

Tag: Government Accountability Board

GAB Poured Tax Money Into Doe Investigation After Judge Ordered it Stopped

by Owen | 2203, 19 Dec 1414 | Politics - Wisconsin | 0 Comments

By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON, Wis. – Agents for the embattled state Government Accountability Board continued a zealous campaign finance investigation into dozens of conservative groups even after judges who preside over the board voted to shut it down, according to a previously sealed brief made publicFriday.

The documents, from an updated complaint filed by conservative plaintiffs in a case against the GAB, appear to support claims that the campaign finance, ethics and election law regulator is a rogue agency. They also show that the GAB considered using the state’s John Doe law to investigate key state conservatives and even national figures, including Fox News’ Sean Hannity and WTMJ Milwaukee host Charlie Sykes.

Wisconsin Reporter also obtained some of its information from previous court documents that were supposed to have been redacted.

“What we have uncovered so far shows the Government Accountability Board, or at least its staff, being anything but ‘accountable,’” said Eddie Greim, attorney for plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the GAB. “For example, the public has learned for the first time, over GAB’s objections, that GAB set up a secret system of Gmail accounts for its staffers and the prosecutors who ran the John Doe. We also know that GAB hoped its ‘illegal coordination’ theory could even extend to allow it to subpoena media figures like Charlie Sykes and Sean Hannity.”

[…]

The unsealed documents show GAB director and general counsel Kevin Kennedy andJonathan Becker, administrator of the agency’s ethics division, involved the accountability board in the secret probe without the approval or even knowledge of the judges. Board members were not informed of the involvement until Dec. 18, 2012, some three months after Kennedy and crew jumped on board.

And it seems Kennedy and Becker misled the board about precisely when they had “learned” of the John Doe investigation, according to a Dec. 18, 2012 memorandum.

“Since the time of the October 23, 2012 Board meeting, staff has learned that the Milwaukee District Attorney has opened another John Doe investigation,” the memo states.

Documents show GAB staff members and DAs using private Gmail accounts to talk about the investigation. Still, leadership warned of the potential that any communications could be made public.

“(T)eam members should communicate with the understanding that their communications could become public or subject to discovery at some point,” according to documents from an August 2013 meeting.

It seems that a criminal investigation may be warranted for the wanton abuse of the taxpayers’ resources in pursuit of political vendettas.

Insight Into the Dysfunctional GAB

by Owen | 1706, 12 Dec 1414 | Politics - Wisconsin | 0 Comments

As everyone knew, the GAB is a rogue and dysfunctional agency that pours resources into things like the unconstitutional John Doe investigations while failing to complete its routine and legally mandated functions.

The Legislative Audit Bureau’s report, released Friday, finds the GAB, the state’s regulator of campaign finance and election laws, has failed to fulfill its statutorily required duties in a timely manner, and staff members did not “consistently follow a GAB-approved penalty schedule for enforcing campaign finance, lobbying, and code of ethics laws.”

“The audit, unfortunately, was not surprising,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, in a statement. “We know that the GAB routinely doesn’t follow the law and there’s no accountability whatsoever. The audit is another illustration of why we must change the GAB.”

[…]

The GAB and the Legislature have not kept up with U.S. Supreme Court decisions broadening First Amendment rights through campaign contributions, hence the controversies surrounding the John Doe investigation.

Reforming the GAB

by Owen | 1729, 2 Dec 1414 | Politics - Wisconsin | 0 Comments

Jay Heck of Common Cause is pushing back hard against the legislature reforming the Government Accountability Board.

The GAB is composed of six retired judges, who make decisions on a non-partisan basis. “That’s what it’s supposed to do,” Heck said. “It’s not supposed to please the partisans. It’s supposed to be independent and nonpartisan.”

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has pledged to make changes at the GAB. “They’re attacking a state agency that is entrusted with being nonpartisan and being independent,” Heck said. “If they suddenly make it partisan and dependent on the Republican leadership, then no citizen in the state is going to have confidence in the GAB. And I think that would be a real problem for Republicans in the ling run.

That’s the problem. The GAB is supposed to be non-partisan, but its actions on anything borderline have been almost exclusively in favor of Democrats. It is not working as it was designed to work. That is why is needs reform. The fact that Heck opposes reforming the GAB confirms for me how badly it needs it.

Prosecutors Give Up on John Doe

by Owen | 1924, 7 Nov 1414 | Law, Politics - Wisconsin | 2 Comments

Of course… the election is over now. Tell me again that the John Doe wasn’t politically motivated…

By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON, Wis. – In a court filing that one constitutional law expert calls a “stunning reversal,” the Government Accountability Board appears to concede that the “legal theory” driving the secret John Doe investigation into Wisconsin conservatives is legally “indefensible.”

A joint motion filed by both parties on Election Day in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee stipulates that a court-issued injunction preventing the accountability board and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm from enforcing a constitutionally suspect section of Wisconsin campaign finance law will remain in force.

The agreement also halts further proceedings before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa, while Milwaukee-based Citizens for Responsible Government Advocates, a conservative 501(c)(4) group, petitions the state Supreme Court to hear the case.

Vos Vows GAB Reform

by Owen | 0640, 9 Oct 1414 | Politics - Wisconsin | 2 Comments

I like where Vos’ head is at.

“I promise you that two years from now . . . the GAB will not be in the current format” Vos said. “It is dysfunctional, it is unresponsive, and it is totally undemocratic.”

Vos cited the GAB’s decision last month to release a newly redesigned ballot for the November elections. Vos’ reelection campaign and that of Senator Scott Fitzgerald filed a lawsuit over the redesigned ballot, which clerks in a majority of Wisconsin counties elected not to use. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed over procedural issues, but Vos made it clear Tuesday that he is still bothered by the ballot redesign process, and he laid the blame squarely at the feet of GAB executive director Kevin Kennedy.

“Kevin Kennedy has to go. He needs to be gone. He is an embarrassment, and I can’t say it any more emphatically than I am right now,” Vos said. He offered few specifics on what sorts of changes he envisions for the GAB, which is charged with oversight of Wisconsin’s campaign finance, elections, ethics, and lobbying laws.

GAB Ballot Suit Thrown Out

by Owen | 1707, 24 Sep 1414 | Politics - Wisconsin | 1 Comment

Interesting.

Vos and Fitzgerald filed the suit last week, arguing the new ballot designed by the Government Accountability Board — which doesn’t include shading to distinguish between offices or lines separating the offices from the first candidate listed — will cause confusion among voters and favors Democrats since they’ll be listed first in each race this fall.

But a filing from the state Department of Justice countered the suit amounts to a request for “extraordinary judicial intervention” in the upcoming election — while noting only 16 counties are using the exact GAB template for the fall ballot.

I understand and agree with why Vos and Fitzgerald filed the suit. The GAB’s actions smell to high heaven and their actions here certainly seem like they are overstepping their authority. But I think the court and the DOJ is right. The GAB is a creation of the legislature and its actions can be controlled by the legislature if they choose to do so. This infraction doesn’t rise to the level that requires the judicial branch to reach in.

Let us hope that Vos and Fitz remember this moment during the next session of the legislature and take serious action to reform or replace the GAB. The rogue GAB needs to be addressed.

Election Officials Adjust for Voter ID

by Owen | 2018, 15 Sep 1414 | Law, Politics - Wisconsin | 0 Comments

Ummmmnnnn…

Wisconsin election officials were scrambling Monday to deal with a federal appeals court’s ruling reinstating the requirement that voters show photo identification when casting ballots.

The law had been on hold, after being in effect only for the low-turnout February 2012 primary, following a series of court orders blocking it. But a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, just hours after hearing oral arguments, said late Friday that the state could proceed with implementing the law while it weighs the merits of the case.

[…]

“We’re all in a holding pattern right now waiting for clarification,” Albrecht said.

Perhaps it is just the reporter’s choice of the word “scrambling,” but why is there scrambling? And why are clerks in a “holding pattern?” This law has been on the books for three years. It has been held up in court for a while, but there was always a very good chance that it would pass constitutional muster. Even if it fell short, there was a very good chance that the Republican-led legislature would tweak it to make sure it was okay with the courts. After all, over 30 states already have some form of Voter ID. In other words, there was every reason to believe that this law would come into force in Wisconsin one way or another. Furthermore, the law was already active for one election – even if it was a primary election – before it was held up in court.

So why is there any “scrambling?” Wouldn’t a competent Government Accountability Board already have gone through the effort to prepare all relevant instructions and policies in preparation for the law’s implementation? If the GAB had done their job correctly, all that should have been necessary was to dust off the procedures from when they implemented the law the first time and move forward. I hope the reporter’s characterization of “scrambling” is overblown.

On another note from the same story, this is just funny:

“Scott Walker knows that we can win, and he believes that efforts to keep voters from getting to the polls is a win for Republicans,” Burke spokesman Joe Zepecki said in a fundraising email late Friday.

The law was passed in 2011 – three years ago and at least two years before Mary Burke even entered the scene. Walker hasn’t had anything to do with it since signing it. It has been in the hands of the courts. For Zepecki to suggest that Walker somehow got the 7th Circuit Court to lift the stay on the law because he “knows that [Burke] can win” is beyond ridiculous.

Court Issues Injunction Against GAB

by Owen | 0503, 9 Sep 1414 | Law, Politics - Wisconsin | 0 Comments

From the email… It’s good to see some of the dumb campaign finance rules fall.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin has granted CRG Network a preliminary injunction enjoining the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) from “implementing or enforcing Wis. Stats. § 11.26(9)” the statute limiting aggregate contributions by Political Action Committees (PACs) to candidates for public office.
CRG Network spokesperson Chris Kliesmet added, “It was ridiculous for the GAB to argue that our small contribution was any more influential or corrupting that the thousands of dollars contributed by others before us. Moreover, such arbitrary limits are a fundamental violation of First Amendment rights and our ability to support the candidate of our choice. Now, a federal court agrees. We wish to thank the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty for their help and artful defense of free speech on behalf of all Wisconsinites.”

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