Wisconsin Democrats are cashing in on the ethics investigations against former aides to Gov. Scott Walker, from his time as Milwaukee County Executive. But did their fundraising site maybe go too far?
The Dems’ “Walker Investigation” site shows a virtual bulletin board with a diagram, such as might be used in an organized crime investigation.
Journalist Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel posted over the weekend noted that some readers might be confused by a donation link that was on the site at the time: “Help fund the investigation. Donate today.”
But of course, donations on the site do not go to any law enforcement who are handling the actual “John Doe” investigation. Rather, the site is a conventional political fundraising vehicle — as should naturally be expected for a state party that is in the middle of a recall campaign against Walker, and are hoping to publicize a potential scandal against him.
Since then, the page was altered to have the tagline now read: “Help fund WalkerInvestigation.com. Donate Today.”
Shortly before that change was made, TPM asked state Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski whether the party stood by the phrasing, “Help fund the investigation. Donate today,” versus objections that it could be misleading — about funding the investigation.
“First we heard about it,” Zielinski wrote back. “We think Scott Walker’s central role in a criminal conspiracy is important to Wisconsinites as they choose their next governor. We haven’t encountered many folks who saw this as confusing but we’ve changed the language nonetheless. Scott Walker continues to dodge questions related to his role in these criminal acts, so we fully intend to continue www.walkerinvestigation.com as one of our educational tools.”
