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Doyle Uses State Aide To Write Convention Speech

Ahem.

Gov. Jim Doyle used a state aide to help write his speech before the Democratic National Convention in Denver, a move that may have violated the state’s ethics code.

A lawyer for the board that oversees the ethics code said using a state aide to write a speech for a political convention could violate a law that bans using state resources for private gain.

“It’s not state business,” said Jonathan Becker, counsel for the Government Accountability Board. “So if I was having my staff write a speech to read at a political convention, that would be bothersome to me.”

He cautioned that such a speech might not violate the ethics code if it focused on state issues and policy matters rather than partisan attacks.

Becker would not say whether the board is investigating the matter.

Doyle aide Lee Sensenbrenner said he spent a couple of hours working on the speech. He said he and Doyle thought it was appropriate for Sensenbrenner, rather than a Doyle campaign worker, to do the work because Doyle was given a national stage to showcase Wisconsin.

Read the speech.  It was not showcasing Wisconsin.  It was showcasing Obama. 

Posted by Owen at 0620 hrs
Law + Politics + Politics - General + Politics - Wisconsin

1. What blows your mind about this is that Team Doyle was given a warning with the press release they issued, the ensuing flare up, and then they did this when eyes were on them.

   Ethics never was Doyle’s strong suit.

   Posted by Kevin Binversie on September 03, 2008 at 0658 hrs




2. He’ll get out of this too.

   Posted by hsgbdmama on September 03, 2008 at 0709 hrs




3. Considering all 6 members of the Government “Accountability” Board owe their jobs to Doyle, I expect nothing less than a 6-0 whitewashing.

   All has gone to plan.

   Posted by steveegg on September 03, 2008 at 0717 hrs




4. Who cares, he was representing the state on TV.  You wouldn’t want to have him write it would you?
     Wonder when the GAB will rule on my complaint about illegal corporate contributions invovling Loophole Louis and Freibert, Finerty et al.  wonder if freibert is done redoing his taxes yet and paying them on his illegal contributions to Butler.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 03, 2008 at 0811 hrs




5. The GAB rejected your frivolous claim months ago, just like your frivolous double voting claim and frivolous complaint to the office of lawyer regulation.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 03, 2008 at 0947 hrs




6. When a Dem does it, it’s “frivolous”.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 03, 2008 at 1012 hrs




7. His state staff wrote the speech, but yet his campaign paid for his flight to Denver.  If it was state business, then surely the state should have paid the cost of the flight, yes?

   Also, would Doyle have accepted an invitation to the RNC to “showcase” Wisconsin?  I bet not.

   But as I’ve said before, this goes to show how intertwined campaigning and official business is and the ethics rules cannot adequately address the many gray areas (which make them largely ineffective and are only used for “gotcha” moments and complaints).

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 03, 2008 at 1023 hrs




8. Foolish mortals.

   Whadda ya, new here?  Super Doyle is impervious to public scrutiny.

   “Becker would not say whether the board is investigating the matter.”

   Okay, why the heck not?  I wish I were in a position where, if my boss asked me if I were doing my job, I’d be allowed to answer with a firm:

   “Maybe”...

   
   -jjg
   DailyScoff.com

   Posted by J. Gravelle on September 03, 2008 at 1416 hrs




9. Correction.  He didn’t say “maybe”, but rather, “none of your business.”

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 03, 2008 at 1430 hrs




10. There are still unanswered questions here, largely relating to where Sensenbrenner wrote the speech.  If he wrote the speech at home from a personal computer, it’s still not really an issue.  Salaried legislative staff do political work for their bosses off-site all the time, and it’s all completely legitimate.

    Now if Sensenbrenner wrote it from a computer in the East Wing, that’s just sloppy.  There’s no excuse for that when he can just send himself home early one day to do the same thing.

    I still think it’s legit for the governor’s office to release the speech.

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on September 03, 2008 at 1639 hrs




11. True, RS…but it appears our trusted Government Accountability Board will not investigate the matter.  Thus, we’ll never know the answer to your query.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 03, 2008 at 1708 hrs

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