Wisconsin Connections in Illinois Corruption Trial

Well… there are some familiar names. 

There was a little Wisconsin twist this week in the high-profile corruption trial of Illinois fund-raiser Antoin Rezko and it involved former Wisconsin political insider Nick Hurtgen.

Joseph Cari, a former finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee, testified that he headed a private equity firm, HealthPoint Partners, that had been given $35 million to invest on behalf of an Illinois retirement fund. Cari said Hurtgen stepped forward to say he could “help get allocations for HealthPoint from Wisconsin pension funds if Cari paid finder’s fees,” according to one account of the testimony.

On Jan. 29, 2003, Hurtgen called Patricia Lipton, then head of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, to pitch an investment in HealthPoint, said Vicki Hearing, spokeswoman for the agency that oversees the pension fund for state workers. Hearing said Marc Marotta, a political confidant and former top aide to Gov. James Doyle, also called Lipton’s successor in 2004 regarding HealthPoint. Marotta and Hurtgen are friends.

1. Yep, he really gets around. Gotta love that bipartisan style.

   Even as far back as July 2006

   Indicted wheeler-dealer Nick Hurtgen is becoming the Jack Abramoff of Wisconsin politics.

   Anyone who may have traded favors with the guy is tainted.

   So far, that’s been bad news for Republicans, including ex-Gov. Tommy Thompson, with whom he is a partner in a small radio company; Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker; and U.S. Rep. Mark Green, the Republican gubernatorial candidate to whom Hurtgen and his wife have donated thousands of dollars.

   http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=468358

   And still in 2007,

   Last year, the feds charged Hurtgen with extortion and fraud for his role in a kickback scheme involving a suburban Chicago hospital. Until he was indicted, Hurtgen enjoyed strong relationships with top officials in Doyle’s administration as well as County Executive Scott Walker, former U.S. Rep. Mark Green and Thompson. 

   http://blogs.jsonline.com/dogged/archive/2008/04/17/you -can-take-insider-out-of-madison-but.aspx

   Posted by on April 17, 2008 at 2233 hrs




2. Agreed....Hurtgen and for that matter Bill McCoshen were essentially creations of Tommy Thompson....were they not?

   Posted by on April 17, 2008 at 2309 hrs




3. Good article! i agreed with Steve Austin.

   Posted by investment opinions on April 18, 2008 at 0728 hrs




4. Well, the effort here was to make money.  What’s wrong with that, I’m mean a little graft here a little graft there big deal right?

   The irony here of course is that Hurtgen got ran out of Wisconsin becuase of his dealings with SWIB.  It was Marshal Burkes who filed a lawsuit against Hurtgen and Klauser becuase they were using SWIB like there own little piggy bank.

   As one story goes, Hurtgen also lost millions for SWIB in some complicated dervitives swap- millions that ended up over seas.  but you’ll never knwo anything about it becasue Tommy sealed the records.

   Posted by on April 18, 2008 at 1703 hrs




5. Did a little google search on your man Hurtgen here’s what came up…

   He has been described an early “umbrella holder”, “Bag Man” and later as a ‘‘Wunderkind’’.
   He is indicted by the U.S. Atty Patrick Fitzgerald in Illinois as part of a political corruption case.
   Here are the greatest hits:
   http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2007/pr1213_02a.pdf
   http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/rezko/856054,CST-NWS -rezko22.article
   http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2754/
   http://www2.jsonline.com/news/metro/nov00/spicecol02110 100a.asp
   http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=517919
   http://www.gmtoday.com/milwaukeetoday/editorials/bellin g/belling_08162006.asp
   http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2005/05/11/news /z5news11.txt
   http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2005/pr0509_01.pdf
   http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1582389.html
   http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showConnection.php?i d1=3706&id2;=4620
   http://www.ilcampaign.org/press/news/illinois/2005/2005 -5-10GovAppoint.html
   [1]
   JS Online: Cozy world of politics pays big for non-profit
   After sitting on campaign assets of several hundred grand for more than a year, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has finally found a charity he can support. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jan03/111642.asp January 18, 2003
   39. It pays to know Tommy Thompson It pays to know Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson By Steve Schultze and Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel November 2, 1997 Series at a Glance http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/governor/stories/110 2shadow.stm November 18, 1997
   40. Bear Stearns had edge in winning stadium deal Bear Stearns had edge in winning stadium deal Top Thompson aides gave well-connected brokerage a head start By Daniel Bice and Steve Schultze of the Journal Sentinel November 4, 1997 Series at a Glance Bear, Stearns & Co., http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/governor/stories/110 4stad.stm November 18, 1997

   46. It pays to know Tommy Thompson It pays to know Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson By Steve Schultze and Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel November 2, 1997 Series at a Glance http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/governor/stories/110 2shadow.stm November 18, 1997
   47. Call records show low-profile names Call records show low-profile names Thompson’s lines bore few calls to lobbyists, many to governor’s friends By Daniel Bice and Steve Schultze of the Journal Sentinel November 5, 1997 Series at a Glance http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/governor/stories/110 5call.stm November 18, 1997

   4. JS Online: Money flowed for Doyle at Chicago soiree It was a much bigger deal than nearly anyone realized, including us. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/mar03/125014.asp March 13, 2003
   7. JS Online: Perp walks more common in Windy City Come to Wisconsin - if you get busted, the feds are a whole lot nicer here than in Chicago. We doubt Milwaukee’s economic development gurus will adopt that slogan, but if they do, we have just the poster children for the ad campaign: P. ... http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may05/324848.asp May 9, 2005

   12. JS Online: Editorial: Sloppy - and suspicious First, there were the missing records on a $100 million bond project that the county was unable to produce after an 18-day search. http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/jul04/246338.asp July 25, 2004

   14. JS Online: Bond deal records discovered Milwaukee County officials announced Friday that missing bid records on a $100 million bond deal had turned up Friday, one day after criminal investigators and auditors announced their own search. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jul04/244080.asp July 16, 2004
   15. JS Online: Answers sought on bond deal Federal and state authorities quickly launched a joint criminal investigation Thursday into the cloudy circumstances surrounding the selection of Bear Stearns as underwriter on a $100 million Milwaukee County bond deal. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jul04/244056.asp July 15, 2004

   19. JS Online: Banker named in whistle-blower suit has long association with Wisconsin P. Nicholas Hurtgen, an investment banker named in a federal lawsuit as a party to Illinois kickback schemes, has deep ties to Wisconsin. Hurtgen, 41, runs the Chicago office of investment house Bear Stearns & Co., his employer since ... http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jun04/239927.asp
   7. JS Online: Thompson pals break bread with Doyle It was like a reunion of ex-Gov. Tommy Thompson’s old fund-raising machine. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct02/90915.asp October 26, 2002

   8. JS Online: Everything relative with tobacco panel The three-person board overseeing the state’s record $1.7 billion dollar tobacco bond deal is rather awkwardly called the Badger Tobacco Asset Securitization Corp. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr02/37942.asp April 24, 2002

   Posted by on April 23, 2008 at 1902 hrs




6. Hurtgen is evil, thats why i pretended to be Phil in the above two postings.  I’m sorry about that. I let my unmatched cowardice scare me into posting bull---t anonymously.

   I’m sorry for talking about SWIB in particular.  It turns out that nothing is sealed as relates to the Burkes case.  He was fired for incompetence and anti-semitism and never got re-hired.  Oh well, virtually no one will check up.

   And the canard about the Burkes case being about SWIB losing money in derivatives...thats just a complete load of crap. I just made it up.  Hurtgen wasn’t ever on the SWIB staff or Board and the Burkes case (tried publicly if you’ll recall) never touched on anything of the sort. 

   My bit about Hurtgen being driven out of the state because of the Burkes case is particularly humorous.  See Buekes was fired by the board in 1990 Hurtgen left state government 7 years later.

   Its fun what you can do in anonymous blogs comments sections are an amoral moron and don’t mind libeling people.

   Posted by on May 11, 2008 at 1028 hrs