Boots & Sabers

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Owen

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0810, 11 Jun 20

Governor Evers Secretly Records Conversation with Legislative Leaders

Governor Evers recorded a private conversation with legislative leaders and then released it when asked. Funny how quickly he complied with that open records request when he fights all of the others. This is my favorite part.

Evers spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said the governor didn’t initially know that his staff was recording the phone conversation. She said it was never intended to be distributed to the media, but that it instead was recorded to aid Evers’ staff in incorporating what Vos and Fitzgerald wanted to see in the emergency rule to address the pandemic.

Wisconsin, like most states, is a “single-party consent” state, meaning one legally does not need to disclose that he or she is recording a conversation if they are a party to the conversation.

“The recording was intended for internal use only to inform detailed note-taking and planning next steps,” Baldauff said. “This was not intended for release to the media or anyone else. However, we were obligated to comply with the open records law to release these records once they were requested.”

Evers. Didn’t. Even. Know.

At least, that’s what they will have us believe. And I believe it. Evers is such an incompetent leader that I do believe that his staff does all sorts of things without his knowledge because they don’t consider it important enough to tell him.

In any case, I have participated in conference calls where details are shared and good notes are needed. While not required by law, people with integrity will just say, “hey, do you mind if I record this so that we capture all of the details?” Easy. Too easy for Governor Evers and his staff.

Evers is either an incompetent boob or a such a partisan that he’s doing opposition research while conducting official business. Or both.

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0810, 11 June 2020

13 Comments

  1. Merlin

    Just for comprehensive note-taking at a later date, doncha know. Besides, they didn’t intend to get caught. That makes it all better.

  2. jjf

    Oh, but Vos knows.  He’s like a genius.

    Assembly Speaker Robin Vos blamed the culture of immigrant populations for a coronavirus outbreak in Racine County, according to a secret recording of his meeting last month with Gov. Tony Evers.

    “I know the reason at least in my region is because of a large immigrant population where it’s just a difference in culture where people are living much closer and working much closer,” the Rochester Republican said of an outbreak in Racine County.

  3. Merlin

    Population density whether by culture and/or geography is a well known risk factor for the spread of infectious disease. Vos is certainly no genius, but refusing to speak in liberal code is a virtue, not a flaw.

     

  4. Jason

    >Oh, but Vos knows.  He’s like a genius.

    What you just quoted from Vos is leaps and bounds smarter than anything I’ve seen you write.   Go get another bookshelf.

  5. Mike

    Time to ignore jjf’s attempt to take this off-topic and concentrate on Tricky Tony’s Nixonian ploy

  6. dad29

    What’s worse?  The dumbest and least ‘governing’ Governor in history, or the most Machiavellian one?

    Either way, the ads write themselves.

    “I am not a crook!”  Evers and Nixon.

    “Where’s my Rosemary?”  Evers, bewailing the leak.

    “Did Haldeman call the Press?”  Evers, recalling Nixon.

    “Deep Purple.  Isn’t that like Deep Throat?”  Evers, remembering his childhood.

  7. jjf

    What, no one steps up to defend a little government transparency?

    Did Evers say anything embarrassing, or was it just Fitz and Vos?

  8. Le Roi du Nord

    If vos wouldn’t have stuck his foot in his mouth up to his hip nobody would have cared about this.

  9. dad29

    Sorry, “former LEO” LeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeRoy………but the teenaged-girl breach of trust here gets far more attention than does Vos’ totally unremarkable comment.

    So which is worse?  A clueless-dolt governor who is managed by his staff?  Or a dirty-tricks governor who just demolished any credibility he may have had with the entire Legislature?

    Yah, I know.  That’s a question you won’t answer, “ex-LEO”.

  10. jjf

    Call it an accident, call it a dirty trick.

    Who will figure out what actually happened, if we didn’t have the open records law and investigative reporters?

    WisGOP gets mad when someone uses the same sorts of tricks they’d be eager to use in other circumstances.  You think this is the very first time a phone conference has been recorded?

    If you’ve volunteered to be on the smallest newest committee of your tiny township in Wisconsin, you’re subject to more rules and scrutiny than the Legislature.  You’re not supposed to deliberate outside of open meetings…  but the Legislature can.  You’re not supposed to delete your records…  but the Legislature can.

    Talk about politeness and politics and “breach of trust” all you like… but don’t whine to me if you have a process that isn’t open, and a process that can fall to tricks / accidents like this.

    “Drop the bomb” and scurry through the tunnels and erase the redistricting hard drives, right?

  11. Jason

    >but don’t whine to me if you have a process that isn’t open, and a process that can fall to tricks / accidents like this.

    That’s the biggest indicator yet that you think the world revolves around you. No one whined to you about this. You willingly and with some effort came here and read about it. Dont whine to Owen and his readers if you dont like what is written. Go away, be best.

  12. jjf

    Why cain’t I quit you, Jason?

  13. Mar

    Cain’t? What’s a Cain’t?

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