Milwaukee County's district attorney charged two former members of Gov. Scott Walker's staff Thursday with illegally politicking while on the clock for their county positions.
Kelly Rindfleisch, chief of staff for then-Milwaukee County Executive Walker, was charged with four counts of misconduct for fundraising for Brett Davis' 2010 lieutenant governor campaign while working in a taxpayer-funded public office.
According to a statement from the D.A., the investigation uncovered that Rindfleisch established a private email, which she operated out of the Milwaukee County Executive's office, and used to communication "both political campaign and government work-related information to selected individuals."
Each of Rindfleisch's felonies carries a $10,000 fine and up to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Darlene Wink, formerly of the Milwaukee County Executive's Constituent Services office, was charged with two counts of political solicitation by a public employee for organizing fundraising events for Walker's 2010 governor campaign for governor with county resources.
One such event, which Wink dubbed "Happy Birthday Scott," meant to commemorate both Walker's 42nd birthday and "one year out" from the gubernatorial election, was partially conceived and publicized using her Milwaukee County office computer while on the county's clock.
Wink's penalties each carry a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail, though she is unlikely to serve. Per negotiations with prosecutors Thursday, Wink will plead guilty in exchange for her prosecutors asking a judge not to sentence her to prison, according to a letter outlining her agreement obtained by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The letter also referred to "valuable information" of Wink's that could be useful for future cases, as well as her limited role compared to other county workers.
Wink resigned from her county position in May 2010 when it was revealed that she had used a pseudonym to post roughly 70 pro-Walker, gubernatorial election related comments on online news articles while on the clock.
These charges are the latest issued from information uncovered by the ongoing year-and-a-half-long investigation into Walker's tenure as county executive.
"I think it's pretty insidious," Jay Heck, Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin, a non-partisan citizen's lobby focused on government ethics and accountability. "This raises questions about the kind of ship that Walker was running as Milwaukee County Executive...the real question is how far up it goes."
Earlier this month, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office charged two of Walker's county executive staff with multiple felonies, including embezzlement and theft, as part of the same investigation.
Friends of Scott Walker communications director Ciara Matthews responded to the latest charges in a statement Thursday.
"Scott Walker expected everyone to follow the law and made that clear publically and privately," she said.
