July 20th marked the filing deadline for the latest campaign finance reporting period. Most of the press coverage coming out of that filing deadline was about the amount of money that Scott Walker had raised. Perhaps a few reporters should have looked a little closer at Walker's filing because it raises some rather interesting questions that should be asked. Even though they are being rather low key right now, I'm pretty sure that the Mark Neumann campaign noticed them already.
The first thing that I noticed is that Walker's filing doesn't report anything being paid to their General Consultant RJ Johnson. We know that he has at least been working for Walker's campaign since his "very special announcement" in late April. I actually hear that he may have been working with Walker for even longer than that, perhaps going into last year. So why don't the last couple finance reports show him getting paid? I don't personally know, but I hear from a good source that RJ's normal monthly fee for such a project is usually pretty high. So where is his money? Has he been working for free and if so, why isn't it being reported as an in-kind contribution (even though it would certainly pass legal limits)?
Even if RJ Johnson is giving his work away to the Walker Campaign for free, we need not worry too much for him because he has certainly had other work this year. Remember that RJ has done quite a bit of work with the Wisconsin Club for Growth, at least some of which appeared to be done around the same time that he was announced as part of team Walker. Wisconsin Club for Growth is one of the right wing orgs that have been attacking the Governor (the office coincidentally that RJ's nonpaying boss wants to take over). And by the way, does Wisconsin Club for Growth take corporate contributions? If so, is RJ still getting these corporate funded paychecks while apparently giving away his services to the Walker Campaign? One thing that we do know for sure is that Republican money bags Terry Kohler is a major big dollar contributor to the Club for Growth. We also know that he is a big fan of Scott Walker. Is there a connection or two that we should make here? I don't know, but someone might want to check into it.
In the end, perhaps the most important questions are simply; who is paying RJ Johnson and why isn't it the Walker Campaign?
UPDATE: Cognitive Dissidence explores more interesting issues in Walker's filing in "Money for Nothing, Consultants and Plane Ride for Free"
UPDATE 2: Heartland Hollar offers, "Walker's Receiptgate"
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2 comments:
I would be interested to learn who manages their email lists. I signed up to receive emails from WICFG(keep your friends close and your enemies closer) and started to receive the Walker updates as well. I looked at their reports and there were no inkinds or list purchases. That coupled with your current informationmakes me wonder if they are even two seperate groups?
Serious questions have been raised here about how R.J. Johnson is getting paid. Maybe Walker and R.J. found a loophole? One thing I know for sure is R.J. was putting together late last year. So, R.J. should have showed up in the January report. I'm absolutely suprised he isn't in this one.
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