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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsScott Walker aid embezzeled thousands from operation freedom fund for vacations usurping $ from vets
Former aide to Wisconsin governor charged with fraud
By Brendan O'Brien and John Rondy
MILWAUKEE | Thu Jan 5, 2012 5:37pm EST
(Reuters) - A former aide to Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker was charged with fraud on Thursday, accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from a fund for families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The complaint accused Tim Russell, who worked closely with Walker when he was Milwaukee County Executive, of diverting more than $21,000 intended for Operation Freedom to his personal bank account and using some of the money to go on Hawaiian and Caribbean vacations.
Another man also faces fraud and embezzlement charges linked to the case, while Russell's domestic partner, Brian Pierick, faces charges of child enticement that prosecutors said came to light in the investigation.
According to the criminal complaint, other funds were used by Russell to attend a weekend political strategy session in December 2010 with Herman Cain and his chief of staff, Mark Block, to discuss Cain's now-defunct presidential campaign.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/05/us-crime-wisconsin-walker-aide-idUSTRE8041T920120105
golddigger
(3,804 posts)PDJane
(10,103 posts)So why should you give them any? It's not the GOP way.
Turbineguy
(37,127 posts)it was either steal from the Veterans or the Blind!
freshwest
(53,661 posts)midnight
(26,624 posts)Party Chairman Mike Tate said in a statement." http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Jan/05/3_arrested_as_part_of_probe_into_ex_walker_aides.html
Hopefully Mike Tate can fit this into a commercial to remove this Koch head from the Gov. Mansion...
PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)Russell is, or at least was until recently, treasurer of the Republican Party of Milwaukee County.
He also was a board member and treasurer of the Soldiers Home Foundation from 2008 to 2010. His name has been scrubbed from the foundation website, but here's the archive listing him as treasurer as late as July 2011.
http://web.archive.org/web/20110718210151/http://www.soldiershome.org/contact-us http://www.soldiershome.org/
There's a whole lotta scrubbin' goin' on. The GOP has purged its site, too
midnight
(26,624 posts)Nardelli's immunity, and those stories are missing...
"Walker said Thursday that he was very disappointed by the alleged actions. He added that his chief of staff Nardelli, with his support, had asked the Milwaukee County district attorney to investigate concerns about the missing money."http://www.recallscottwalker.com/2012/01/walker-staff-probe-leads-to-3-arrests/
PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)I fully expect them to be handled with the utmost care and discretion as to not taint the results of full investigation and prosecution. I think there is going to be a lot more to come out of this. And I think it will be pretty big.
And the timing couldn't be more interesting.
midnight
(26,624 posts)midnight
(26,624 posts)Tim Russell (pictured), the longtime Scott Walker crony charged with embezzling money intended to help veterans, has had his fingers in other money pots, too. The list keeps growing.
Russell is, or at least was until recently, treasurer of the Republican Party of Milwaukee County, as we reported earlier.
He also was a board member and treasurer of the Soldiers Home Foundation from 2008 to 2010. His name has been scrubbed from the foundation website, but here's the archive listing him as treasurer as late as July 2011.
http://web.archive.org/web/20110718210151/http://www.soldiershome.org/contact-us http://www.soldiershome.org/
There's a whole lotta scrubbin' goin' on. The GOP has purged its site, too.
http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/tim-russell-everybodys-treasurer