Donald Fish Public Statements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2001
Campaign finance complaint filed against DPW
Today in Madison, at 2:22 p.m., as a citizen, I filed a formal 15-page complaint with the state Elections Board alleging violations of state campaign finance law by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. My complaint centers on allegation concerning voter databases built using state resources and facilities that ultimately made important contributions to the party’s campaign efforts.
My complaint alleges the party violated state campaign finance law by accepting and failing to fully report in-kind contributions of taxpayer-financed voter databases and by soliciting electioneering services from state employees while they were engaged in official duties.
Wisconsin has been important to my family since my grandfather's grandfather, John Adair, and his three brothers arrived here around 1850 and settled an area near Monroe. Along with the state’s other early settlers, they were the farmers, pioneers and original builders of Wisconsin’s spirit of freedom, clean government and the rule of law. It is now time for me to do my part, and that is why I have decided to come forward and file this complaint.
I believe a bond between the stewards of our state and the taxpayers has been dishonored. But this issue is not only about the $4 million the caucuses cost. It is primarily about undermining the election process by interjecting an unfair influence—one that protects incumbents and candidates favored by those with power.
One of the most troubling comments I read in the Wisconsin State Journal’s investigative series on caucus employees was a former caucus staffer saying our “legislative leaders feel they have little choice but to continue campaigning on the state’s dime—or loose seats in the legislature.” But determining who wins and looses is the responsibility and right of the voters—and that requires fair elections not soiled in this way.
I have worked in Democratic Party campaigns for a long time, but I think my happiest moment came when Sen. Feingold squeaked through a very tight election in 1998—particularly because it was won so honorably; without using soft money. That is why it saddens me to know these voter databases were used extensively for his campaign, and many have given them credit for winning that election.
There was a time when our leaders ran for office because they wanted to serve the people. Now everything in politics is about winning, and those caught up in it seem to have an infinite capacity for rationalization. It seems like everything is done with the next election in mind and that is a disservice.
I urge Gov. McCallum to veto funding for the caucuses in its entirety. It is the right thing to do, and it would be a heroic gesture. And if he fails to do this, I believe it is up to the people once again to take back their government.
- DONALD FISH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2001
McCallum’s caucus decision did not serve citizens well
I was very disappointed with Gov. McCallum’s decision yesterday not to veto funding for the partisan legislative caucuses. The citizens of Wisconsin were not served well. The Governor had a unique opportunity to take a stand in favor of clean government and fiscal responsibility, but instead appears to have buckled under to the pressure of those who benefit from the status quo. It is now up to the people, once again, to take back their government.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2001
Settlement talks on caucus investigation
I am troubled by recent media reports that some are considering a quick resolution to the caucus investigation with a settlement to transfer caucus staffers to individual legislative offices. I am afraid such a settlement might make it appear like action was taken to correct the situation—and that there was accountability—while, in reality, it essentially maintains the status quo in different packaging.
I believe no resolution to this matter will be complete until there is a full accounting. Furthermore, in my opinion, a settlement such as those described in the media would likely merely move the problem and not solve it. In fact, while most reporting has focused on caucus employees, in a complaint I filed earlier this month with the State Elections Board, I allege some voter databases that would eventually aid Democratic Party election campaigns may in part have been processed using resources of some Democratic legislative offices.
This is an important issue deserving a just and complete resolution. I believe a bond between the stewards of our state and the taxpayers was dishonored. But this issue is not only about the $4 million the caucuses cost each year; it is primarily about undermining the election process by interjecting an unfair influence—one that protects incumbents and candidates favored by those with power.
I urge that any resolution to the caucus investigation provide real accountability along with policy changes that are true solutions and not political gimmicks. If our leaders fail to do this, I believe it is up to the people, once again, to take back their government.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2002
Caucus scandal one year anniversary
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Wisconsin’s citizens becoming aware of what I, and state political insiders, have known for a long time: that much of our government is used as our leaders’ secret and illegal campaign organization. Unfortunately, there has been little accountability in the subsequent year, and it is now time for citizens to take matters into their own hands. Everything in politics is about winning, and those caught up in it seem to have an infinite capacity for rationalization. The state must elect new leaders who do not believe their first duty is to themselves and their elections, but rather to the constituents they are elected to represent.
TEXT OF LETTER TO THE ELECTIONS BOARD:
March 11, 2002
State of Wisconsin Elections Board
PO Box 2973
132 E Wilson St, 2nd Fl
Madison, WI 53701-2973
I have brought my complaint before the State of Wisconsin Elections Board because of the chance it could help cultivate a genuine change in how our elected leaders choose to govern us. I believe our leaders, their staff and the major political parties have taken advantage of the citizens. In the years I have been in the inner circles of politicians and politics, I have become very aware of a culture that believes anything is okay in the pursuit of winning, and those involved seem to have an infinite capacity for rationalization. If they should get caught, they just ‘spin’ their way out of it.
Abraham Lincoln once asked, “How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.” They can try to say the data was just ‘public information,’ say everyone was just ‘volunteering,’ or make any of their other ludicrous claims—but it is still a ‘tail.’ I was there, and I know the truth.
With the activities I have described, and those brought to light by the media, it is no wonder why it is so difficult to defeat incumbents. Essentially, much of government is used as their secret campaign machine, giving a distinct advantage to those who control it. Our elected leaders have everything to gain from the status quo, but the citizens have everything to loose. This system has a destructive impact on one of the most fundamental promises of a democracy—fair and equal elections.
In the nineteenth century, An English painter named Samuel Palmer said, “Wise men make proverbs, but fools repeat them.” I think something like this applies to Elections Boards as well. If these activities are not seriously dealt with, it will be taken as a sign that this behavior will be tolerated. And the behavior will be repeated because there is no incentive to change.
I urge the Board to conduct a thorough and complete investigation of the charges I have brought, and to deal with this situation in a way that is truly meaningful and that will help return the kind of integrity to Wisconsin government that was previously so celebrated. But if the Board fails to do this, there is still a second chance, because in the hands of the voters lay the power of all possibilities.
Sincerely,
Donald Fish
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2002
The caucus system was NOT public financing
Today I read, in the Wisconsin State Journal, a quote attributed to Rep. Rick Skindrud (R-Mount Horeb), “That's what it (caucus system) was - it was public financing.” Based on my experience with the legislative caucuses, at least on the Democratic Party’s side, I believe such a statement to be ridiculous and self-serving.
True public financing creates an even playing field where everyone has an equal opportunity. The caucuses only played to incumbents and those anointed by the legislative leadership and party insiders. If you were challenging an incumbent in a primary; or an unwelcome maverick, an independent or a third party candidate in a general election; you would be out of luck. The caucus system provided a distinct advantage to those who controlled it.
Anyone who justifies the legislative caucus as public financing of political campaigns should reconsider their position. It is the opposite.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2002
Barrett makes an interesting observation at debate
Rep. Tom Barrett made an interesting observation during yesterday evening’s Democrat Gubernatorial Debate. In answering a question about the caucus scandal, the 5th District Congressman responded that nobody on his staff was under investigation. But what Rep. Barrett failed to mention was that Congress has made it very difficult for the public to get information on how their congressional staff uses their time and how their office and travel expenses are allocated.
While I was employed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, April 1998 to July 2000, most of my election-oriented contact with the Barrett Campaign was through a non-government volunteer living in the Madison area, and I remember this volunteer usually was Rep. Barrett’s representative on the Party’s Coordinated Campaign. However, this was not the case with most Democrat Congressional campaigns.
Under oath I told the State of Wisconsin Elections Board there was a significant problem with using Congressional staff for campaign purposes, and that I believed this to be a particular problem with Sen. Herb Kohl, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Ron Kind, Rep. Jerry Kleczka and Rep. Dave Obey. These campaigns were regularly represented on the Party’s Coordinated Campaign by government staffers. (This was also true for Doyle for Governor and the Assembly and State Senate campaign committees.)
One document I provided the Elections Board is a telephone call list I inherited from a Party official when he left in the spring of 1999. Almost all the contact telephone numbers on this list are to government offices. As I state under oath in a filing I to the State Elections Board, December 6, 2001, “Numbers on the list included the government offices of Atty. Gen. Doyle, Sen. Kohl, Rep. Baldwin, Rep. Barrett, Rep. Kind, Rep. Kleczka, Rep. Obey, the ADC, and SDC.” Sen. Feingold’s name was associated with a government telephone number in State Rep. Jon Richards’s office.
I urge government investigators, the media and the people to look further into Rep. Barrett’s observation, and call on Wisconsin’s entire Democrat Congressional delegation to release all information from the past five years on how their congressional staff used their official time, where they traveled on the people’s dime and how congressional office resources were allocated. The people have a right to know.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2002
Doyle makes confusing remarks
In a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel news story today, Atty. Gen. Jim Doyle said he has “repeatedly told workers at his agency to never campaign on state time, and he has been told that (JoAnna) Richard never broke that rule when representing the attorney general at state Democratic Party strategy sessions.”
However, while the Atty. Gen. does appear to be admitting Ms. Richard attended the campaign meetings, research published in a press release on the WisPolitics.COM website yesterday says, “A list of meeting dates in 2000 compiled from various sources shows that, with only one exception, Richard took no leave time on these dates.”
This is what is confusing. Something is wrong with this picture. How can Atty. Gen. Doyle have it both ways? How can someone attend meetings on his or her own time and still be on the state clock? Perhaps Ms. Richard attended the meetings at different times that the other participants.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2002
Barrett is the best choice
Tom Barrett is the best choice in tomorrow’s Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor. Kathleen Falk is also a good choice, but Barrett tops the list because of the courage he has shown in calling attention to the possible use of state resources by Jim Doyle in his election campaign.
When Barrett stood up and made his voice heard on the issue, he knew full well that he would be charged with negative campaigning, but he also understood that our leaders too often put on blinders for the sake of elections. I do not know if Barrett’s stand will hurt or help his election efforts, but it helped Wisconsin.
It is very concerning how Doyle’s answers to the charges changed as more evidence became known, and how his responses sounded, as noted in a Wisconsin State Journal editorial last week, “a lot like the explanations legislators used last year to justify sending state employees all over Wisconsin to work on campaigns while taxpayers assumed they were working for them.”
I believe our leaders have taken advantage of the citizens. In the years I have been in the inner circles of politicians and politics, I have become all too aware of a culture that believes anything is okay in the pursuit of winning, and those involved seem to have an infinite capacity for rationalization. If they should get caught, they just ‘spin’ their way out of it.
I am reminded that Abraham Lincoln once asked, “How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”
While working for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, I was always impressed in how Barrett tried to separate his congressional staff from his election campaigns, which was the exception and not the rule when compared to most of his colleagues, and he has come out with the start of a credible plan to do something real about the problem.
Doyle is part of the old guard. Tom Barrett can give Wisconsin a fresh start and can return to the state its former reputation of clean government.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2002
Donald Fish calls for investigation of possible DPW perjury and corruption
Last year I filed a campaign finance complaint with the Wisconsin State Elections Board on allegations concerning voter lists built by the Democratic Assembly and Senate legislative caucuses, using state resources and facilities, which ultimately made important contributions to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s campaign efforts. Under oath the Party and Executive Director Steve Kean stated that such transfers were legal because they involved “public information available to anyone.”
However, in the Brian Blanchard hearing before Judge Sarah O’Brien, September 17, 2002, large holes were blown in this argument. With respect to voter lists requested, in 2000, by Blanchard’s campaign for Dane County District Attorney, the judges ruling issued yesterday states that Andy Gussert and Branda Weix, who were caucus employees during the time covered by my complaint, “refused the Blanchard campaign request for lists.”
Until this time the Elections Board has sat on my complaint, and in my view has been wishing I would just go away. After more than a year they have not even asked me for copies of all the documents I have concerning my complaint, even though I have offered to provide them on more than one occasion. In the light of this new information, I am calling on the Elections Board to stop sitting on my complaint and to seriously investigate what I have put before them.
Additionally, with respect to this new information and the considerable information I have already made available, I am calling on Dane County District Attorney Blanchard to fully investigate possible perjury and corruption by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and Executive Director Kean.
I believe our leaders have taken advantage of the citizens. In the years I have been in the inner circles of politicians and politics, I have become all too aware of a culture that believes anything is okay in the pursuit of winning, and those involved seem to have an infinite capacity for rationalization. If they should get caught, they just ‘spin’ their way out of it.
I am reminded that Abraham Lincoln once asked, “How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 28, 2002
12-step program for more ethical government
“State government is facing a crisis in confidence,” said Donald Fish, who began a battle to reform caucus scandal practices over two years before the public became aware there was a problem. “Cleaning up the mess in Madison is the most important issue facing the Governor, the state legislature and the citizens of Wisconsin.”
“The founders of this state, including my ancestors who settled an area near Monroe around 1850, are looking down on us now,” said Fish. “They were the farmers, pioneers and original builders of the Wisconsin’s spirit of freedom, clean government and the rule of law. It is now time for us to set things straight.”
Donald Fish proposes the following 12-step program to clean up the mess associated with the Wisconsin caucus scandal:
1. Elect candidates not connected to caucus scandal abuses.
2. Enact new guidelines for state employees: These should require precise accounting of hours worked and state resources used, as well as new rules, modeled after the federal Hatch Act, restricting political activity by state employees.
3. Appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate caucus scandal abuses: Jim Doyle, Brian Blanchard and Mike McCann have failed to demonstrate the political courage needed to conduct a fair and complete investigation. Caucus scandal abuses go well beyond those who have been charged, and the investigators may have engaged in selective prosecution to protect the most powerful. A well respected Wisconsin elder statesman should be appointed to lead a comprehensive investigation.
4. Expand the caucus scandal investigation: Jim Doyle, Brian Blanchard and all other elected officials and state employees against whom there is well-founded caucus scandal evidence should be investigated. No one should be immune or protected from prosecution, no matter how powerful. Let the chips fall where they may.
5. Jim Doyle and Brian Blanchard should recuse themselves from the caucus scandal investigation.
6. End taxpayer-funded attorney payments for those under investigation for caucus scandal abuses: These payments are generally viewed as ‘hush money’ and have not only been a national embarrassment for Wisconsin, but may also be an impediment to the caucus scandal investigation.
7. Wisconsin’s congressional delegation should release their staff’s time sheets and travel expenses: I have provided the State Elections Board with evidence that federal congressional staff and resources may also be uses for electioneering. Wisconsin has a right to know the depth of corruption by its elected officials, and the state’s congressional delegation should voluntarily release time sheets, travel expenses and any other documents relating to how their offices used federal resources during the past five years.
8. Depoliticize and strengthen the State Elections Board and State Ethics Board: The caucus scandal has demonstrated that these Boards are too partisan and lack the resources and authority needed to effectively act as watchdogs of political wrongdoing. Dramatic changes are needed to depoliticize these Boards, as well as to provide them with the resources and teeth needed for effective enforcement of state campaign finance and ethics laws and regulations.
9. Act on Donald Fish’s complaint before the State Elections Board: The complaint I filed with the State Elections Board, August 20, 2001, is well documented, but the Board has sat on it for over a year. It is time these allegations are acted on.
10. Jim Doyle and other Democratic Party candidates should disassociate themselves from DPW voter lists: I have provided evidence to the State Elections Board that Democratic Party of Wisconsin voter lists were developed using state resources and may be in violation of campaign finance law. Until this matter is resolved, Jim Doyle and all other Democratic Party candidates should disassociate themselves from fundraising, GOTV and persuasion calls and mailings associated with these lists.
11. Citizens should just say ‘NO’: If Jim Doyle or other Democratic Party candidates do not disassociate themselves from the DPW voter lists cited in my State Elections Board complaint (see #10), citizens receiving fundraising, GOTV or persuasion calls or mail for these candidates should vigorously complain and ask that their name be permanently removed from these lists.
12. MOST IMPORTANT—Politics must change: New rules are useless if Wisconsin elected officials and government employees do not reform themselves—loopholes and better stealth will always be found. There was a time when our leaders ran for office because they wanted to serve the people. Now everything in politics is about winning, and those caught up in it have an infinite capacity for rationalization. This must change. The top priority of our leaders must be democracy and the constituents they serve.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2002
Doyle, Dem candidates should disassociate themselves from DPW voter lists, GOTV efforts
“Jim Doyle and all other Democratic Party candidates should disassociate themselves from Democratic Party of Wisconsin voter lists cited in a State Elections Board complaint I filed last year,” said former party worker Donald Fish.
Fish’s complaint alleges violations of state campaign finance law and concerns computerized voter databases developed using state resources and facilities. Fish was employed, 1998-2000, as the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Voter File Manager and believes party voter lists are part of the state’s caucus scandal.
“If history holds, this week and next the Democrats will be using their voter lists for GOTV [Get Out the Vote] calls and mailings,” Fish said. “Until the Elections Board resolves the matter of the legality of these lists, I believe it would be unethical for any candidate to take part in these [GOTV] efforts.”
Fish believes that if Democratic Party candidates do not follow his advice, citizens of Wisconsin receiving GOTV calls and mail for those candidates should “vigorously complain and ask that their name be permanently removed from the party’s lists.”
“Democrats last week vowed to be a force for reform saying, ‘Fighting Bob would weep for Wisconsin’s progressive tradition if he could see what is happening today,’” said Fish. “Now is the time for the Democrats to show us if they really meant what they said or if it was just more spin.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2002
The trouble with Jim
Jim Doyle has a problem. He wants voters to believe he had no knowledge or involvement with the Wisconsin caucus scandal. The problem is the attitude that led to the abuses was not isolated; rather it was an integral part of the culture and way of life at the Capitol. Doyle can do his dance, but he may have to hope voters do not look at the whole story.
Last year I filed a complaint with the State Elections Board alleging the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s Coordinated Campaign violated state campaign finance law by using state resources in the development of computerized voter lists. Just three days later, Doyle issued a press release distancing himself from the Coordinated Campaign. His August 23, 2001 statement said, “I have never had any personal involvement with the Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign. I have never attended a meeting. My campaign has never used voter lists from the coordinated campaign, nor has it assisted in the procurement or preparation (sic) of any voter lists.”
Since then, however, it has been pointed out that Doyle’s own campaign finance reports show Doyle for Attorney General gave $4,952 to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, on March 23, 1999, specifically for a voter list. Additionally, while Doyle himself may not have attended Coordinated Campaign meetings, both I and another former party employee have reported that a Doyle representative regularly did attend these meetings. This is significant because, as I have stated under oath, a regular part of Coordinated Campaign meetings was an update on how much work state employees had completed on voter list development.
Despite credible evidence, Doyle’s campaign activities have not received a serious examination—perhaps because he is the “boss of the [caucus scandal] investigators,” as he has called himself. But if true justice is to be served, there will need to be a full and fair investigation. That is the trouble with Jim, and trouble for Wisconsin. If elected, the day he takes office, Doyle could be the subject of such a probe. That is bad for Wisconsin. With a looming $2.8 billion budget deficit and other serious problems, the state needs a Governor not saddled with his own troubles. I must say as a Democrat, it is regrettable the Democratic Party did not nominate a less tarnished candidate in the primary.