Courtesy of the We Party Patriots, we learn that Reince Priebus (and there’s a rejected Bond villain name if I’ve ever heard of one) seems to be implicated in the illegal activities that have already resulted in the arrests and indictments of several of Governor Walker’s current and former aides.
Walkergate” is unfolding into a masterwork in American conspiracy as the complaint explaining the charges against two of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s former staff members includes an email that may prove Walker had knowledge of the illegal activities happening around him. The charges have also implicated current chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, and his ties to a voter suppression scandal involving both Americans for Prosperity and former Herman Cain campaign manager Mark Block.
Mark Block is the infamous “smoking man” in that bizarre Herman Cain political ad.
The most recent criminal complaint also mentions Reince Preibus, then Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman and now head of the Republican National Committee. As the President of the RNC, Preibus was one of the main defenders of Herman Cain when his Presidential campaign was rocked by a series of scandals. As it turns out, part of money stolen by Russell was used to visit Herman Cain and his campaign manager, Mark Block, in Atlanta during December of 2010, after Walker had been elected. Mark Block, better known as the “smoking man” in Cain’s most infamous commercial, is the former Wisconsin State Director of Americans for Prosperity.
According to an Alternet article published on January 21, 2011, Block and Priebus participated in massive voter suppression of minorities in both the 2008 Presidential election and the 2010 mid-term election. This included the Wisconsin Gubernatorial race that Walker won and the Senate race which saw Russ Feingold fall to Tea Party backed candidate Ron Johnson. Block and Priebus, with help of Wisconsin Tea Party group Grandsons of Liberty and the assistance of Americans for Prosperity, ran a “voter caging” scam aimed at college students and African-Americans.
Go read the whole thing.
Benjamin Franklin
“Jaws” comes to mind. Wait, that was accepted…
burnspbesq
This is going to be 31 flavors of schadenfreudelicious as it unfolds (or perhaps unravels is a better word). Several players seem likely to land on “Go to Jail.”
Jean
I can only hope!
jl
Haven’t had a good national GOP party scandal for awhile. I guess they are too fractious to even get something like that off the ground.
They are risky, since you never know when a vile and disgusting GOP scandal that disgusts the public conscience might turn into good news for Republicans.
But, I am willing to take the risk. I will await developments. Make sure Drudge knows about it, he will make sure it gets front page coverage, right? I mean, he does do scandals, right?
dr. bloor
@burnspbesq: The black kid who got busted for stealing a bike two blocks over is going to get more time than any of these white, well-connected sociopaths.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Interesting for them that this is likely to play out as the independents – some of whom are college students and minorities, perhaps – are deciding which party should get the WH in November.
scav
I always get hung up on the Reince Cycle / Spin Cycle part of the name. Second part is just an hybrid car to me. Possibly a OTC drug but not a whisper of Bond whatsoever (unless some writer got very excited and gave names to Second and Third Assassin roles, I guess).
Hill Dweller
@burnspbesq: I would love nothing more than to see the wingnuts’ house of cards come crashing down.
The feckless political press isn’t going to call them on their obvious voter suppression campaign. It is going to take a massive scandal for it to cause any damage.
maya
Well, both sides do it.*
*Republican antidote to deaden any pain from the Ten Commandments.
Bizono
As a clever commenter on Gawker pointed out yesterday, if you remove the vowels from “Reince Preibus,” you get RNC PR BS.
Amazing.
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq:
@Hill Dweller: This is a slow drip of indictments. One or two coming out every couple of weeks. A few more facts come out each time. It doesn’t look good for WI Republicans from an honesty and fair dealing standpoint. And all this doesn’t even include thThe live-in partner of one of the indicted GOPers getting nailed for child pr0n after computers were seized.
Roger Moore
@Omnes Omnibus:
And can we all just say that it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving group?
gvg
I have to admit I’m having a hard time following that plot as a non Wisconsin person so I think it’s unlikely so far for the general public to understand.
Citizen Alan
I will die of hysterical laughter if Prince Rebis ends up getting indicted in time for the GOP convention. And speaking of rejected villain names, I assume the Grandsons of Liberty will be the primary antagonist in Metal Gear Solid XV or something like that.
Xjmueller
Great post.
@gvg. – I think the locals will understand. They’re the ones who matter.
tofubo
from way back when…
Comments (44)
tofubo wrote on May 14, 2007 6:28 PM:
and the r.i.c.o. lawsuit against the g.o.p. for massive voter fraud and oppression starts when ??
suborning the vote in a democracy, how patriotic
tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/003216.php
DanielX
Oh my, corruption and vote suppression efforts on the part of state and national level Republican officials? Appalling, I’m sure, and the longer it goes on the happier I’ll be. The vote suppression issue is possibly the only area where even Bobo would be hard pressed to make the usual “both sides do it” bleatings.
Can’t wait to hear how Mark Helperin spins it, though. If it needs to be said, somehow this will turn out to be good news for John McCain in particular and the Republican party in general, as always.
joeyess
I love the fact that any political scandal that comes to light is immediately given the suffix “gate”.
It speaks so well toward the GOP and tightly ties that albatross around their necks.
I hope they choke on it.
The next time some GOoPer calls a Dem scandal Whosiwhatsit”Gate” I demand that some Democrat remind them why the suffix exists in the first place.
Gravenstone
The wingnuts in my little (blood red) corner of Wisconsin are all aflutter about the recall. There are pro-Walker election signs all along the rural highways, and whiny lte’s complaining about how “undemocratic” the recall is abound in the local rags. It would be beyond hilarious if Scotty ends up getting hoist on his own petard of malfeasance and fraud dating back to his maladministration of Milwaukee county. Of course, the wingnut set will just whine louder that it’s all a conspiracy to take down their strapping young hero in Madison. And I’ll just stand back, point and laugh…
kideni
Priebus is also a partner in Michael Best and Friedrich, the same law firm that’s representing Republicans in everything that goes on in the state these days (inter alia, they argued the open meetings case in the spring; they drew up the voting districts and are now defending them in various courts [and getting slapped down by courts for their obstruction]; defended Supreme Court justice Gebleman in his ethics case three years ago, then never charged him for their time, which wasn’t disclosed in all the times they argued before Gableman on the court, which has led to renewed calls for Gableman to face more ethics charges if not step down; and on and on). I’m not sure why we have a Justice Dept., since MB&F does it all. It’s amazing how interconnected all these sleazy Republicans are, and this investigation seems to be pulling them all in.
kideni
I should also mention that the Grandsons of Liberty, mentioned in the We Party Patriots article as having been part of the voter caging scam in 2010, are one of the main groups reviewing the recall petitions on Walker’s behalf.
burnspbesq
@dr. bloor:
If you sincerely believe that, then you have no fucking idea how the criminal justice system works at the retail level. Your bike thief will be allowed to plead to a lesser charge, and if he’s a first offender he’ll get probation, because none of the DA’s office, the PD’s office, the courts, or the correction department have the resources to treat him any other way.
So please, get that nonsense out of here.
d0n camillo
I must admit, I find the multiple spellings of “Preibus” and “Priebus” in the one article to be a little distracting. Still, this is not the sort of thing a governor facing a recall campaign wants to have coming out.
Joel
Rancid Proboscis, indeed.
bjacques
I like Prince Rebus:
[robber w/domino mask holding bag of $$] + [ballot box] – [brains] = [GOP elephant]
Phoebe
Scott Walker!
youtube.com/watch?v=bZTS9H-l5qQ&feature=related