This is pathetic. Chris pursues his hobby from home, and posts his blogs most of the time damn near midnight. So these geniuses found three or four of Chris's innumerable blog posts time-stamped during business hours ... while Chris was once again at home, on mandatory furlough imposed by county executive Scott Walker to trim expenses.
(See Chris's innumerable midnight-oil-burning blog posts as to why the latter fiduciary justification is disingenuous.)
Those dates are in the public record, reported on in the local paper, and in fact Chris blogs about what days he's on furlough. So why didn't these geniuses check into that before they disturbed the district attorney's office with this obviously gratuitous charade?
And what is Charlie Sykes — twelve? Pants-wetting, indeed.
More: Agent 414 Jason Haas.
June 16, 2010
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26 comments:
Will you be willing to recant if Chris is found guilty of posting on county time?
Recant of what?
Your entire post.
Those are facts. You want to challenge them, fill yer boots.
The implication of your post is that Capper is innocent "because he blogs most of the time damn near midnight".
If they find that Capper was using county time to blog from a public computer, will you admit that this investigation wasn't "pathetic"?
Of course he's innocent. This is America.
Of course he's innocent. This is America.
What was it Homer Simpson said? "Welcome to John Ashcroft's America"?
I just want to be clear about something. I don't approve of the DA going after Chris. I don't believe that blogging, even on county time, is illegal. It's just bad PR for the county.
But if Chris was posting content on his "Milwaukee County First" website, then it could be argued that it was a violation of federal law aka Hatch Act.
Either way, this will not be a good experience for Chris. He, his family, and the county will be caught up in a media wet dream. And if they let him go, his wife (if he has one) and family will bear the brunt of his actions.
Federal charges now, eh?
It's obvious whose wet dream this is.
You should probably familiarize yourself with the "Hatch Act". It was a law originally written for federal employees, but now applies to state, county, and city employees. They are not to engage in "political activity" while working in the capacity of a civil servant.
Blogging, per se, is not political activity any more than political conversation in the break room at work. But publishing content for a non-profit whose purpose is political might provide prosecutors with something to argue.
Check it out for yourself.
How could Chris be subject to the Hatch Act, whether blogging is a political activity or not (that it is is more likely than the Hatch Act's application to Chris)? I was under the impression his supervisor, Scott Walker, built his career on battling against the scourge of federal dollars.
if i were arod i would be careful about trying apply the hatch act so broadly. there are some walker admin folks and others that could be inadvertently caught in his wide dragnet.
All of the speculation in the world won't hurry this thing up.
I watched a similar complaint and investigation in Brookfield a few years ago. It took several months and then everyone who was fingered by a disgruntled attorney was cleared. The DA is charged to follow up on a sincere complaint. Right now, that's the only bottom line.
If arod weren't anonymous (snicker) we could ask him where he practices law.
One other thought - and I'll probably write this later - if Liebenthal is guilty, wouldn't that reflect poorly on Scott Walker? One might suggest Walker can't properly manage if all his employees spend their time on the internet. I contend this is a serious case of be careful what you wish for to the Walker fans.
I contend this is a serious case of be careful what you wish for to the Walker fans.
Amen to that, Cindy.
Cory,
That may be the case.
Another thing that's important to remember is that "political activity" refers to promoting or campaigning for a particular candidate. I don't recall Chris campaigning for Barrett, so the wide dragnet might not be wide enough for Chris. But like I said before, publishing articles on a non-profit site dedicated to politics might be another story.
Milwaukee County First by definition is political since it engages in all things Milwaukee County. It's a political entity, and therefore prosecutors might be able to make an argument against Chris. But then again, they might fail as well.
Either way, let's hope that Chris used a personal laptop or his phone to do his blogging rather than a public computer. I would presume that Chris was smart enough to see the difference.
By the way, is it true that Chris hired the same lawyer that represented Mike McGee?
Mike McGee, Oy vey. One senses desperation.
Depends on the policy and the precedent in actual practice, ARod. I find it rare for employers to enforce draconian policies to the letter. Yes, the policy might say "don't use your computer for personal purposes" but if the admitted precedent and practice is that they don't get upset if you're using Facebook during your break, or sometimes using Word to write a letter to Mom, it's harder for anyone to claim that one particular employee had stepped over the line.
Frankly, I don't know how you could effectively prosecute this. The databases underneath Capper's blogs are under his control. It's not like they seized a copy of what's on his servers, AFAIK. It's like saying we'll let O.J. go so he can clean up the crime scene.
ARod, I'm still waiting for your technical explanation of why turning off your cookies would cover your tracks...
Our master of federal law, Arow, wrote:
"Milwaukee County First by definition is political since it engages in all things Milwaukee County. It's a political entity, and therefore prosecutors might be able to make an argument against Chris. But then again, they might fail as well."
Yes, it's a political group. So what? So is are any number of political parties or groups. That alone is not enough to indict Chris in any way. But it could be useful ammo in event of a witch hunt. Goodness knows those never happen around here.
"Woulda shoulda coulda." -- Nancy Grace
Looks like capper has fooled many people. The DA is not pressing charges yet they did find evidence to support the original complaint of using country resources for political blogging purpose.
I'm interested to know how they came about that determination. Nevertheless, CRG accused him of breaking the law and failed in that pursuit. Moreover the list of time stamps CRG published was comprised of days off and even national holidays. So, at the very best, CRG got lucky with what really was a woefully unsupported little fishing expedition.
Unsupported? They found evidence on his computer....called a forensic image, of his computer blogging. The only law the DA could charge would be the same law as campaign finance law as it pertains to government employees. Since there is no evidence that he works for a campaign or received money from a campaign the DA has no jurisdiction to prosecute. They did however turn over their findings to the county in the event he misused resources per guidelines established for users/workers of the county system/network...leaving it an administrative action if the county wished to pursue.
Since their is tracks of his activity it shows the complaint had merit as the DA did find the evidence....the same evidence capper's supporters claimed would not be found.
They found evidence on his computer....called a forensic image, of his computer blogging.
No, "they" did not.
Will arod recant his comments now?
Why would I recant?
Simply for the general benefit of humanity.
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