GOP Phone Bank Fraud in Wisconsin Recall Election

Mother Jones:

In a complaint filed with Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board Tuesday morning, We Are Wisconsin alleges the two groups [the California-based Tea Party Express (TPE) group and the Republican Party of Wisconsin] violated Wisconsin campaign law that prohibits coordination between independent expenditure groups and candidates or groups working on behalf of candidates. The complaint points to an August 8th email from the Tea Party Express to its supporters urging supporters to volunteer in its "Phone From Home program with the Wisconsin Republican Party" to make calls in support of GOP candidates. The link in the email leads to an online volunteering site that lists Tom Dickens, the WI GOP's political director, as the contact person. The Phone From Home page also presents volunteers with a call script praising GOP Sen. Randy Hopper's record creating jobs and "working to fix the state budget shortfall without raising taxes."

We Are Wisconsin's complaint depicts all this as a joint effort between TPE and the WI GOP. "Scott Walker and his national right-wing backers have proven time and again that no tactic—however despicable or illegal—is off limits in their quest to maintain absolute power and push their corporate-backed attacks on Wisconsin's working families," says Kelly Steele, a spokesman for We Are Wisconsin. A spokeswoman for the WI GOP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.