Judge tells GOP leader his elections board criticism 'is just not true,' insists board oversees inv

Must read the rest of the article--Vos is getting really nasty. Shame on him!


http://chippewa.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/judge-tells-gop-leader-his-elections-board-criticism-is-just/article_6a83a45c-614a-5634-8108-9da5882b34fe.html

Judge tells GOP leader his elections board criticism 'is just not true,' insists board oversees investigations


JOHN HART — State Journal



Those pictured at this Government Accountability Board meeting include, from left, Elections Division Administrator Michael Haas, and board members Elsa Lamelas and Gerald C. Nichol.




57 minutes ago • MARY SPICUZZA mspicuzza@madison.com, 608-252-6122




The retired judges who lead Wisconsin's elections board have worked closely to oversee its investigations, the agency's chairman said.

And retired Judge Gerald Nichol, chairman of the state Government Accountability Board, added that a top Republican's criticism that the board is beholden to the director and his staff "is just not true."

In a letter released Monday, Nichol offered one of the most outspoken defenses yet of the seven-year-old nonpartisan board, which oversees elections, campaign finance, lobbying and ethics. The board has been heavily criticized by Republicans who control the Legislature in recent years, especially over a secret John Doe investigation into coordination between Republican Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and conservative groups.

"The members of the Government Accountability Board collectively have more than 120 years of experience as nonpartisan Circuit Court judges, so we do not undertake investigations lightly, and do not participate in fishing expeditions or partisan witch hunts," Nichol wrote in a Jan. 22 letter to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester. "When the Board is presented with credible, hard evidence the law has been violated, and when the Board finds a reasonable suspicion, an investigation is a proper use of public resources."

Nichol's letter came in response to recent comments Vos made in an interview with WMTV.

"We know that they were involved in the John Doe investigations with (district attorneys) in Milwaukee, we know they hired investigators to go and do that work without the authority of that GAB board of judges," Vos told the station.....more....