Blanchard Passes the Buck

After getting off to a rocky start with its first two witnesses, the state began direct examination of former Assembly Republican Graphic Artist, Eric Grant. Grant who is currently employed as an art director at a Chicago advertising agency, worked at the Republican Assembly Caucus from August of 1995 until April of 2000. Scott Jensen was not elected Speaker of the Assembly until 1997, the same year Sherry Schultz was hired by Assembly Leader Steve Foti.

Despite the defense’s objections, Judge Ebert allowed the state to introduce testimony and evidence about Grant’s employment activities that predate the charges against both defendants. Grant spent the better part of the afternoon discussing various political projects he worked on beginning in the fall of 1995.

District Attorney Brian Blanchard who seems quite willing to put people in jail for using state paid graphic artists to create campaign literature, decided to let Assistant AG Roy Korte examine Grant. Was that because Blanchard himself received graphic design services from the Senate Democratic Caucus staff? Was Blanchard feeling even the slightest twinge of guilt when Korte showed Grant a nomination paper he had designed for an Assembly candidate?

Eric Grant testified that he created over a hundred documents over a four and a half year period for dozens of different people. So how is that the state’s presentation was so selectively focused that Grant ended up mentioning the names of a former media director who now serves as Congressman Mark Green’s Chief of Staff, and a former legislative aid who is now Scott Walker’s Campaign Manager?

And the state’s exhibit just happened to include a work order for Mark Green’s 1998 congressional campaign --- the media was foaming at the mouth over this revelation. The only problem is that Mark Green’s campaign paid Grant personally for that work, so if Grant used state time and resources to complete that project, he has just been identified as the only Republican to use his state position and resources for personal gain. That might make this overly eager witness a little less credible.

Tomorrow the state will call Gina Ward to testify. Ward worked as an Assembly Republican Caucus Artist in 1989, when Scott Jensen served as Caucus Director. Funny how the state gets to call witnesses to testify about what was done in the past but the defense team can’t bring up the past “uncharged activities" of others to make their case that the rules were unclear.

If the defense could raise these kinds of issues, they might talk about how former Doyle Campaign Manager Andy Gussert directed Senate Democratic Caucus staff to provide voter lists and nomination paper design work for Brian Blanchard’s campaign for Dane County District Attorney, or how current Doyle Campaign Manager Rich Judge directed graphic artists to create campaign literature for Democratic Assembly candidates every day when he was a caucus director, a decade after Scott Jensen served in that capacity.

And that pesky defense might want to know why Blanchard redacted most of the testimony of Assembly Democratic Caucus artist Lisa Lindner along with the entire report of selected copies of political materials she created at the ADC. And why did Blanchard steer Lindner's boyfriend and co-worker, Mike White away from testimony about Lindner's work? Did that work include graphic design for Jim Doyle, Peg Laugtenslager or Brian Burke's campaigns?

Brian Blanchard will call a total of four former Graphic Artists to testify that they designed campaign literature on state time. Unless they decide to lie under oath, not one of them will say Scott Jensen directed them to do so.