Walker, Barrett continue to blast one another on campaign trail
MADISON -- In one week, voters in Wisconsin will take to the polls in the historic recall race, and with just a week to go, Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor, and Democratic candidate for governor Tom Barrett blasted one another on the campaign trail Tuesday, May 29th.
Campaigning with Barrett in Baraboo, former senator Russ Feingold laid out his case for Gov. Walker's removal from office.
"He will not release the e-mails that the people of this state have a right to see before next Tuesday. We can't recall him again in this term. They know it's a one time deal under state law. It's very cynical. He's trying to commit the perfect political crime, and we can't let him do it," Feingold said.
Democrats want Gov. Walker to make public more than 1,000 emails allegedly sent on a secret internet system set up in Walker's office when he was Milwaukee's County Executive.
There are new questions, after an investigative report published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, referencing emails between Walker and John Hiller - a close advisor, about relocating the County's Department on Aging.
Responding to the investigation and allegations of bid-rigging in his apparent exchange with Hiller, Walker said Tuesday: "I think the story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel clearly shows what they mentioned a month or two ago, and that is, in the discussion about leasing office space for Milwaukee County offices, no one won the bid. No one won on the bid. The only people that won were the taxpayers of Milwaukee County."
Barrett has made the John Doe investigation into several of Walker's aides during his time as County Executive the primary focus of his campaign to unseat Gov. Walker.
"It really comes down to integrity, trust and having a governor who's going to put Wisconsin first," Barrett said.
Gov. Walker maintains he is not a focus of the investigation, and that he has been asked not to comment publicly by the Milwaukee County District Attorney.
"I've taken a strict oath of office to uphold the constitution and the laws there within, so I'm not going to violate the rules of that process," Gov. Walker said.
No further charges are likely prior to the election, but the District Attorney's Office says the investigation is ongoing.