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Gas Receipts Raise Questions (WI. Attorney General Lies)
Wisconsin State Journal ^ | 4/14/04 | Scott Milfred

Posted on 04/14/2004 3:42:26 PM PDT by ninenot

Gas receipts raise questions about attorney general's use of state car
10:41 PM 4/13/04
Scott Milfred Wisconsin State Journal

Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager gassed up her state car in Racine just hours after attending a political fund-raiser in the same city, state fuel receipts show. <

Yet she insists she didn't use the state car to get to the local Democratic Party fund-raiser, which could have violated state law. <

The incident is one of several involving gas receipts that raise questions about whether the attorney general used her state car for personal or political events beyond what the state Ethics Board determined in its investigation into the matter. <

"I have never taken a (state) car to a state political event," Lautenschlager said two weeks ago, when first asked about an initial batch of fuel receipts the Wisconsin State Journal compared to her work calendar. <

"On any of those events where there were political things," Lautenschlager said, "I always used my personal car or somebody else's." <

The State Journal obtained 59 gas receipts from purchases Lautenschlager made at filling stations across Wisconsin. She bought the gas between Feb. 1, 2003, and Feb. 17, 2004, using her state-issued fuel purchasing card.

Lautenschlager said she always kept the card with her state-issued car, typically a 1999 Buick Park Avenue. <

The Ethics Board didn't look at the gas receipts when it tried to piece together how many miles the attorney general owed taxpayers for commuting to and from her Fond du Lac home in her state car. <

Late last month, the board fined Lautenschlager $250 and charged her $672 for 1,969 personal miles of travel. The investigation followed Lautenschlager's drunken driving conviction after she drove her state car into a ditch. <

Lautenschlager has refused in recent days to answer questions about specific trips that correspond to gas purchases. She did say previously she sometimes drove to meetings not listed on her calendar. <

"I can't really reconstruct any of this because I don't have the proper records to,"; she said. "And that's where we ran into problems."The gas receipts show Lautenschlager filled up her state car at least 21 times in Fond du Lac. On or around only three of those dates did her work calendar show state business in the vicinity of Fond du Lac. <

In addition, the attorney general filled up her state car five times in cities between Fond du Lac and Madison or Milwaukee, such as Beaver Dam, Waupun and Slinger. These could be more commutes, because her calendar showed no state business to explain the routes. <

Twenty-one Fond du Lac fill-ups, minus three for state business, plus five additional commutes would equal 23. If Lautenschlager commuted 23 times, she would have owed the state about $470 more than she paid. <

The attorney general put 14.5 gallons of gas in her state car at 3 p.m. on Christmas Day in Fond du Lac, even though her calendar shows no state business that day. Ethics Board attorney Jonathan Becker said she told investigators she didn't use her state car for official business for several days surrounding the holiday. <

Lautenschlager put 12.6 gallons of gas in her state car at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, June 13, 2003, in Fond du Lac. Her schedule that day included several Milwaukee events at a crime lab, then a reception for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a speech at the state Democratic convention and finally a meeting with then-presidential candidate Howard Dean. <

State rules forbid taking a state car to a political event, said Administration Department attorney John Rothschild. Even if she switched cars in Milwaukee and took a private car to the political events, state law might require her to pay a portion of the mileage on her state car.Lautenschlager purchased 13 gallons of gas at 7:08 a.m. on Monday, March 17, 2003, in Racine. Her work calendar shows she was a featured speaker at the Racine County Democratic Dinner at the Roma Lodge in Racine the night before from about 5 to 8 p.m. The county party raised several hundred dollars, after expenses, by charging $25 at the door. <

Lautenschlager's calendar lists no other events in Racine on those days or in previous weeks. A local Web site has a picture of Lautenschlager mingling at the lodge in front of what appears to be a campaign lawn sign. <

Lautenschlager originally said Fond du Lac County Board member Todd Schmitz drove her in a Grand Prix to and from the Racine political event. <

"I just remember it very, very clearly,"; she said, noting her husband had just had a medical procedure and thoughts of that distracted her during her speech. <

Days after that comment, when additional state records showed the exact date and time of the Racine gas purchase, Lautenschlager's staff hedged on how she got to the fund-raiser. It's possible Schmitz drove her, said Lautenschlager aide Vaughn Vance. But that would have required a Fond du Lac-Racine round trip on Sunday night, followed by a return trip to Racine in her state car early the next morning after only a few hours of sleep. <

In an interview Tuesday, Schmitz said he couldn't find the trip on his calendar. He may have volunteered to drive the attorney general that night because he remembers taking her to a Racine political event, he said. But he can't remember when or which car he drove. <

Another possibility, Vance said, is that the attorney general drove her state car to Milwaukee for state business. She then would have ridden in a private vehicle to and from the Racine fund-raiser Sunday night, only to drive her state car back to Racine that same night to stay at a co-worker's house. She then would have had the state car Monday to work on a confidential legal matter in the Racine area, Vance said. <

But Lautenschlager told the state Ethics Board she didn't use her state car for any state business that Sunday or Monday, Becker said. And her calendar doesn't list any events in Milwaukee. <

Contact Scott Milfred at smilfred@madison.com or 252-6129. <



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: abuse; ag; fraud; lautenschlager; statecaruse; wisconsin

1 posted on 04/14/2004 3:42:27 PM PDT by ninenot
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To: ninenot
<sarcasm>A Democrat caught lying? How SHOCKING!</sarcasm>
2 posted on 04/14/2004 3:46:30 PM PDT by SpyGuy
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To: ADSUM; blackdog; LouD; bohica; Catspaw; Chummy; EODGUY; Faraday; gnarledmaw; Iris7; brewcrew; ...
Ping a couple of the WI Freepers. You may bookmark.

Lying Lush Lautenschlager Rides Again!!! (At your expense...)
3 posted on 04/14/2004 3:48:48 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, TomasTorquemadaGentlemen'sClub)
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To: ninenot
Another possibility, Vance said, is that the attorney general drove her state car to Milwaukee for state business. She then would have ridden in a private vehicle to and from the Racine fund-raiser Sunday night, only to drive her state car back to Racine that same night to stay at a co-worker's house. She then would have had the state car Monday to work on a confidential legal matter in the Racine area, Vance said.

Watching this spokesboy play verbal Twister is just a hoot! :-)

4 posted on 04/14/2004 3:51:34 PM PDT by an amused spectator (FR: Leaving the burning dog poop bag of Truth on the front door step of the liberal media since 1996)
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To: ninenot
She isn't just lying...she was and probably still is "stealing" which is against the law
even for top cops....

If she had an ounce of character she would resign...but then if she had an ounce of character she couldn't be a democrat...

The Gov doesn't want Peg to resign he has got her right where he wants her...bought and paid for.....she will be his Janet Reno

Hopefully my fellow Wisconsinites have had enough of this unholy crime family running the state.....

And come fall we can show (at least some of these bums) the door IMO

5 posted on 04/14/2004 4:16:55 PM PDT by joesnuffy (Moderate Islam Is For Dilettantes)
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To: ninenot
"I can't really reconstruct any of this because I don't have the proper records to,"; she said. "And that's where we ran into problems."The gas receipts show Lautenschlager filled up her state car

at least 21 times in Fond du Lac. On or around only three of those dates did her work calendar show state business in the vicinity of Fond du Lac.

I steal so much I cant remember actual specific thefts.....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

IMO

6 posted on 04/14/2004 4:20:03 PM PDT by joesnuffy (Moderate Islam Is For Dilettantes)
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To: ninenot

7 posted on 04/14/2004 4:22:32 PM PDT by Future Useless Eater (FreedomLoving_Engineer)
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To: SpyGuy
An official using a state car for politics? I'm shocked.

In California it's against the law NOT to!
8 posted on 04/14/2004 4:27:12 PM PDT by Republicus2001
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Arrest Report
9 posted on 04/14/2004 4:27:32 PM PDT by Future Useless Eater (FreedomLoving_Engineer)
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To: FL_engineer
It makes you wonder if the State of Wisconsin would be
just as forgiving if RUSH LIMBAUGH had been passing thru
the state and had been caught breaking so many laws...

drunk driving, mis-use of state property, etc...


And as Wisconsin's TOP COP, she should know better.
Her husband in the car at the time is also a police seargent
for Neenah Wisconsin.
10 posted on 04/14/2004 4:39:26 PM PDT by Future Useless Eater (FreedomLoving_Engineer)
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To: ninenot
For those of you who don't know anything about this woman, she's the same person who got arrested for DUI not all that long ago. And now she's abusing her state-car-driving privileges.
11 posted on 04/14/2004 4:40:47 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace (Michael <a href = "http://www.michaelmoore.com/" title="Miserable Failure">"Miserable Failure"</a>)
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To: FL_engineer
I am waiting to get the whole story on CNN.
12 posted on 04/14/2004 5:02:57 PM PDT by TYVets ("An armed society is a polite society." - Robert A. Heinlein & me)
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To: TYVets
Don't hold your breath.

She's the rat in the trap. It may even occur to the Milwaukee newspaper (there's only one...) that this pile of dissembling deserves coverage.

Of course, there are OTHER possibilities--like, for example, she was using the State's gasoline charge card to fill up OTHER people's cars.

Her claim that 'she only used the car for one round-trip/week to work' on which she based her reimbursement to the State raises another interesting question: if she only made one round-trip per week, where did she stay while in Madison? and WHO PAID FOR THAT????

Altogether, the State Ethics Board looks like a bunch of gullible idiots, or worse.
13 posted on 04/14/2004 5:09:56 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, TomasTorquemadaGentlemen'sClub)
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To: ninenot
I lived in Wisconsin for my first 38 years and had my fill of the veneer of "clean progressive politics" that was placed over things so as to mollify the taxpayers by suggesting they were getting something for their $ (the rationale was always that at least we were not some den of corruption like Illinois!) 

A number of high profile scandals in the legislature have stripped the bark off of that lie. And an incompetent Governor appointing half wits to major state posts hasn't helped things. Along comes Peg Lautenschlager - with a very undistinguished record (successful only at garnering patronage appointments in efficient succession), and she manages to perform a DUI in a state vehicle.

Here in Georgia a veteran GBI agent was arrested for DUI recently - and he told the arresting officers "there goes my job" as he was placed in the squad car. The next day he was dismissed. That's the proper action to take in such a situation - and the standard should be no different for Attorney General of Wisconsin. There are a lot more competent lawyers who would gladly take over in her wake. If she has any sense of propriety she will resign. If she doesn't the Wisconsin Bar Association should start the effort to get her to step down.

14 posted on 04/14/2004 5:26:06 PM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken (Seldom right, never in doubt!)
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To: ninenot
A Bitch in the Ditch Bump
15 posted on 04/14/2004 8:19:45 PM PDT by wisconsinconservative ("The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.")
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To: ninenot
Ping
16 posted on 04/15/2004 4:16:25 AM PDT by LouD (Fallujah Delenda Est)
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To: ninenot
Lautenschlager originally said Fond du Lac County Board member Todd Schmitz drove her in a Grand Prix to and from the Racine political event.

"I just remember it very, very clearly,"; she said, noting her husband had just had a medical procedure and thoughts of that distracted her during her speech.

Either that, or she was drunk again.

17 posted on 04/15/2004 4:38:55 AM PDT by archy (The darkness will come. It will find you,and it will scare you like you've never been scared before.)
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To: LouD
You have noted that the Milwaukee Journal managed to bury the Ethics Board's "revival" of the inquiry in "Wisconsin News" rather than on their Web-version front page.

Judd, of the "Ethics Board" states that the Board will likely come 'to the same conclusions' it did earlier, although he allows that there is a "possibility" that 'there will be a new direction' in their investigation.

I'd sure like to know what Lying Lush Laut... HAS on the Journal's editors (and the Ethics Board, for that matter.)
18 posted on 04/15/2004 6:38:46 AM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, TomasTorquemadaGentlemen'sClub)
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To: joesnuffy
The Gov doesn't want Peg to resign he has got her right where he wants her...bought and paid for.....she will be his Janet Reno

And that is precisely why former state Senator and one-time front-runner for the Attorney General job Brian Burke (D-Milwaukee) is facing a jury for doing much the same as what Peggy Goldschlager did.

19 posted on 04/15/2004 9:29:09 AM PDT by steveegg (Radical Islam has more in common with Islamic populations than the mainstream media has with America)
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To: ninenot
Judd, of the "Ethics Board" states that the Board will likely come 'to the same conclusions' it did earlier, although he allows that there is a "possibility" that 'there will be a new direction' in their investigation.

Also note the Journtinel decided to say that the dates were "indeterminate" instead of mentioning Christmas Day, the Racine debacle, et al. Question; who investigates the investigators?

20 posted on 04/15/2004 9:31:08 AM PDT by steveegg (Radical Islam has more in common with Islamic populations than the mainstream media has with America)
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