John Nichols: Tammy Baldwin Was Right to Ask Justice Department to Investigate Kathy Nickolaus
Click here to view this media During some of MSNBC’s extended coverage of the recall elections in Wisconsin and with things looking like it could come down to Waukesha County again after what we already went through with the Supreme Court race there, John Nichols stated the obvious. Rep. Tammy Baldwin was correct to say that Waukesha County county clerk Kathy Nickolaus should be investigated by the Department of Justice. The question is, why hasn’t Attorney General Eric Holder done anything about it? Or need I ask given his track record? Here’s a reminder from this past April on the call for Nickolaus to be investigated — Tammy Baldwin Asks Eric Holder To Investigate Wisconsin Supreme Court Election : After the bombshell announcement that a Waukesha County clerk forgot to report thousands of votes in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) is asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to involve the federal government in the ongoing investigation. Last Tuesday’s election, which pitted conservative incumbent David Prosser against progressive candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg, appeared to end with Kloppenburg winning by a razor-thin margin, with initial results showing her just a couple of hundred votes ahead. But on Thursday, Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus held a dramatic press conference and admitted that she had forgotten to report the votes of the city of Brookfield. The adjusted total gave Prosser a 7,500-vote advantage. On Friday evening, Baldwin sent a letter to Holder, saying that many of her constituents had expressed concern about the announcement. She requested that the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, which oversees the federal prosecution of election crimes, investigate the handling of Waukesha County’s vote records. “For our democracy to endure, we, the people, must have faith in its laws and system of justice, including faith that our elections for public office are fair and free from any manipulating or tampering ,” wrote Baldwin. “Following this week’s election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, numerous constituents have contacted me expressing serious doubt that this election was a free and fair one. They fear, as I do, that political interests are manipulating the results.” A Justice Department spokesperson told The Huffington Post that they had received the letter and are reviewing the matter. Read on…
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John Nichols: Tammy Baldwin Was Right to Ask Justice Department to Investigate Kathy Nickolaus
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on August 10, 2011. Filed under