The STOCK Act was a media-driven bill that politicians felt they could not resist after 60 Minutes ran a (somewhat flawed) exposé on the insider trading activities of members of Congress. Once a must-pass bill like that gets into circulation, it’s going to become an attractive target for messaging amendments where members try to hitch [...]

We learned yesterday that it’s very, very difficult for members of Congress to vote to effectively legalize insider trading for themselves. If it wasn’t for that meddling 60 Minutes, this wouldn’t be an issue. But that highlighted the fact that members of Congress could freely trade on information gained during their official duties, even in [...]

The John Doe investigation swirling around Scott Walker in Wisconsin has begun to become a factor in his recall election. The labor-backed progressive group We Are Wisconsin has called for the resignations of two current Walker staffers, who exhibited some of the same behavior that drew indictments for former aides. The group called on Brett [...]

Two more former aides to Scott Walker have been arrested, this time for engaging in campaign work for his 2010 gubernatorial election while at government jobs. Two staffers who worked directly for Gov. Scott Walker while he was county executive were charged Thursday with illegally doing extensive political work while being paid by taxpayers to [...]

The John Doe investigation has hung over Scott Walker and his associates for months now. Instead of just worrying whether he will get recalled, Walker has to worry about which of his aides, whether from the Governor’s office or his time as Milwaukee county executive, will get arrested for corruption. Daniel Bice hears about more [...]

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) has become the third House Republican discovered to have received a sweetheart loan as part of Countrywide’s “VIP” program. The program became notorious when conservatives jumped on the revelations that Democrats Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad received cheap loans through it. But it was always clear that influence peddling is a [...]

So far, the arrests in the John Doe investigation revolving around Scott Walker claim to have nothing to do with Walker personally. He merely associated with thieves and criminals, which as a defense isn’t much. But Zach W at the popular Wisconsin site Blogging Blue wonders about how long that will continue, especially when one [...]

In case you’re catching up to Walkergate, which actually netted two former staffers yesterday, Capper has you covered. This is a case of a Republican Governor who cannot find anyone but common criminals to staff his campaigns and executive offices. And as Capper writes, it’s not even close to over; the John Doe investigation still [...]

Tim Russell, a longtime former aide to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, has been arrested and charged with three counts of theft. This is part of a wide-ranging “John Doe” investigation into improprieties by Walker and staff dating all the way back to his days as Milwaukee County executive and continuing through his gubernatorial tenure. Computer [...]

On Tuesday, I brought you the story of Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman, who ruled on several cases in recent years where one of the parties was represented by a law firm that provided him with thousands of dollars free legal services. Gableman never recused himself in the cases, and he now is under [...]

Sen. Lindsey Graham openly threatened the National Labor Relations Board before they filed a complaint against Boeing for illegally moving their plant from Washington state to South Carolina, according to notes taken by the NLRB’s general counsel, Lafe Solomon. The House Oversight Committee obtained the documents through a subpoena, and they show total intimidation on [...]