Wink Turned Fink - No longer Denying Walker Knew

Darling Wink Pleads GuiltyMilwaukee -- Darlene Wink plead guilty this afternoon to two misdemeanor counts of illegal fundraising and political work for former Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's campaign for governor while being paid by the tax payers. Wink told the Circuit Court "What I was doing was putting together fliers that were for a fundraiser".

Wink provided testimony in order to avoid jail time. Her plea deal comes with the agreement that she will provide information to prosecutors in regard to the ongoing John Doe investigation. Even though Wink will serve no jail time, her sentencing has been delayed for three months, allowing prosecutors to question Wink further. Wink’s lawyer said he wished that the sentencing could have happened sooner than May.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Reported:

In one email exchange in 2009, she asked friend and fellow Walker aide Timothy Russell how she could erase a document from an online chat session. Russell told her it would disappear from her computer when she logged out, though investigators were able to ferret it out.

There has also been a notable shift in the accounts that are coming from the Wink camp. Wink’s lawyer, Peter Wolff, is no longer publicly claiming that Walker had no idea what was going on at the office. This interesting change comes on the heels of Scott Walker's new found honesty in admitting that his upcoming “voluntary meeting” with prosecutors in Milwaukee County was not entirely voluntary.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate commented following Darlene Wink’s Tuesday's guilty plea stating:

"The guilty plea by a Scott Walker aide, who is cooperating with the ongoing John Doe probe, is the clearest evidence yet of the culture of corruption built to benefit Scott Walker on his crooked path from Milwaukee to Madison. In the coming weeks and months we will learn more about what Scott Walker knew and when he knew it. This much is clear: No governor in modern times has been so closely linked to political corruption and today's guilty plea punctuates that. The people of Wisconsin have every right to be afraid that Walker has brought this criminal culture with him to Madison."

Written by Paul I. Tascoupe