Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com
Published - Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Thompson probe continued for six months after conviction thrown out
State investigators kept open an alleged corruption case for six months last year after a federal appeals court struck down the only prosecution in the high-profile case, newly released state records show.
The still-incomplete records, which the state Department of Justice took nine months to release, show no activity in the final months of the case and no explicit reason why the case was kept open after the court ruling or why it was finally closed.
The controversial case involved the fraud prosecution of state civil servant Georgia Thompson and was used by Wisconsin Republicans to paint Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's administration as corrupt during his 2006 re-election campaign.
Kevin St. John, a spokesman for state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, said the state and federal authorities involved both agreed to close the state investigation in October 2007 and that politics played no role in delaying that decision or the release of the records.
"Decisions to terminate one aspect of an investigation are not typically unilateral, and final decisions are made deliberately, not rashly," St. John said. "The records have been released as soon as practicable."
The file released to the Wisconsin State Journal under the state's open records law did not include reports provided to state investigators by federal authorities involved in the case, according to an accompanying letter by Steven Means, deputy administrator of the agency's Division of Legal Services. Some documents released also had portions blacked out to protect information provided by confidential informants or connected with a federal grand jury, among other reasons, Means wrote.
"The delay is surprising and so are the redactions," said Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. "You have to wonder what it is that they're protecting and whether what they're really protecting is themselves."
Thompson was convicted in June 2006 of improperly steering a state travel contract to Adelman Travel Group, a company with political ties to Doyle. U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic in Milwaukee prosecuted the case with the help of then-Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager's office. But a federal appeals court overturned the jury's conviction in April 2007 because of a lack of evidence, ordering Thompson freed the same day.
Biskupic decided later that month not to appeal the decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. A spokeswoman for Biskupic did not return a message Monday.
Five months later, a terse report signed off on by Jim Warren, then-head of the state Division of Criminal Investigation, summarized those developments and recommended that the case be closed under the heading "prosecution completed." That entry represents the only document for 2007 that was released as part of the case file.
St. John said the investigation had been active and some documents in the file were not released to the State Journal.
Van Hollen, a Republican who took office in January 2007, has said his office is reviewing some criminal cases closed by Warren — who later resigned amid reported clashes with Van Hollen's administration — including another case involving the Doyle administration's handling of a state contract. But St. John said there were no plans to review the travel contract case.
In February 2007, the state Department of Justice released some records related to the travel contract case to the media. But because part of the case was still considered open, some records were not released at that time.
Thompson's attorney, Stephen Hurley, said Monday he could not think of a reason why state authorities should have taken so long to close the travel contract case and release the rest of the records after the appeals court decision.
Dan Bach, the former deputy attorney general under Lautenschlager, said Monday the state would have had to work with Biskupic's office to reach that decision and might have had to rule out whether someone besides Thompson should be prosecuted.
All stories copyright 2006 Coulee News and other attributed sources.