At first I thought <a href=\"http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/146981515.html\" target=\"_blank\">former Republican DA Paul Bucher wrote his nonsensical letter</a> just to collect a paycheck from the Republican Party of Wisconsin, or perhaps from the Koch brothers, or the Bradley Foundation or Bradley\'s chief (and Walker campaign chair) Michael Grebe. Not that Bucher will name his benefactor, of course.<br /><br />Money is probably one motive, but not the only one.<br /><br />Then I thought Bucher wrote the letter because he\'s trying to muddy the water before more charges are dropped in the John Doe investigation. <br /><br />If Bucher can convince Wisconsinor even his former rival J.B. Van Hollenthat Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm is a partisan hack carrying water for Mayor Tom Barrett and the “Democrat [sic] Party of Wisconsin,” then Bucher will help to convince voters to look the other way when more charges are filed. (And it doesn\'t take an idiot to figure out that there will be more charges. I mean, why hasn\'t Tim Russell been charged with more than his $20,000 swindle from a veterans\' nonprofit?)<br /><br />Now I realize that Bucher\'s letter is merely self-promotion.<br /><br />On Saturday, April 21, Bucher is the guest speaker at CRG Network\'s “special education session on John Doe investigations” and how "any citizen" can launch a John Doe! (I\'ve tried to confirm this event, but haven\'t gottten a response from CRG. The event isn\'t listed on the CRG website, either, so who knows what the real story is.)<br /><br />But, yeah, if I was close to Walker I\'d want to know more about John Doe investigations, tooto fight the charges filed against me.<br /><br /><strong>Van Hollen\'s Role in This Sordid Mess </strong><br /><br />Van Hollen, of course, has declined to look into the matter, keeping consistent with his refusal to get involved in the investigation ages ago.<br /><br />That rejection puzzled me, too. <br /><br />Attorneys have told me that those in law enforcement fight for turfand fight hard. They want to have a piece of any investigation. But, curiously, Van Hollen\'s Department of Justice didn\'t want to go near an investigation into Walker and his Republican campaign allies.<br /><br />Afraid of what they might find?<br /><br />Regardless, Van Hollen decided to reject Chisholm\'s request. That must have caused a rift between him and the Walker machine. I mean, Van Hollen or his subordinate could have sandbagged the investigation or, at the very least, been on top of every twist and turn in the case. Instead, Van Hollen allowed Chisholm to freeze him out and partner with the FBI insead. Oops.<br /><br />Van Hollen\'s refusal to get involved also presents a missed opportunity for him to grandstand. Isn\'t this the family-values-loving attorney general who constantly seeks headlines for his Internet sex crimes investigations?<br /><br />And what, exactly, is Tim Russell\'s partner, <a href=\"http://wispolitics.com/1006/large/120105_State_v_Pierick.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Brian Pierick, accused of doing</a>?<br /><br />Stalking a 17-year-old Waukesha boy on the Internet, then in real life, when he and his “co-conspirator” parked a white van outside of the boy\'s house in an attempt to lure the terrified kid into their clutches with the promise of a box of porn.<br /><br />Sounds like Internet sex crimes to me.<br /><br />That\'s not all, of course. <br /><br />Chisholm\'s investigators also found twink porn on Pierick\'s computer. Some of that may feature underage boys.<br /><br />Yuck.<br /><br />But the disgusting stuff doesn\'t stop there. <br /><br />Last fall, Pierick got a job with the state Department of Public Instruction.<br /><br />To get that job, he had to pass a background check.<br /><br />And which state agency did that background check?<br /><br />Van Hollen\'s Department of Justice. <br /><br />Pierick passed that background check because the DOJ didn\'t have the information about Pierick\'s fondness for underage boys because the DOJ wasn\'t involved in the John Doe. And because Chisholm\'s office isn\'t sharing John Doe information with anyone elsecontrary to Bucher\'s “leaking like a sieve” lieVan Hollen\'s DOJ gave DPI the green light to hire Pierick.<br /><br />So much for combating Internet sex crimes and getting tough on child sex predators. Van Hollen should be ashamed of himself.<br /><br />
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