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To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45779-2002Oct18.html Wis. Senate Leader Faces Charges By Jenny PriceMADISON, Wis. –– The state Assembly's two most power Republican leaders were charged with felony misconduct in office Friday, one day after the Senate majority leader was charged with 20 felony counts.<P>Prosecutors investigating illegal campaigning in the state capitol also filed charges against another Republican Assembly member and a former employee Friday.<P>The three felony counts against Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen stem from his supervision of the Assembly Republican Caucus, hiring of the former employee, Sherry Schultz, to work as a full-time fund-raiser on state time, and using his legislative staff to work on his political campaigns.<P>He also is charged with a misdemeanor of using his public position to obtain financial gain for the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, the same charge Assistant Majority Leader Bonnie Ladwig faces.<P>Single charges against Assembly Majority Leader Steve Foti and Schultz stem from her employment as well.<P>Jensen issued a statement Friday morning denying the charges.<P>"I intend to prove my innocence and fight for our honor," he said.<P>Friday's charges bring the total of lawmakers charged in the investigation to five.<P>Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala, a Democrat, was charged with 20 felony counts Thursday, and fellow Democratic Sen. Brian Burke was charged with 18 felonies over the summer.<P>Chvala, accused of demanding campaign contributions for himself and other Democrats and threatening to block legislation if lobbyists failed to deliver, said Thursday he would resign his position once Democrats select a majority leader.<P>He denounced the charges as an attempt to influence the Nov. 5 elections by "politically motivated special interest lobbyists and a district attorney bent on political revenge ...."<P>"I will fight these allegations because they are not true," Chvala said.<P>He could face up to 90 years in prison and $200,000 in fines if convicted on the charges, which include extortion, misconduct in public office, making unlawfu with the Elections Board.<P>The investigations by Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann and Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard began last year after the Wisconsin State Journal reported that legislative caucus employees were coordinating campaign activities from their state offices using state resources, in violation of the law.<P>The caucuses – one for each party in each chamber – were created in the 1960s to do research for lawmakers. The partisan bodies were eliminated last year in a deal legislative leaders reached that was meant to end a state investigation into the allegations.<P>Chvala, 47, was elected to the Senate in 1984 and has been Democratic leader since 1995. He ran for governor in 1994, losing to then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, who is now secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.<P>Burke was charged over the summer with using his Capitol office to collect campaign contributions in his now-defunct bid for attorney general. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http://archive.jab.org/ctrl@;listserv.aol.com/ <A HREF="http://archive.jab.org/ctrl@;listserv.aol.com/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
