By Elizabeth Vlock
In light of a videotape that recently surfaced, on Friday, three Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) asking if he lied under oath during his 2011 testimony before the Committee. Ranking member Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), and Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) inquired about Governor Walker’s statement under oath that he never, “had a conversation with respect to [his actions] in Wisconsin and using them to punish members of the opposition party and their donor base.”
A tape, recorded three months prior to Governor Walker’s testimony shows Walker explaining to one of his biggest donors, Diane Hendricks, that he intends to implement a, “divide and conquer strategy” against employees of the public sector as a means to transform Wisconsin into, what Hendricks referred to as “a completely red state.” While testifying before the House Committee, Governor Walker denied that taking away the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers was a strategy to punish Democrats and their donor base. The tape appears to contradict his statement.
Friday’s letter is a follow up to a May 21st letter written by the Representatives to Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) requesting that in light of new evidence, Rep. Issa should, “write to Governor Walker on behalf of the Committee and request an explanation for why his statements captured on [the] videotape appear to contradict his testimony before the Committee.”
Governor Walker is currently campaigning ahead of a June 5th recall election. In 2011, following Governor Walker’s push for a state law that stripped public sector workers of their union rights, outraged demonstrators staged massive protests at Wisconsin statehouse. The campaign to recall the Governor gathered nearly 1 million signatures well over the 540,000 required by law for a recall.
