On Thursday Wisconsin State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said this:
“I can’t say for certain what (others at the Department of Justice) have or haven’t done with every minute of their day any more than they could speak about mine, but I have no reason to believe — none of them have reported to me — that they talked to anybody involved in the Republican Party or the McCain campaign about this lawsuit,” he said.
On Saturday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- clearly inspired by the Brawler's calls to explore whether Van Hollen's voter check lawsuit was prompted by GOP pressure -- reported this:
The lead Department of Justice attorney for Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s lawsuit against the state’s election authority met with Republican Party representatives about a week before filing the suit.
Justice attorney Steven Means said Friday he met with Republican attorneys Chris Mohrman and Jim Troupis at their request to discuss the Government Accountability Board’s policy on checking voter information. Other Republicans participated in the meeting via conference call, but Means said he could not recall who they were.
Van Hollen sued the board last week to force it to check more voters to make sure their voter registration information matches driver’s license records. The suit could affect 241,000 to 1 million voters.
Van Hollen, a Wisconsin co-chairman of the presidential campaign of John McCain, has said the lawsuit was not motivated by partisan ties. On Thursday, he said he knew of no contacts between his agency and the Republican Party about the issue.
Van Hollen's flack says this:
St. John said there was no reason for anyone in the agency to tell Van Hollen about the contact before the suit was filed.
So: Van Hollen is taking an action that could lead to tens of thousands of people being purged from the rolls and his office didn't see fit to tell him of prior contact with GOP lawyers on the issue. Right.
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