Former Green Bay City Clerk Kris Teske watched as her election office was effectively taken over by liberal voting activists.
Emails show the clerk growing ever more concerned as the Mark Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civil Life (CTCL) and its network of liberal groups insinuated themselves into Green Bay’s election administration in the days leading up to the hotly contested 2020 presidential election.
“There is one more thing I want to say: If I am ever asked to do anything against the law the answer will be NO!” Teske wrote in an Aug. 26 email to Diana Ellenbecker, Green Bay’s finance director and Teske’s immediate supervisor.
Teske in particular raised questions about a longtime Democratic operative, Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein, who was embedded in the clerk’s office under the terms of a CTCL contract.
CTCL had received hundreds of millions of dollars from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife to fund so-called “safe election” grants. Green Bay was among Wisconsin’s five-largest cities — Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha and Racine, as well — to receive the lion’s share of the millions of dollars in grants CTCL handed out in the Badger State. It was no coincidence that the “Wisconsin-5”, as CTCL affectionately called them, are each Democratic Party strongholds, critical to Democrat Joe Biden’s prospects of beating then-Republican President Donald Trump in battleground Wisconsin.
The money came with stipulations. Among them, the cities had to work with liberal organizations on things that went well beyond masks, sanitizer, plexiglass screens and other COVID-19 mitigation efforts. The outside groups created get-out-the-vote plans, targeting traditionally Democrat voters. They helped cities set up absentee ballot drop boxes, against state election law.
Spitzer-Rubenstein, a former field organizer for Obama for America, wanted to help Teske and her elections staff “cure” or correct missing information on absentee ballots. He was given the keys to the room that held the absentee ballot boxes on Election Day.
In emails, Teske complained about Mayor Eric Genrich, a Democrat, and his staff locking her out of election planning and other key decisions, while letting Spitzer-Rubenstein and his CTCL pals take over.
Frustrated, the clerk took a leave of absence two weeks before the presidential election. She resigned at the end of 2020.
A bill being re-introduced by two Green Bay-area state lawmakers would bring whistleblower protections to municipal clerks who witness and report election fraud or irregularities — protections clerks like Teske lacked in 2020.
“Municipal clerks are responsible for running elections. Mayors or outside consultants with political objectives shouldn’t run elections,” states a recent co-sponsorship memo from Sen. Andre Jacque (R-De Pere) and Rep. Joy Goeben (R-Hobart). “Only the clerk, and the clerk’s staff, must be involved in election administration. If they witness anything that interferes with a clean and honest election, they must be able to report that incident without fear of reprisal.”
Under the proposal, clerks who blow the whistle on actions they reasonably believe to be election fraud will be protected from employment discrimination or retaliation for their disclosure.
While state and federal workers are granted whistleblower protections, the same shield is not extended to local government employees, including municipal clerks.
Jacque said the bill was written with Teske’s experiences in mind. He said Teske felt she had to leave a job and a place that she loved.
“It really does raise concerns as to what a culture of intimidation can do, causing good public servants to not continue in their positions,” the senator said. “Clearly she was repeatedly being asked to do things she was not comfortable doing.”
Genrich and other city officials are under scrutiny again, this time for installing audio recording equipment at City Hall. As The Wisconsin Daily Star first reported Tuesday, an Attorney representing the Wisconsin State Senate has sent a letter to the mayor demanding he immediately disable the audio recording devices planted in city hall. The letter also demands the city destroy all illegally obtained audio recordings.
“This surveillance activity is not only disturbing. It is unlawful,” writes Ryan J. Walsh, the attorney representing the lawmakers.
The whistleblower bill, according to its authors, will empower local election clerks to speak out when they see wrongdoing.
After passing in the Senate last session, the legislation was bogged down with amended language in an Assembly version. It had changed so much and moved away so far from its original intent that the Senate opted not to take the revised bill up.
Jacque said he wants to make sure the whistleblower bill stands on its own this time around.
“I intend to keep this bill to its original intent,” the senator said. “I’m not looking to accept extraneous subject matter added to this one.”
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Election Day 2022” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
