Show Us The Money: One Wisconsin Now Demands Gov. Walker Release Details of Book Contract

MADISON, Wis. — Amidst reports that Gov. Walker was given an advance of over $340,000 for his poorly selling ghost-written book, One Wisconsin Now is calling on him to publicly release the details of the contract.

“Gov. Walker looks to be getting an awfully big payday for himself when someone else wrote about his attack on the rights of 175,000 workers to have input on the conditions and safety of their workplace,” said One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross. “You’d think the least he could do is tell the people the truth about how much he’s pocketing for himself from his ‘divide and conquer’ strategy.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel referenced a report indicating Gov. Walker was given an advance “exceeding $340,000” for a book ghost-written by a former speechwriter for George W. Bush that has barely topped 16,000 copies sold since its release. In response to follow up inquiries by the newspaper, Walker refused to divulge exactly how much he was paid.

Ross noted that Gov. Walker’s stonewalling on the payments related to his book continue a pattern of secrecy and self-dealing. For example, breaking with tradition, Gov. Walker diverted the proceeds from the 2011 Inaugural Ball to political funds to benefit himself instead of charity. Gov. Walker also to this day refuses to disclose the identities of individuals that contributed to a legal defense fund that spent over $400,000 on criminal defense lawyers for him in the first “John Doe” investigation of political corruption surrounding his administration as Milwaukee County Executive.

“Secrecy, stonewalling and self-dealing have been hallmarks of Gov. Walker’s dealings in office. Publicly disclosing how much cash he’s getting and the terms of the contract he got for himself on the backs of hard-working Wisconsinites would be a good start to breaking his shameful pattern of secrecy and stonewalling,” concluded Ross.