One of Governor Scott Walker’s top aides when he was the Milwaukee County executive pleaded not guilty this morning to four felony charges.
43-year-old Kelly Rindfleisch of Columbus is accused of working on Brett Davis’s failed campaign for lieutenant governor in 2010, during the hours she was supposed to be serving Walker as his deputy chief-of-staff. Rindfleisch is one of five former Walker associates charged in an ongoing Milwaukee County John Doe probe.
Prosecutors said Rindfleisch knew she was breaking the law because of her past experience as a legislative aide during the State Capitol’s illegal campaigning scandal a decade ago. But defense lawyer Franklyn Gimbel has said the charge violates her right against self-incrimination, because she was under immunity while testifying about the caucus scandal.
Gimbel has also asked for a different location for the defendant’s trial. He argues Rindfleisch should have been charged in Columbia County where she currently lives, instead of Milwaukee where the alleged offenses took place. A 2007 law gives state officials the options of being tried in their home counties for government ethics charges.