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A dejecting pattern of behavior in Wisconsin

The scandal surrounding Wisconsin's Bill Kramer continues to grow more serious.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., joined by attorneys Paul D. Clement, far left, and Rick Esenberg, second from left, announces that he has filed a lawsuit to block the federal government from helping to pay for health care coverage for members of Congress and th
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., joined by attorneys Paul D. Clement, far left, and Rick Esenberg, second from left, announces that he has filed a lawsuit to block the federal government from helping to pay for health care coverage for members of Congress and their staffs, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014.
Up until fairly recently, Wisconsin's Bill Kramer was the Republican Majority Leader in the state Assembly. As Rachel noted on the show on Friday, that changed when the state lawmaker was charged with two counts of felony second-degree sexual assault -- charges that cost Kramer his GOP leadership post
 
The charges were not, however, enough to compel Wisconsin lawmakers to throw Kramer out of the state Assembly all together. He's no longer the Republican Majority Leader, but he's still a voting member of the legislative body. Some in the party have called on Kramer to quit, but for now, he seems to be determined to stay in office, and his colleagues aren't prepared to force the issue, at least not yet.
 
Perhaps they'll be interested to know that the recent sexual-assault allegations are not the first time Kramer has been accused.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, his chief of staff and a Waukesha County GOP official were all told three years ago of allegations that a then-aide to the senator had been sexually assaulted by state Rep. Bill Kramer, but none of them took the matter to the police or Assembly leaders. The woman told her supervisor in Johnson's office and a number of other people, but decided at the time to have her attorney send a letter to Kramer rather than go to the police, records show. Last month -- nearly three years after the alleged assault outside a Muskego bar -- the woman learned of Kramer's alleged mistreatment of other women and filed a complaint with Muskego police that has resulted in two felony charges of second-degree sexual assault.

According to the weekend report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a woman who worked for Ron Johnson was allegedly assaulted by Bill Kramer in 2011, who then quickly informed several people, including her supervisor in Johnson's office, Tony Blando, the senator's chief of staff, who informed the senator himself.
 
But they didn't tell anyone and remained silent when Republican state lawmakers elevated Kramer to the Majority Leader's office. The aide in the 2011 incident only came forward after the 2014 allegations against Kramer came to public light.
 
So why didn't the senator say something at the time? Initially, Johnson and his office didn't want to comment, but after the Journal Sentinel was published online, the senator's office changed its mind.
 

...Johnson's office issued a statement saying that when the woman spoke with Johnson and his chief of staff, Tony Blando, she already had an attorney. "Senator Johnson and Mr. Blando conveyed their commitment to be 100% supportive of any actions she chose to pursue on the advice of her legal counsel -- up to and including the filing of criminal charges," the statement said. "She requested that Senator Johnson and Mr. Blando keep the matter confidential and take no further action. Senator Johnson and Mr. Blando fully honored her request." U.S. Senate policies do not appear to directly address cases in which employees are assaulted by individuals from outside the Senate but do require internal reporting of sexual harassment. Each senator establishes his or her own employee policies. [...] According to the criminal complaint, the woman decided not to go to police at the time of the incident because she didn't want to embarrass her family, the Republican Party, Kramer and Johnson as her employer. Instead, she had her lawyer send Kramer a letter saying she had been assaulted, that Kramer needed to seek treatment for drinking and that she would reconsider her decision not to report the incident to law enforcement if she learned of him acting inappropriately toward others in the future.

In other words, based on this reporting, Johnson and his team kept quiet because the alleged victim asked them to.
 
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