Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Committee Members Gerald Connolly and Chris Murphy, sent a letter to Chairman Darrell Issa requesting that he obtain from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker clarification of his testimony before the Committee on April 14, 2011, in light of a new videotape that surfaced recently that appears to contradict his statements.
In his testimony before the Committee, Governor Walker claimed that his unprecedented campaign to strip public sector union workers of collective bargaining rights was purely a budgetary decision. In contrast, a videotape taken three months earlier reveals a conversation the Governor had with his biggest campaign donor that suggests his motivation was to “divide and conquer” public sector unions in order to turn Wisconsin into a “completely red state.”
“Congress relies on the accuracy of official testimony to make effective policy determinations, and you have written letters in the past asking witnesses to clarify testimony before our Committee when new information arises,” the Members wrote. “We ask that you write to Governor Walker on behalf of the Committee and request an explanation for why his statements captured on this videotape appear to contradict his testimony before the Committee.”