Follow the money… or the attorney getting the money

Remember when the Republicans hired their own attorneys in a potentially multi-million dollar sweetheart deal to act on behalf of the Legislature in redistricting matters and refused to allow the Democrats to have our own legal representation?

One of those law firms is Troupis Law Office, headed by Jim Troupis, who used to be a partner in the Firm Michael, Best & Friedrich (also notably RNC chairman Reince Priebus’ former firm). Both firms were hired by the Republicans to lead their redistricting efforts.

Don’t forget Jim Troupis. We’ll come back to him later.

Now, remember Club for Growth? They’re one of the groups that have hijacked Supreme Court races and state partisan races for the past several election cycles to the tune of more than $1M. You may also remember the ads Club for Growth put up within minutes of Walker introducing his budget “repair” bill.

Back to attorney Jim Troupis. One Wisconsin Now uncovered who this man really is in 2009. They found significant business relationships with David Prosser and Legislative Republicans, big clients of Troupis’ legal career.

Now, we find out that Republicans are about to cut another blank taxpayer check to Troupis for legal advice to compel Senate Democrats back into the state. Troupis even got involved in court proceedings in Senator Jim Holprin’s district. The case was filed on behalf of a resident, bankrolled by Wisconsin Club for Growth and tried in court by… you guessed it, Jim Troupis.

So, there you have it – Troupis and Club for Growth in, er, in court together. How can Troupis be the taxpayer’s lawyer and also Club for Growth’s campaign lawyer without breaching some sort of ethics rules or at the very least, the public’s trust?

It would appear through a simple Google search, following the money is easier than one might think. Troupis earned a lot of money in his career from taxpayers and has a long history of donating to almost exclusively Republicans and conservative Supreme Court candidates. Now we learn that he’s also working with one of the GOP’s biggest campaign groups.

I’ll let you decide if this passes the smell test.