Sen. Mike Ellis (R-WI) Investigation

"Senator Ellis spent years telling the public he stood for strict campaign finance reforms only to be caught privately communicating the exact opposite. Worse yet, while telling the public he is fighting to ban third-party coordination between candidates and independent expenditures, he intended to surreptitiously use that exact coordination to personally benefit his own re-election." –James O'Keefe

Wisconsin State Senate President Michael Ellis (R-19) was captured on hidden camera explaining how he planned to circumvent state campaign finance laws by secretly coordinating with a third "independent" party. Ellis' plan, if acted on, would have been a felony under Wisconsin State election law. In an ironic twist, Ellis was a leading proponent of campaign finance laws, even helping pass a law to help what he called a "monstrous problem." Our cameras even captured Ellis boasting about a fake name for the illegal political action committee: "'The Friends of Free Life' whatever the hell they want to call it. But I will have, I'll have a half million myself."

Sen. Ellis talks of using his influence as Senate President to receive preferential treatment for jobs and raises. He comments on his wealthy neighbors by the lake in addition to opining on who really runs the Senate. This extended report includes additional analysis on Senator Ellis’ potentially felonious and conspiratorial comments secretly recorded at the Best Western Hotel’s bar – Inn on the Park — and why his “hypothetical” response is shoddy, at best.