Watchdog Calls for Investigation of Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos for Non-Disclosure of Real Estate Properties
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 19, 2020
Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a nonprofit watchdog group focused on public accountability, sent a letter to the Administrator of the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, Daniel A. Carlton Jr., requesting the Commission open an investigation to determine whether the Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, Robin Vos, violated the state’s Code of Ethics for State Public officials by failing to disclose several properties he has owned. While Vos lists a number of owned properties and business interests on his yearly Statement of Economic Interests (SEI) filings, a review of property records and court filings submitted as a part of one of Speaker Vos’s divorces indicated that there are additional properties he did not accurately report.
Since 2004, Vos has disclosed partial ownership of Ladwig & Vos, a real estate company that leases houses near the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. While the city of Whitewater lists 286 South Church Street as a property belonging to Ladwig & Vos, this property did not appear on Speaker Vos’s 2018 and 2019 SEIs. Ladwig & Vos also appears to own a property located at 179 North Prairie Street. This property is also left off of his 2019 SEI. These two undisclosed properties have been assessed a combined value of $246,500. When contacted by a reporter about these properties, Vos’ press secretary blamed the omissions on a “clerical error” and said that his SEI would be corrected.
Campaign for Accountability Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “The law requires Speaker Vos to accurately report his holdings. There is no clerical error exception. His constituents have a right to question his judgement when it comes to his faithful representation of their interests, and the Wisconsin Ethics Commission has a responsibility to these constituents to determine the proper recourse for this violation”
Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.