MADISON, WI (WSAU) – On Monday, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson was critical of Gov. Tony Evers for allegedly using a hidden alias email address in the name of a deceased baseball star, claiming he never did such a thing.
Thompson told Wisconsin Right Now that he did not think it was appropriate, he said, “I never did this and do not think it is right!”
Wisconsin Right Now first revealed the news that Evers has utilized a covert alias account under the name of legendary Milwaukee Braves player Warren Spahn. His office has requested that the outlet limit the scope of their request to view every email received to and from the account. They claim that there are roughly 17,000 records and that granting access to them all would be excessive.
Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback told reporters that the governor used the alias account for security reasons and posted on X, “Members of the media who’ve literally received responsive records and have known this existed for some time (because our office explicitly told them so) include the Associated Press, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, CBS58, and FOX6, among others.”
Dan Lennington, deputy counsel with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, responded to this statement, saying, “Saying that a fake name was required for ‘digital security reasons’ shows a supreme lack of understanding for both how email addresses work and the public records law. A fake name was the worst way to set up an alternative internal account. There are many appropriate options.”
Evers’ is not the first Wisconsin governor to be accused of a secret email account, as former Gov. Scott Walker allegedly used the email “kevin.scott@wisconsin.gov,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They also alleged that former Gov. Jim Doyle and Gov. Scott McCallum used secret email accounts as well, though those addresses weren’t made public.
