Eating my words

There's a nice lady from whom I just bought four boxes of girl scout cookies who is no doubt laughing because I was sooooooo confident when I said, "Ya know, nothing's ever going to come of this travel investigation." Good thing I'll have a box of thin mints coming to help me digest my words.

The Journal Sentinel is reporting,

A state Department of Administration official has been indicted in connection with a contract awarded to Adelman Travel.

Georgia Thompson, 55, of Waunakee, has been charged with two federal felonies: causing misapplication of funds and participating in a scheme to defraud the state of Wisconsin of the right to honest services. Thompson was on a team of evaluators that reviewed bids for a contract to be the state’s “travel partner.”

The indictment alleges that Thompson:
- Intentionally inflated the scores of Adelman Travel, which was in competition with other agencies to be named the state’s “travel partner”
- Suggested that committee members change scores when evaluating the agencies.
- Prevented the contract from being awarded to another agency despite the other committee members’ unanimous decision.

Update! 1/25/06 Fair question to ask, I think, since Thompson was appointed by former Governor McCallum, was this part of pattern of her behavior going back to his administration? This will be a very interesting issue going forward and I still find it hard to believe the prosecutors will be able to tie this to Doyle. Of course, my track record on predictions regarding this case so far hasn't been worth betting the cookie jar on.