Scott Walker in hot water over email disclosures

MILWAUKEE, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Scott Walker finds himself on unsteady political footing after a mass disclosure of staff emails reveals he was aware of illegal coordination between his campaign and gubernatorial staff.

The release of some 27,000 pages of emails has the potential to at least embarrass, if not permanently damage the standing of the Wisconsin governor and Republican 2016 presidential hopeful.

While Walker is himself not accused of any wrongdoing, six of his aides were convicted last year of breaking campaign laws.

Democrats, meanwhile, have jumped at the opportunity to paint Walker with the same brush as the one that has seen New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's political star fall after his office was turned upside-down by the George Washington Bridge scandal earlier this year.

Christie has repeatedly denied knowing his staff was acting to close several lanes of the bridge as political retribution.

“Scott Walker was absolutely aware that his staff was participating in illegal activity on the public’s dime,” said Mike Tate, Wisconsin's Democratic Party chairman.

"Much like Chris Christie, Scott Walker likes to stand in the middle of people committing criminal activity all around him and saying 'I had no idea what was going on. All these people were breaking the law, but I was unaware of it, I wasn't directing it,'" Tate said. "It's sort of like see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. It's just a little hard to believe that Scott Walker was totally unaware that his senior staff was breaking the law on a regular basis.

"As scandals continue to unfold in front of him, they beg more questions than I'm sure the governor would like to answer," said Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Walker is running for reelection this year, and is being challenged by Democrat Mary Burke.

[Washington Post] [NPR]