Video: Walberg's Speeches in Ukraine, with New Findings

Link to Printable PDF of this Report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L_EohXZiGYafqJ_hSqxseRDUSZaR0Nix/view?usp=sharing

This video is an introduction and overview of my report from December 8, 2019 about US Congress member, Tim Walberg’s speeches in Ukraine. Link to original report:

https://www.takecaretim.com/2019/12/walbergs-speeches-in-ukraine.html

The video contains two significant new findings about Walberg’s Trips to Ukraine, which are discussed further in this follow-up report.

New Findings:

·      Walberg Lied in Filing to House Ethics Committee

·      Walberg, Gohmert, & DeVos: Theocratic Shadow Diplomacy in Ukraine

Walberg Lied in Filing to the House Ethics Committee

Link to Walberg’s Ethics Filing for Ukraine Trip: http://clerk.house.gov/GTImages/MT/2019/500021482.pdf

When congress members accept privately-funded trips, in their official capacity, there is a standard approval process with the House Ethics committee:

·      Pre-Travel Form: Filed by the trip sponsor, which includes cost estimates, source of funding for the trip, and an agenda listing all planned activities on the trip. 

·      Review by the Committee on Ethics: accompanied by a letter approving, or disapproving of the trip. 

·      Post-Travel Forms: after the trip, both the trip sponsor, and the congress member must submit forms showing the actual costs of the trip, and disclose any changes in activities from the sponsor’s planned agenda

The Ethics filing for Walberg’s 2019 Ukraine trip contains contradictions, violations, and lies, some of which should have been caught and flagged in the review by the Ethics committee. The Three Problems that I have identified pertain to: 

1) Source of funding for the trip

2) Exorbitant airfare & VIP lounge expenses

3) Walberg lied about his activities from the sponsor’s agenda

1) Source of Funding for the Trip

Glaring Contradiction in Ethics Filing regarding Source of Funds for Walberg’s Trip

The most glaring contradiction in Walberg’s ethics filing pertains to the source of funding for his trip. In the very first line, the sponsor claimed that the trip was funded, “by the donations” to the organizing committee. The sponsor contradicted that below, by claiming to have, “not accepted from any other source, funds intended directly or indirectly to finance any aspect of the trip”. 

The sponsor should have chosen the other option, “sponsor has accepted funds from other source(s) intended directly or indirectly to finance all or part of the trip” That option then requires a listing of the names of each of those entities, with attached disclosure forms for each of the entities that funded the trip.

Ukraine is not a wealthy country. Yet, the photos of the event that Walberg attended show extravagance: VIP American guests in a large convention center, with surround sound systems, music, stage lighting, custom animated screen graphics, huge outdoor banners, table cloths, serving staff, etc. 

Furthermore, as discussed in the next section, the sponsor upgraded and paid for Walberg’s first-class travel and VIP airport lounge. And as discussed in the subsequent section, the sponsor also organized an entire second prayer breakfast event in another city, Zhytomyr: That event consisted of an outdoor stage in the city square with chairs, a slate of performing artists and stage crews, custom banners just for that one event, and none of that was even mentioned in the trip agenda. Walberg attended it though. – Who paid of all of that? Who were the deep-pocketed donors, who gave Walberg the first-class VIP treatment, ostensibly “in connection with” his official duties as a member of the US House of Representatives?

The space to disclose those answers is required on the Ethics form. The House Ethics Committee neglected to enforce it, and let the unaccounted funding sources, and glaring contradiction slip through under their watch in the filing.

2) Exorbitant Airfare & VIP Lounge Expenses

Walberg’s travel costs greatly exceeded estimates, & were unnecessary to official duties

Walberg’s post-travel form shows costs exceeded the pre-travel estimate by $13,508. That excess expense could pay-in-full for a nice used vehicle with low mileages at a local car dealership.

That excess expense was mostly due to Walberg’s airfare cost. Walberg claimed in the pre-travel filing that the airfare was business class, and according to the rules on the form, any first-class travel would require an explanation to the Ethics Committee. That excess airfare cost can only be explained by an advancement to first class, because business class ticket costs do not fluctuate by tens of thousands of dollars.

For Comparison, Walberg’s Gift Travel filing to a Baptist University Graduation in Romania in 2016, cost $4,365, which matched exactly with that trip’s estimated cost. When Walberg traveled to the Ukraine Prayer Breakfast in 2015, the airfare cost $2,000, it also matched exactly with its original estimated cost. Neither of those earlier trips included any Airport VIP lounge expenses.

Clearly, the sponsor decided to splurge on Walberg, and give him a first-class VIP treatment. For the Ethics committee to let that disparity slip through without any remark was negligence. According to the rules on the form, any first class travel required an explanation. Also, Walberg exhibited dishonesty and bad faith by claiming that the first class and VIP expenses were “necessary” to his official duties as a Congress member.

3) Walberg Lied About his Activities from the Sponsor’s Agenda

Walberg lied to Ethics Committee about activities that he did & did not participate in

For this third problem, I entirely blame Walberg for falsely certifying in his Ethics filing to having participated in activities that he did not actually participate in, as well neglecting to mention a lot of other significant activities from the trip. I don’t blame the Ethics committee for not knowing that Walberg lied to them about that.

On October 1, 2019, at a coffee hour event, myself and several other constituents asked Walberg about that discrepancy in his schedule from the Ethics filing. [Exhibit Below]

Video (47:40 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2RRPIDc3Jg

Walberg was proud to say he passed the Ethics requirements, and that the financing, travel, and schedule were, “fine-tooth combed” by the committee. Then in the next breath, Walberg admitted to us that the schedule that he submitted to the Ethics committee was incorrect. Walberg falsely certified to the Ethics Committee that the Schedule was, “true, complete, and correct”. The Ethics form provided Walberg with space, and required him to explain any change in activity from the agenda, but Walberg left that space blank.

Several of us after that coffee hour continued to be concerned and frustrated by Walberg’s lack of candor and contradictions surrounding his Ukraine trip. The next week, one of the attendees outlined those concerns in a Letter to the Editor to the Monroe News. Link to letter: 

https://www.monroenews.com/news/20191011/letter-walberg-trip-to-ukraine-should-have-been-explained

Seemingly, in an effort to undermine that constituent’s letter, the same day, The Monroe News hacked out a mess of a front-page story, uncritically echoing messages from Walberg’s Communications Director, without informing about what Walberg actually did on the trip to Ukraine, nor addressing any of the concerns from the constituent’s Letter. The one new piece of information to me from the Monroe News article was,“Walberg headed a delegation of U.S. diplomats” in Ukraine. It particularly struck me because there was nothing in the Ethics Filing about Walberg heading any such delegation. The article didn’t mention the size, or name any members of that delegation, or whether it was coordinated with any official US Agencies like the State Department. I marked up that front page with my criticisms that day, and highlighted that “delegation” part with particular interest. [Exhibit below]

Front page story seemed only to undercut a constituent’s letter from same day

As laid out in my earlier report, Walberg’s, “delegation of U.S. diplomats”, consisted of: Michele Bachmann, James Garlow, Rosemary Schindler Garlow, and Marc Nuttle. Now I further know that “delegation” took Walberg’s place in some of the activities from the sponsor’s agenda. They did that while Walberg went off on his own to do other activities, such as the prayer breakfast in Zhytomyr, which was not mentioned at all in the sponsor’s agenda.

Tim Walberg’s lies to the House Ethics Committee is a serious offense. There is a citation to the US Criminal Code, that willful and knowing misrepresentations on the Ethics form would be subject to criminal prosecution. It is certainly applicable in Walberg’s case.

Walberg, Gohmert, & DeVos: Theocratic Shadow Diplomacy in Ukraine

Ukrainian news articles referenced:

·      From November 20, 2018: https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/vooruzhennyy-neytralitet-kakie-plany-aleksandra-1542641338.html

·      From January 23, 2019: https://t1.ua/news/21627-turchynov-hotovyy-do-svoho-tomos-turu.html

Former Chair of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (2014-2019), Oleksandr Turchynov wants Ukraine to be a conservative Christian state. He has been trying to gather support in that “project” from private and public interests in Ukraine, as well as internationally. In the United States, Turchynov has gotten support in his project from Tim Walberg, Louis Gohmert, and Betsy DeVos [See articles linked above].

When Zelensky won the Presidential election, he appointed a replacement for Turchynov at the NSDC. Zelensky is Jewish and politically secular, which is probably why he chose to not participate in the Prayer Breakfast activities or meet with Walberg. When the trip sponsor drafted the agenda, they likely expected that Poroshenko would win re-election.

Oleksandr Turchynov and Pavel Unguryan are very much leading partners in the conservative Christian politicization effort in Ukraine, and trying to build a coalition with like-minded politicians around the world.

In Ukraine, Turchynov was criticized and accused of misappropriating National Security funds and resources for his private religious projects. Turchynov didn’t really deny that. He seemed to embrace and bask in any controversy around his public religiosity. When Russian Propogandists pegged him with the nickname, “Bloody Pastor”, for said religiosity, and his fondness for posing next to missiles and large military weaponry, Turchynov embraced that nickname too, and didn’t consider it an insult.

Turchynov & Unguryan met in Walberg’s DC office this year & attended US Prayer Breakfast

This year, Pavel Unguryan and Oleksandr Turchynov attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. The two of them met with assorted Congress members in their offices. The photos on Turchynov’s website, show that in addition to meeting with Tim Walberg, they met in the offices of Robert Aderholt (AL-04), and Bill Huizenga (MI-02).

CONCLUSION

Among the many things wrong with what Walberg is doing: It’s shadow diplomacy. It’s not the official position of The United States to establish a coalition of Conservative Christian countries around the world, or to build a Conservative Christian political party in Ukraine. It is also wildly outside of the scope of Betsy DeVos’s duty as US Secretary of Education.

Walberg’s duty is to serve the 700,000 people in our Michigan District. Secret theocratic diplomacy projects don’t help us here. Lying on Ethics forms doesn’t help anyone. Walberg insults us by secretly delegating tasks to Michele Bachmann and Jim Garlow, while referring to them as “CODELs” and “Diplomats”, without any of the actual responsibility or accountability of such jobs. Walberg knows he’s not serving our District. That is evident by his choice to never post anything about his trips to Ukraine or about his meetings with Turchynov & Unguryan, and to deflect our questions about it in coffee hours. That is most explicitly evident by what Walberg told the Ukrainian crowd about where the concerns of constituents fall in his set of priorities [exhibit below].

Steven Meyer – Monroe, MI – June 28, 2020

Tim Walberg lied to us about a Committee Hearing with Betsy DeVos

Link to formatted, printable pdf of this report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZLnznZ0pXljNM3UGLKs1RTscHPXidCdy/view?usp=sharing

 Our U.S. Congress member, Tim Walberg has almost always voiced support for public schools, while undermining them in favor of religious, and private schools. Walberg attempts to blur the definitions of various types of schools to allow private and religious schools to become eligible for public school money, without abiding by the same legal standards and obligations that public schools uphold. Walberg has also lied about charter schools, and school choice to deflect criticism. That is what happened at a Coffee Hour event in October 2017, when a constituent asked Walberg about Betsy DeVos’s agenda with charter schools. In response to our fellow constituent’s question, Walberg cited a non-existent House Committee meeting, in which he claimed to have asked DeVos if school choice is part of her agenda. 

That lie of Walberg’s prompted this report, which consists of three parts:

PART 1: What Committee Hearing?

-      How Walberg lied to us about questioning DeVos in a House committee hearing

PART 2: Walberg V. Public Schools

-      A brief history of Walberg’s long career of undermining public schools

PART 3: Walberg’s Work with DeVos

-      An outsider’s glimpse of Tim Walberg’s years working with Betsy DeVos

Key to Color Highlights

School Choice: Green

Charter Schools: Peach

PART 1: What Committee Hearing?

At a town hall event in October 2017, our U.S. Congress member, Tim Walberg told us that he had asked Betsy DeVos in an Education Committee meeting if she was proposing any school choice legislation, and that DeVos had answered no.

Monday, October 30, 2017 (1:30 pm)	Coffee Hour- Grand Ledge, MI
Live Constituent Question:“Lots of us here are retired educators, and we’re hearing many, many things that have happened about cuts to education. Charter schools are being proposed by our new cabinet member, that’s –“ [interruption] Walberg:“We already have charter schools.” Constituent:“Yes, but the emphasis is on who’s bolstering those, versus bolstering public edu-?” [interruption] Walberg:“Betsy DeVos has offered no proposals on increasing charter schools.” [General dissenting murmur] Walberg:“Now, now, now folks, you’re coming here to hear the facts. I sit on the House Education Committee. I’ve had Betsy in front of me. I’ve asked her directly the question:‘Are you proposing any school choice legislation?’ And the answer is, no. The answer is, no. There’s been no cuts to funding for education from the Federal level – none. In fact, we’ve given dollars back to the states that we were using with Federal workfare program, or work training programs, 45 to be exact. Most of them were redundant and overlapping. In our Skills Act which passed last term and signed by President Obama, to give it that bi-partisan feel. I want you to know that.”
Video (26:00 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVc_fP87fN4

So, Walberg wanted us to believe that Betsy DeVos was not promoting any School Choice, or Charter School legislation. Also, as a House Education Committee member, Walberg claimed to have personally questioned DeVos about those things in a hearing, and was satisfied after DeVos told him that she was not pushing that agenda.

Anyone who has been to Walberg’s official House webpage, would have noticed Walberg’s misdirection at that coffee hour, because he has always pushed for School Choice legislation. To this day, his official House webpage still lists School Choice among his legislative priorities. As recently as 2016, Walberg still listed expansion of Charter Schools among the legislation he was proud of.

Web caps (w/ highlights) show School Choice and Charter Schools are priorities for Walberg

In the time between becoming the U.S. Secretary of Education, and the Coffee Hour in Grand Ledge, Betsy DeVos did not appear in front of any hearings with the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, or any other public hearings with Tim Walberg in 2017.

So, Walberg lied to us about that committee hearing. It never took place.

The closest thing was on January 12, 2017, when Walberg gave a House floor speech to endorse, and encourage the Senate confirmation of Betsy DeVos. In that speech Walberg based his reasons to confirm DeVos on her promotion of both “giving families choices”, and “access” to education outlets other than public schools; with the inference being charter and parochial (religious) schools.

Thursday, January 12, 2017	House Floor Speech- Washington, D.C.
Walberg: “Mister Speaker, for too long Washington has spent education dollars building bureaucracy instead of advancing opportunities for our children. As a member of the House Education Committee, I believe we must change status quo, and restore local control in education. We need someone leading the Department of Education working with Congress to leave decision-making in the hands of parents and local communities, not in Washington. Betsy DeVos is that person.” “She has dedicated her life to fighting for children in Michigan. She has been a tireless advocate for giving families choices, and ensuring our kids have access to quality education including public schools regardless of their zip code. She has a heart for children and will be a champion for every student in America. I encourage the Senate to confirm her quickly so that together we can get to work on ensuring a high-quality education is in reach of every child. And I yield back.”
Video (5:50:00 mark):https://www.c-span.org/video/?421742-101/us-house-legislative-business

Notice how Walberg tossed in, “including public schools” as a sort of twiddling caboose to his main objective: “access to quality education”.

“Access to quality education” is one of a number of recent political euphemisms for “charter schools”, and “school choice”, to allow people like Walberg and DeVos to talk about those polarizing topics without upsetting large swaths of their constituencies. 

For example, the Politico report below describes how DeVos met with Frank Luntz to reframe her messaging, and specifically replace the term, “school choice” with other terms. So, perhaps Walberg was speaking euphemistically, when he told us that DeVos was not pushing for “school choice”:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/07/betsy-devos-school-choice-education-397633

PART 2: Walberg V. Public Schools

Throughout his entire political career, starting in 1983, Walberg has demonstrated an aversion to public schools. Prior to his first successful run, Walberg campaigned for a seat on his local school board. Walberg spent 4 years and 5 months, the majority of his time in college, on his Christian Education majors. Shortly after taking public office for the first time, Walberg pulled his own kids out of public school. Walberg was a member of the Michigan House Education Committee. So, it was a strange move for someone in Walberg’s position, and it made news nationally.

Saturday, October 15, 1983	The Orlando Sentinel- Orlando, FL
This blurb shows Walberg’s 1983 choice against public schools drew national attention.

Thursday, October 20, 1983	Detroit Free Press- Detroit, MI
Has Walberg continued to push for more money for public schools?

Tuesday, November 22, 1983	Lansing State Journal- Lansing, MI
This article mentions how Walberg’s first attempt at public office was for his local school board.

A few years after showing a personal preference for home schooling instead of public schools, and assuring voters that he would push for more money for public schools, Walberg pushed for laws to make the state’s accountability standards easier for home schooling compared to public schools. At the same time, Walberg raised doubts about the motives of public educators as being more concerned about their own jobs, and not as concerned about the well-being of students.

Friday, February 14, 1986	Lansing State Journal- Lansing, MI
This article describes how Walberg tried to lessen State accountability standards for home schooling.

Tuesday, March 8, 1988	Detroit Free Press- Detroit, MI
This article describes Walberg’s home-schooling, and animosity toward Michigan’s education laws.

After Walberg left the Michigan legislature, he immediately got to work as President of the Warren Reuther Center for Education and Community Impact, Inc.It was registered as a charitable organization with a broad set of goals centered around education. An amendment was filed about 11 months after the original articles of incorporation, to describe the organization’s purpose in more broad terms, which no longer included public schools.

Walberg was the President of the Warren Reuther Center from January 1999, until about August 2000.

Original Filing: January 6, 1999 Amendment: October 27, 1999	Warren Reuther Center  for Education and Community Impact, Inc Monroe, MI
Original articles of incorporation: Amendment:
Services for public schools was deleted from the purpose statement when Walberg was President.

In 2000, as President of the Warren Reuther Center, Walberg wrote this newspaper op-ed in favor of school vouchers, and the DeVos family’s “Kids First! Yes!” ballot initiative. 

This editorial also contains some of the most explicit attacks on public schools that I’ve seen from Walberg. He repeatedly refers to public schools as “government schools”, part of a “monopolistic system” run by “special interests”, who are “terrified” at the prospect of parents having choices in schools. Walberg’s description is similar to his quote from the 1986 article where he describes public school administrators as more interested in “protecting their turf”, than the well-being of kids.

Sunday, May 14, 2000	The Daily Telegram– Adrian, MI
Article [excerpt with highlights] accessed through NewsBank, Inc., at one of our fine District 7 public libraries

Walberg opposed Affirmative Action, or Diversity Standards for colleges that receive tax funds, by spinning those standards as “Racial Preferences”.

At the time Walberg put out this ad, he was working for his alma mater Moody Bible Institute, and with the Board of Advisors for Betsy DeVos’s PAC, Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP). 

Monday, August 2, 2004	Ad - Battle Creek Enquirer– Battle Creek, MI
Walberg put out this ad during his first attempt at the seat in U.S. Congress

In 2008, Walberg was the only Member of the House Education committee to vote against the Head Start program because he believed it prevented Christian Schools from discriminating against hiring teachers who were Muslims and Witches.

Walberg currently calls the Special Counsel on Russian election interference a “Witch Hunt”. In 2008 though, Walberg supported the government-sponsored disenfranchisement of witches and minority non-Christian religions from jobs and schools. By measures of hatred, shunning is nicer than hunting. So, there’s that.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008	Jackson Citizen Patriot- Jackson, MI
Article Link: http://blog.mlive.com/getting_in_your_business/2008/07/walberg_explains_head_start_vo.html

I might be out on a limb here, but this House Floor speech inclines me to suspect that Walberg wants to push for legislation to expand charter schools.

Thursday, September 8, 2011	House Floor- Washington, DC
Walberg: “It's a simple bill. It promotes a charter school program that accomplishes three goals. Those being, one, to provide parents greater options for their children's education; two, consolidating education programs and reducing the authorization level; and, three, supporting the development of high-quality charter schools. That's what we're about in education. That's what we ought to be concerned with.” “This bill accomplishes our goal of modernizing and streamlining the program by consolidating the current programs to one program and one authorization line. The result in savings still affords the taxpayer, the parent, and the educator with even more opportunity for growth of proven charter school models and new innovative charter schools.” “The bill ensures that charter schools and charter school authorizers reach out to parents to serve students who can benefit from these schools. The legislation supports quality initiatives in the authorizing world without putting any new mandates on the schools.” “The legislation has broad support, including a community that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, National Alliance of Public Charter Schools, Texas Charter School Association, Chiefs for Change, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, just to name a few.” “Charter schools were created in Michigan, my State, 15 years ago. And since that time nothing but proven educational success has taken place*, with children in tough school districts before now receiving education that is promoting success for them and their future prosperity in an education opportunity that expands in the real-world experience.” “For that reason and many others, I urge the support of H.R. 2218 as a proposal that does exactly what our Northwest Ordinance says. It encourages schools and the means of education for quality, students, and future people that will work in our system.”
Video (2:30:00 mark): https://www.c-span.org/video/?301428-2/house-session

Michigan Dept. of Education’s List of 21 Failing School Districts *(16 are Charter Schools):

https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2018/03/30/charter-schools-michigan-failing/472900002/

PART 3: Walberg’s Years with Betsy DeVos

Seven months after Walberg had lied to us about questioning DeVos in a committee hearing, he finally had the chance to do what he had already told us that he had done. On May 22, 2018, Betsy DeVos sat in front of Walberg in a House Committee Hearing for the first time. Buried amongst all of his flattery, Walberg only asked DeVos one question in that hearing.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018	Committee on Education and the Workforce Washington, D.C.
Walberg: “Madam Secretary, thank you for being here, and having had an opportunity to be up close and personal to your activities for the past number of decades, across the board in education excellence, and not just a one-size-fits-all, and not just private parochial, but also public activities that you’ve done across Michigan as well as the United States, putting personal effort toward that, and not just talk. I appreciate that.” “Having had an opportunity to talk to some of the teachers that you have enhanced, they’re not talking about walking out. They’re talkin’ about the excitement they have in being in a place where their students are primary, and they’re given all of the support necessary. And I’m talkin’ about a public charter academy that I had the chance to walk through, that’s so creative with aviation and engineering, and a whole strata of students that were there. It was exciting to see. So, we appreciate that.” “Madam Secretary, you’ve previously stated that your budget focuses on improving educational opportunities and outcomes for all students, while also returning power to the people closest to those students. Please elaborate on how returning power to the people closest to the students in the states, localities, parents, teachers, helps to improve opportunities and outcomes for these students.” DeVos: “Thanks Congressman for that question [Walberg’s prompt was not in the form of a question], and I have enjoyed working with you over the years to really help students become everything they can be when they are able, with their parents to make the right kind of educational choice for themselves. And that really is what we’re talking about here is, um, those who are closest to students know them the best.” [DeVos continues on] [The only question that Walberg asked DeVos in this hearing: “Is updating the Federal work study formula, something the Department supports?” DeVos responded: “Yes, it is.”]
Video (1:04:15 mark):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygshoekcXRo

In that hearing, Tim Walberg and Betsy DeVos described in general terms that their relationship had gone back “over the years”, and a “number of decades”. I found documentation showing from at least 2001 through 2006, Walberg was a member of the Board of Advisors for Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP). GLEP is a school-choice PAC, founded by Betsy DeVos, and her husband Dick DeVos. The DeVos family made their fortune running Amway, a business that contorted through all the legal loopholes to avoid being busted as an illegal pyramid scheme.

            It is unclear whether or not Walberg had received any financial compensation for his work on GLEP’s Advisory Board. His 2006 financial disclosure form only shows income from Moody Bible Institute, and from his pension from Michigan’s State Legislature.

Web caps (w/ markups) from GLEP’s website showing Walberg served on the Board of Advisors

GLEP is still around, and it is not the only school choice PAC that Betsy DeVos created. In 2003, she and her husband started All Children Matter, which broke campaign finance laws and failed to register as a PAC in some states. All Children Matter was then dissolved between GLEP and the new organization that they started. In 2010, Betsy DeVos started and ran American Federation for Children, which promoted voucher programs and charters schools across the country. DeVos continued running that organization until she got the job as U.S. Secretary of Education.

Monday, March 18, 2002	The Daily Globe – Ironwood, MI
Article: GLEP’s main goal is to elect politicians who will increase the number of charter schools

The first job that Walberg got, after 16 years in the Michigan legislature [Jan 12, 1983 – Dec 22, 1998] was as the President of the Warren Reuther Center for Education and Community Impact. Walberg had that job from January 1999, until about August 2000. There are a few articles from 1998, where Walberg mentioned that he planned to use his experience at the Reuther Center to support a future political run for Michigan’s State Board of Education. During Walberg’s time at the Reuther Center, he hosted a debate on school vouchers, and helped to promote the DeVos - led, “Kids First! Yes!” ballot initiative for school vouchers. That ballot initiative was overwhelmingly rejected by the fine people of Michigan [69% - 31%].

Shortly before that vote, in August 2000, Walberg was relieved of his position as President, and Warren Reuther announced the center’s suspension of operations due to the poor management of its finances [Article: Center Struggles to Survive – Daily Telegram; August 3, 2000]. Walberg spent the next five years working for Moody Bible Institute, and on the board for DeVos’s GLEP organization.

Over the years the DeVos family has contributed 104 times to Tim Walberg’s campaigns totaling $159,500. In units of new cars, that is enough money for a new Aston Martin Vantage [starting MSRP: $106,125, source: CarAndDriver.com], plus a 2019 Ford Fusion V6 Sport [starting MSRP: $40,015, source: Shop.Ford.com], which leaves $13,360 left over, which might pay for a new base model Nissan Versa. Or, that money could also cover at least three public school teachers’ salaries for a year.

Contributions to Walberg’s campaigns from the DeVos family [Source: FollowTheMoney.Org]

            Those contributions only account for individual FEC filings. Betsy DeVos’s school choice PACs have actively boosted Walberg over the years as well. Notice how GLEP gives Walberg and Bishop two exclamation marks, which is one more than the number of questions Walberg asked DeVos in the House committee hearing:

From GLEP’s Facebook page, December 10, 2014

CONCLUSION

I would like to find more documentation related to these topics. What I have found so far shows that Walberg has worked against the interest of public schools over his entire political career. It has gotten to the point now, where Walberg will brazenly lie to our faces to deflect and cover for his intentions.