Murphy matter may be the most depressing scandal yet
Perhaps it’s fitting no one knows where Murphy lives. Because rather than confront the allegations, he has chosen to go into hiding instead.
To be alive today – and awake – is to have to fight yielding to despair at all times.
Every day brings new examples of deterioration – of our politics, our civility, our morality, our sense of justice. Of truth itself.
To begin to recount some of those examples would be to pen an editorial without end, without bottom. Let’s just, for time’s sake, take the most recent cases of corruption and malfeasance, of our political leaders’ almost gleeful contempt for the citizens they purport to represent.
We just recently learned that Border Czar Tom Homan was captured on video tape accepting a $50,000 bribe from FBI agents posing as businessmen seeking government contracts should Donald Trump win re-election.
On tape.
Not only has the money never been returned, the Trump administration shut down the investigation entirely, citing lack of evidence. Prima facie corruption.
Likewise, the Justice Department, after touting a big reveal of the Epstein files, has seen fit to squelch the case entirely, raising questions as to whether the President’s name is contained within them. The White House further claims that a lascivious note Trump appears to have sent to Epstein is a forgery, never mind the Trump signature at the bottom perfectly matches his handwriting.
Furthermore, Trump, in defiance of strictures against a sitting president getting involved in Justice Department business, is on record as directly instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to stop “slow-walking” prosecutions against several of his political enemies. In the case of James Comey, Trump went so far as to fire his own prosecutor after he admitted he couldn’t make a case against the former head of the FBI. Trump then installed a loyalist with no prosecutorial experience who was able to obtain a tenuous indictment.
On and on it goes.
Yet what was revealed at a press conference in Appleton on Wednesday and the shenanigans that followed, while less impactful and less obvious than the corruption at the highest level, may be even more grotesque, perhaps because of how picayune it may seem.
Rep. Dave Murphy was challenged at that press conference to provide proof that he lives within the district he represents – AD 56. Neither of the two addresses he had listed – including the one on his own legislative page – is within 56. Ever since news broke of this apparent violation of the Wisconsin Constitution, Murphy has remained silent, refusing to admit or deny it.
The Dairyland Patriot contacted Murphy’s office after the press conference to ask directly if Murphy lived within the district and, if so, why the address on his own page was actually in AD 52.
The response was vague, with the aide saying while he didn’t have Murphy’s address committed to memory, he “believe(d) there was a mistake with that."
Believed there was a mistake with that. Hmm. That sounds … non-responsive and a tad suspicious.
Lo and behold, less than two hours after that press conference the address on Murphy’s page changed … to a Hortonville residence within AD 56. Specifically, to a donor of Murphy’s who gave $2,000 to his campaign.
An email to the aide asking about the timing of the change and why, if there had been questions about Murphy’s residence for nearly a month, the address wasn’t updated on his legislative page until right after the press conference went unanswered.
The three people who spearheaded Wednesday’s press conference, which included Emily Tseffos, who challenged Murphy last November, continue to urge voters to file complaints to the DOJ demanding he provide proof of residence.
It’s all pretty obvious that Murphy either has or, likely, still does reside outside of the district he represents. Perhaps it’s fitting no one knows where he lives. Because rather than confront the allegations, he has chosen to go into hiding instead. Just like when during the campaign last year he not only didn’t accept any of Tseffos’ invitations to hold public forums, he didn’t even respond to the invitations.
It’s all so depressingly petty and small: the apparent corruption combined with such cowardice. Can we really do no better than this?
We’re all tired of it. Lord knows Tseffos is. On a social media video she posted on Thursday afternoon, she summed up what we’re all feeling with a sense of weariness.
“He's taken some time to change (his address) to another friend's house,” she said. “I know where this house is. It is very much a friend of his. So this is the game that people are playing. Like, dude, just be honest. Like, be honest in that you moved out of district. You know what I'm saying? This is so childish. Be a grown-up.”
Murphy matter may be the most depressing scandal yet © 2025 by Kelly Fenton is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4
