The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a powerful corporate-funded group that works to secretly pass Big Business-friendly legislation in state legislatures around the country. It is the same group that is responsible for the proliferation of voter suppression and “Shoot First” laws.

Here’s how powerful the group is. Former Wisconsin governor and state legislator Tommy Thompson — who’s currently running for a Senate seat in the state — once told an ALEC conference that he’d “loved going to these meetings because I always found new ideas. Then Iai??i??d take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that ai???Itai??i??s mine.” With that sentence Thompson basically admitted that he’d take corporate-written ALEC bills and work to pass them without anyone ever knowing their origin.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s watchdog blogger Dan Bice recently attended a Thompson campaign event and asked him about his remarks about ALEC. Thompson, clearly not knowing how to answer, shook his head and claimed he didn’t remember the words. Watch it:

It’s shameful that Thompson is refusing to talk about his servitude to ALEC and its corporate agenda. The voters of Wisconsin need a senator who will be honest about where the legislation he or she is advocating for comes from.

ALEC doesn’t need its own Senator. Click here to sign up to make calls for his bold progressive opponent Tammy Baldwin.