It's an old plot, rich powerful man uses socialite wife to strong arm an old mistress into silence. Except in the case of conservative media mogul, Charlie Sykes, the wife and mistress are one in the same. Sort of.
The saga began earlier this year when I released a series exposing the radical and racist beliefs of Charlie Syke's prodigy, Brian Sikma, who at the time was also a board member of the socially conservative group, Wisconsin Family Action (He resigned sometime after my series came out). Almost immediately though, I received a legal letter from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL). Not only is (WILL) funded through grants from the conservative Bradley Foundation, but the person who runs the grant program is none other than Janet Riordan, Charlie Sykes socialite wife.
The law firm took specific issue with my use of a direct quote from Charlie Sykes, "The evidence is credible enough to merit action." After Wisconsin Representative Bill Kramer was accused of sexual misconduct, Sykes used this line to call for Kramer's resignation. It appears the firm was concerned that I had incorrectly lead readers to believe Sykes had condemned and opposed the racism of his prodigy, Brian Sikma. In reality, Sykes apparently has no issues with Sikma's offensive beliefs.
The letter ended with a request to, "Disclose the identity of - or any identifying information you might have regarding - the author "Liz Woodhouse." The entire letter can be read here.
While it does seem suspect that a law firm funded by Janet Riordan's employer, would use non-profit funds administrated by Riordan to send a letter defending her husband and requesting the identity of "Liz Woodhouse" it only seems proper to respond to their request.
As Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Tim Cuprisin wrote on July 20th, 2000 -
"Liz, of course, is the fake name used by opera singer Janet Riordan when she was a secret pundit on Charlie's (Sykes) radio show a few years ago. even before her real name was first reported by Inside TV and Radio back in 1997, there had been rumors about Charlie's relationship (affair) with Riordan."
That's right, not only is Liz Woodhouse the alias Sykes gave to his then mistress Janet Riordan, but she's also his current wife and the Bradley Foundation employee who coordinated grant money that ultimately was used to intimidate the author of this piece....Liz Woodhouse ( The ghost of Charlie Syke's conscience).
Because Charlie and Liz's affari happened before the internet age, the links covering this scandal are not available online. So instead, I am forced to provide the original newspaper pieces as published by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Tim Cuprisin.
In, "Woodhouse has an air of unreality" printed on January 9th, 1997, Cuprisin wrote -
"Liz Woodhouse has been a regular on Charlie Sykes' WTMJ-AM (620) pundit panel at 11 a.m. Fridays since last fall. There's one problem though. There is no Liz Woodhouse. "Liz Woodhouse" is a made-up name of an anonymous woman...this sounds like a silly little deejay trick..."
In, "Charlie Sykes mystery panelist unmasked as local entertainer," Cuprisin wrote -
Charlie finally apologized on the air Friday for misleading his listeners, but refused to identify "Liz" because, he said, he had promised her h wouldn't tell on her..But Charlie finally bowed to the pressure and will introduce her during his show between 8:30 and noon today...(However) there still wasn't a direct link between Charlie and Janet Riordan. But remember when Charlie was nabbed in Whitefish Bay last August for shooting off illegal fireworks? At the time, he said he was with a family friend from West Bend. Yep, Riordan lives in West Bend. I told him I didn't' get why he hadn't made it clear right from the start (who Liz was)...Answered Charlie: "There are a lot of things you don't get."
In
"Sykes to take 2-week break after wedding" Cuprisin asked Charlie Sykes about his third marriage to Janet Riordan/Liz Woodhouse and the story behind her journey from mistress to wife -
"In a Wednesday afternoon telephone chat, Charlie described his relationship with Riordan thusly: "We were friends, and we have obviously become better friends." "
So Mr. Charlie Sykes, the man who cheated on a potential future Supreme Court Justice (Diane Sykes) in order to sleep with the opera singing "Liz Woodhouse," I have revealed who "Liz" is. Now maybe you can explain why you wanted to know? Or will that law firm use more non-profit money from your wife's employer to send me, the ghost of your conscience, another letter?
Remember..."The evidence is credible enough to merit action" - Charlie Sykes
Lovingly yours, Liz Woodhouse