Lawsuit alleges Minocqua Brewing Company owner uses super PAC donations for personal expenses

A new civil lawsuit against Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad alleges that he has defrauded his donors by using funds raised for his liberal super PAC to pay himself nearly half a million dollars.

The lawsuit was filed late Wednesday. In a copy of the complaint obtained by WPR, The Lakeland Times publisher Gregg Walker and general manager Heather Holmes also allege that Bangstad violated their privacy by using their images in the brewing business’s commercial products.

In December, Bangstad began marketing Snowflake Holiday Ale, a beer with Walker’s face on it.

The lawsuit comes after years of feuding between Bangstad and Walker. In 2023, Bangstad was found liable for defamation for a series of social media posts containing false claims he made about Walker. A jury awarded Walker $750,000 in damages; Bangstad later paid $50,000 personally and his insurance companies paid $530,000 in a negotiated settlement.

The new lawsuit sheds further light on that case and contains new allegations of fraud and misuse of super PAC funds. It notes that Bangstad testified in 2024 that “neither he nor Minocqua Brewing had the ability to pay the civil judgments against them.”

Additionally, Federal Elections Commission records show no payments made by the Minocqua Brewing Company to the super PAC, despite public promises to donate “a percentage of our profits” to the PAC.

The lawsuit argues that Bangstad uses donations to the PAC to subsidize the business rather than the other way around.

In part, the lawsuit relies on publicly available data on expenditures by the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC submitted to the FEC.

WPR first reported on apparent irregularities in the disclosures in a story published Thursday. WPR had no knowledge of the lawsuit or its allegations ahead of that story’s publication.

The lawsuit alleges that two entities that received payments from the super PAC of more than $300,000 in the last two years are fronts for Bangstad’s personal expenses.

Effervescent Blue and NCPS received payments of $333,890 in 2023 and 2024. The entities are not registered businesses in Wisconsin and they do not have any storefront nor online footprint. According to federal data, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC is the only political group to pay either during the two-year period.

“Bangstad pays himself ‘consulting fees’ with MBC Super PAC funds,” the lawsuit claims. “However, in an attempt to hide how much he is paying himself for alleged ‘consulting’ work, Bangstad makes the payments to Effervescent Blue and NCPS.”

Bangstad did not respond to a request for comment. In an interview this month, he called questions about Effervescent Blue and NCPS “out of bounds” and accused WPR of being part of a Republican effort “to hurt my super PAC and hurt my activism.”

The lawsuit also looks at FEC disclosure forms dating back to 2021. It finds that Bangstad has increased payments from the super PAC to the two entities from a total of $56,335.74 in 2021 to a total of $202,826 in 2024. Total payments to the two entities since 2021, according to the lawsuit, are $460,549.74

The lawsuit also alleges other misuses of donors’ funds, including to pay for personal legal expenses and bankruptcy counseling. A 2024 payment disclosed to the FEC showed a $10,000 payment to a Madison-based bankruptcy attorney that “has never established an attorney-client relationship with the MBC Super PAC.”

Bangstad refused to answer super PAC questions in earlier lawsuit

Bangstad has long urged boycotts of The Lakeland Times due to its conservative editorial stances. The lawsuit also sheds new light on how Bangstad escalated his online attacks on Walker while the previous civil lawsuit, filed in September 2022, was making its way through the courts in the following two years. 

In a deposition for that case, Bangstad said his posts about Walker were good for business.

“When I post about Gregg Walker on Facebook and he subsequently attacks me in his newspaper, I gain more Facebook followers and customers,” Bangstad said, according to court documents. He said that he “legitimately believe(s)” that Walker’s favored policies are bad, but also that “when Gregg Walker and myself fight, I sell more beer and merchandise.”

But in a 2024 “supplemental examination,” Bangstad refused to answer questions about the super PAC. According to the lawsuit, on Aug. 9, 2024, Walker’s attorney informed Bangstad’s attorney “that Walker would be seeking sanctions and contempt against Bangstad due to his failure to answer questions.” Just days later on Aug. 17, Bangstad posted a Photoshopped image showing Walker and Holmes in sadomasochistic poses. 

That image, which Bangstad has continued to post online, was the basis for Bangstad’s arrest on criminal defamation charges. The lawsuit alleges that Bangstad’s use of Holmes’ and Walker’s faces was an invasion of privacy and a form of using their likenesses for commercial purposes, based on his testimony that the feud is good for business.

Bangstad’s next court hearing in the criminal case is in early April. 

Bangstad loses zoning appeal in Oneida County, cannot open business this summer

On Thursday morning, the Oneida County zoning committee declined to reverse its decision to revoke the conditional use permit for Bangstad’s Minocqua taproom. This means the business will not be legally allowed to open this summer.

The zoning dispute dates back to 2021, when local officials required Bangstad to install curbs, create a stormwater plan and make other zoning changes to the Minocqua property. He refused and has battled town and county officials in the years since.

Bangstad, who was disruptive during the meeting, was eventually removed by an Oneida County Sheriff’s captain, WJFW-TV reported. He has repeatedly claimed that he is being targeted by the town of Minocqua and Oneida County for his political activism, a claim officials deny. He previously sued local officials in federal court claiming First Amendment violations. A judge dismissed that case in June.