Wisconsin Gov. Walker part of criminal scheme: NOT

[Geee]

Overheated media erroneously bring back Walker ‘criminal scheme’ theme

 

MADISON, Wis. – In one fell swoop, a federal appeals court allegedly did to conservatives what they assert prosecutors in a politically charged investigation have done: Damaged their constitutional rights.

 

Sources tell Wisconsin Reporter that the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday afternoon erroneously released what was supposed to be sealed documents in the federal civil rights lawsuit against Milwaukee County prosecutors.

 

That mistake led to a breathless story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, headlined “Walker wanted funds funneled to Wisconsin Club for Growth.”

 

WALKER UNDER FIRE: Another massive court document dump Friday had mainstream media and left organizations screaming of a fundraising conspiracy by Gov. Scott Walker. But there’s not much of a conspiracy, attorneys say, when nothing done was illegal.

The club and one of its board members, conservative activist Eric O’Keefe, are suing Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, two of his assistant DAs, John Doe special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, and a contracted investigator. The lawsuit, filed in February alleges Chisholm, a Democrat, and his crew, have engaged in a lengthy partisan witch hunt in their secret probe into dozens of conservative organizations, with the Wisconsin Club for Growth a key target.

http://watchdog.org/166881/media-john-doe-documents/

[Geee]

‘Retaliation’: Unsealed docs show John Doe prosecutors’ broad search tactics

 

MADISON, Wis. – Conservative targets of a Democrat-launched John Doe investigation have described the secret probe as a witch hunt.

 

That might not be a big enough descriptor, based on records released Friday by a federal appeals court as part of a massive document dump.

 

Attorneys for conservative activist Eric O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth point to subpoenas requested by John Doe prosecutors that sought records from “at least eight phone companies” believed to serve the targets of the investigation. O”Keefe and the club have filed a civil rights lawsuit against John Doe prosecutors, alleging they violated conservatives’ First Amendment rights.

 

WIDE NET: Unsealed court documents released Friday shine light on the tactics used by prosecutors in a politically charged John Doe investigation. The broad digital searches raise serious questions about potential Fourth Amendment abuses.

Subpoenas also demanded the conservatives’ bank records “emails from every major private email provider” and other information in what some have described as a mini-NSA (National Security Agency) operation in Wisconsin.

http://watchdog.org/166889/john-doe-retaliation-prosecutors/

[Geee]

Revealed: Wisconsin John Doe investigation was full-blown anti-conservative fishing expedition

 

We’ve covered the abusive anti-conservative Wisconsin “John Doe” proceedings many times before.

 

The short story is that two separate proceedings were commenced under the auspices of Democratic District Attorneys in order to try to take down Scott Walker.

 

John Doe No. 1 concerned Walker’s time as County Executive and ended without finding any wrongdoing by Walker himself.

 

John Doe No. 2 concerned Walker’s time as Governor and recall election. Both a state court judge and a federal judge found that even if everything the investigators claimed was true, it was not illegal. This John Doe No. 2 resulted in a federal lawsuit by two of the targets alleging that the investigators violated the targets’ constitutional rights.

 

Some documents released Friday by the federal Court of Appeals reveal just how abusive this John Doe No. 2 was.

 

The investigators conducted a widespread fishing expedition through the otherwise private records of numerous conservative activists, as described by M.D. Kittle of Wisconsin Reporter, who has followed the case more closely than anyone (h/t Instapundit):

 

‘Retaliation’: Docs show state prosecutors’ launched mini-NSA probe of state conservatives

 

Conservative targets of a Democrat-launched John Doe investigation have described the secret probe as a witch hunt.

 

http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/08/revealed-wisconsin-john-doe-investigation-was-full-blown-anti-conservative-fishing-expedition/

[Geee]

John Doe prosecutors take desperate, unethical slap

 

Everybody in the media knows that if you want a story to die, you put it out late on a Friday afternoon.

 

The top editors already are gone for the weekend, and the reporters are all finishing something up and trying to get out of there, too.

 

Short of a presidential assassination or a school massacre, the next day’s front page already is locked down. The job of putting a weekend paper to bed is so easy they let guys like me do it, because all the decisions that really matter already have been made.

 

EMAILS: Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s aides told him how independently Wisconsin Club for Growth ran its campaigns.

So it’s beyond suspicious that the top story on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s front page Saturday was an item that supposedly didn’t break — unannounced — until 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Headlined, “Walker steered donors to group,” the story reported on some emails showing that the governor had encouraged donations to Wisconsin Club for Growth and insinuated that one of those donations was part of a quid pro quo.

http://watchdog.org/167080/walker-doe-leak/

[Geee]

BREAKING: Federal Appeals Court Revives John Doe Investigation

 

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Rudolph Randa's order shutting down the John Doe investigation into political allies of Gov. Scott Walker—the Wisconsin Club for Growth and its director, Eric O'Keefe. The three judges—who famously overturned Randa's ruling in the Georgia Thompson case—want the case to be heard in state court.

http://expressmilwaukee.com/blog-10731-breaking-federal-appeals-court-revives-john-doe-investigation.html

[Geee]

Source: Wisconsin Supreme Court doesn’t want political heat of John Doe case

 

MADISON, Wis. — Seven months have come and gone, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court has done nothing — at least publicly — to decide the fate of a controversial secret investigation into dozens of conservatives.

 

Last week, the high court released its calendar and synopses of cases to be argued in October.

 

Conspicuously missing from the docket are two requests asking the court to settle disputes in the stalled John Doe investigation, launched more than two years ago by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, a Democrat, and his henchmen.

 

One legal expert suggests the Supreme Court is hoping a federal appeals court settles the issue once and for all so the state court doesn’t have to deal with the political headaches and heat surrounding the politically charged John Doe.

 

SUPREME SILENCE: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has yet to even decide whether it will take up cases involving the politically charged John Doe investigation into conservative groups. One source tells Wisconsin Reporter that the court may not want the political heat the case would draw.

In February, unnamed petitioners, targets of the probe, asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the five-county investigation that has been in dispute since January, when presiding John Doe Judge Gregory Peterson quashed several subpoenas.

http://expressmilwaukee.com/blog-10731-breaking-federal-appeals-court-revives-john-doe-investigation.html

[Geee]

Armed and growing: Milwaukee County DA beefs up his ‘police force’

 

MADISON, Wis. — The Milwaukee County prosecutor-pushed predawn, paramilitary-style raids on the homes of conservative activists last year was perhaps the logical result of a department that has expanded its armed investigative force, a Wisconsin Reporter investigation shows.

 

It’s all part of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s drive to start his own police force and expand his power, according to Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.

 

“The role of the prosecutor’s office is to prosecute, not to investigate a crime,” said Clarke, adding that Chisholm’s move to expand his gun-carrying investigative team is “mission creep.”

 

‘MISSION CREEP': Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke says County District Attorney John Chisholm’s continuous additions of armed investigators to his agency is ‘mission creep,’ turning the DA’s office into a police force.

At the very least, Clarke insists, in bulking up his investigation division Chisholm is duplicating existing services. That expansion has already cost his Sheriff’s Department, the law enforcement agency that traditionally handles investigatory work for prosecutors.

“Why does he need all these investigators?” the sheriff asked.

http://watchdog.org/177003/district-attorney-john-chisholm-police/

[Geee]

State lawmakers look to investigate the GAB and its investigators

 

MADISON, Wis. — The controversial state agency that regulates campaign finance and election law could look a lot different by the end of the Wisconsin state Legislature’s spring session.

 

And the Legislature’s Republican majority, intent on getting to the bottom of the Government Accountability Board’s conduct in a series of politically charged investigations, may just employ a seldom-used legislative tool to force the tight-lipped accountability board to explain itself.

 

State Rep. David Craig, R-Town of Vernon, is one of the more vocal proponents of establishing a special legislative committee to investigate the GAB. He said the sooner lawmakers take up the issue, the better.

 

“There are some very serious allegations about the GAB,” he said. “When you have what is tantamount to a conspiracy of government agencies to abuse First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights, this is a grievous situation that needs to be investigated to the utmost.”

 

“The public needs to know what this government agency is capable of.”

 

INVESTIGATE THE INVESTIGATORS: Republican lawmakers are calling for the creation of a legislative committee to investigate the Government Accountability Board, particularly its conduct related to a politically charged John Doe probe. The committee could use subpoena power to obtain GAB documents and compel witnesses to testify, a powerful tool used by prosecutors of the secret John Doe investigation.

A legislative committee established to investigate the GAB could issue subpoenas to obtain records and communications, and compel witnesses to testify. Ironically, that’s a legal tool investigative agents employed early and often in an ongoing John Doe investigation into dozens of conservative organizations and their members.

 

http://watchdog.org/191429/gab-investigate-lawmakers/

[Valin]

 

State lawmakers look to investigate the GAB and its investigators

 

MADISON, Wis. — The controversial state agency that regulates campaign finance and election law could look a lot different by the end of the Wisconsin state Legislature’s spring session.

 

 

 

Whats good for the goose is sauce for the gander.