The Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch review of the SB 654 drafting files pretty much proves Scott Walker knew he was on the wrong side of the law, and tried to cover up his crime with legislation that would exempt him and his donors from similar activities in the future.
The author of the legislation, the uncomfortably odd Sen. Mary Lazich, was the perfect choice to carry out Walker's legal slight of hand.
New documents indicate that just weeks after the first subpoenas were issued in Wisconsin's "John Doe" criminal campaign finance probe in October 2013, senate Republicans had begun working to change state law to legalize the activities under investigation.
Legislative Republicans surprised many in the state in March of 2014 when they tried to rush Senate Bill 654 through the legislature to explicitly carve-out an exception to the state's campaign finance statutes for so-called "issue ads" ... The John Doe investigation was never mentioned during testimony on SB 654 , even among the bill's opponents.
Senate elections committee chair Sen. Mary Lazich (R) had begun working on the bill five months earlier, in October 2013 -- just weeks after secret John Doe subpoenas were issued to Wisconsin Club for Growth, the Walker campaign, and other groups.
The timing provides further evidence that the legislation was designed to have an impact on the conduct under investigation in the John Doe. Jay Heck, Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin, now says "this is more than coincidental." "I'm just in disbelief at how brazen this is," he said.
This seems huge. Thanks for covering it.
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