AG Schimel lets Lincoln Hills John Doe Probe of Youth Abuse expire, protecting Scott Walker!!!

Scott Walker’s AG lapdog Brad Schimel apparently never asked for an extension to end the abuse of boys and girls…in fact, Walker and Schimel asked a judge to shut down the investigation. JS:

The do-nothing AG

Under a law Gov. Scott Walker signed last year limiting how such investigations can be conducted…made them automatically shut down after six months unless an extension was approved by a panel of 10 judges.

Walker just did away with at least one threat that would have held him accountable for his inaction on the horrific abuses at Lincoln Hills for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls in local media. The FBI is still involved:

Prosecutors for more than a year have been looking into claims of child neglect, prisoner abuse, sexual assault and record destruction at Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls.

And that's why the John Doe law was changed. Worse? Anybody watching the AG race knew why Schimel had to be AG, and conservative voters made it happen:

"It's not because of the law," Walker said of winding down the John Doe probe within six months. "The reason they (AG) gave to us (for shutting down the John Doe probe) was that he felt they were complete with the work they did and that they were deferring to federal authorities."

Of course Schimel would say that. He promised, said with absolute clarity, that he would uphold whatever law Walker and the Republican majority passed.

Guilty Walker aide described as "First Political Prisoner."

Now a real contender, Scott Walker's run for president has made defending his past authoritarian misdeeds an almost surreal experience, even downright breathtaking. 

The Wisconsin Reporter may be the most outrageous attempt to date, with the sad story of lawless Walker aide, Kelly Rindfliesch. "Reporter" M.D. Kittle goes for broke defending illegal campaign emails by Rindfliesch. 

Kittle's Onion-esque title is pictured here, with a Tweet of support from another victim of liberal harassment, right wing radio host Vicki McKenna. 

Jaw dropping and ridiculous, Kittle is trying to make the case that conservatives should not be prosecuted by liberal DA's, even if they're caught breaking the law...just a little bit. 

Described as a "secret war on conservatives," Rindfliesch is laughably portrayed as "the first political prisoner." You really can't make this up any better than these right wing spin-meisters. You'll notice in the article that the secret router used to illegally campaign is never mentioned. Just an oversight I'm sure: 

Fox News: Kelly Rindfliesch could become the first political prisoner in what many see as a Democrat-led secret war on conservatives. Rindfleisch, was convicted in 2012 on a nebulous charge of misconduct in public office for answering campaign emails while serving as an aide to Gov. Scott Walker ... The charge, like the prosecutors' sweeping search of Rindfleisch's computers and smartphones, appears to have been expansive and ill-fitting her "crimes." 

"This started with them (Milwaukee County District Attorney's office) trying to get something on Scott Walker while he was running for governor, and their aggressiveness increased with the passage of Act 10, and it was no holds barred," Rindfleisch said. "They were going to do whatever they had to do to get him, even if it destroyed other people." 

You gotta love this....

Her attorney, Frank Gimbel, tells Wisconsin Reporter he will file a habeas corpus petition with the United States District Court for the Eastern District in Milwaukee. It’s a rather unusual move.

“We are challenging the state official that will have custody of Kelly on the grounds of this has gotten to the point where her liberty was taken away from her. And because she was deprived of due process, we’re asking the federal court to release her,” Gimbel said.

Stunningly bad reporting and outrageous spin.

Republican John Doe changes opens door to rampant but "legal" criminal political activity to keep power.

John Doe reform...a wildly obvious attempt to conduct illegal political activity with impunity, at a time when the corrupting influence of money is pouring into lawmakers coffers.

What was once described as "creeping" fascist is now in full sprint to the finish line under Walker and the Republican majority. The facade of government simply conceals the private special interest takeover of our state.

Removing the legal impediments that keep corruption at bay are behind the John Doe reforms. Muzzling judges and prosecutors while giving suspects the full force of the media and putting an arbitrary time limit on investigations are just a few dead giveaways. WSJ:

This bill would limit the secrecy aspect of the law, allowing secrecy orders to be placed only on judges and prosecutors. It would also limit the length of investigations to six months. A probe could be extended for additional six-month periods, with no cap on the number of extensions, provided a majority of 10 judicial administrative district chief judges find good cause.

The political crimes of the past will be seen now as "standard operating procedure" by our strong freedom loving leaders.

It would also limit the scope of crimes that can be investigated in a John Doe probe to the most severe felonies and some violent crimes.

Of course, Republicans will market these changes as something they are not:

Rep. David Craig, R-Big Bend said the bill is designed to increase judicial oversight, protect the constitutional rights of individuals and ensure accountability to the people of Wisconsin.

The inconvenient truth?

But former Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann argued that John Doe laws should be stronger, not more limited. McCann suggested the real purpose of the bill is to end the second Doe investigation, noting that the investigation would no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the law.

As Milwaukee County District Attorney, McCann netted two felony convictions through a John Doe investigation for Democratic then-Sen. Chuck Chvala, along with convictions of several other Republican and Democratic former lawmakers in the "caucus scandal" of the early 2000s. 

The bill "removes from the reach of the John Doe all of the statutes under which Chvala and (Republican then-Rep. Scott) Jensen were charged," McCann said. "Senate Bill 43 guts the strength of the John Doe by removing numerous crimes for which public officials have been convicted in the past," McCann said.

While my conservative friend in Milwaukee still thinks the first John Doe was a waste of time and won't acknowledge the convictions, it still happened:

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm 's first investigation resulted in convictions for six Walker associates during his time as Milwaukee County executive.

The most unashamed corrupt special interest Republican, Sen. Tom Tiffany, concentrated on parsing out acceptable commonplace political "crimes," to those more "appropriate" outright violent crimes and felonies. From WKOW and WISC:

  

Walker is criticizing Hillary for private email account??? Really?

Does Scott Walker lack this much self-awareness? The media had already talked about the similarity between Hillary Clinton’s private email account and Scott Walker’s. So, what did the Walker campaign do? Stepped into the line of fire, that’s what. This is really beyond words:

WSJ: Gov. Scott Walker's political non-profit slammed Hillary Clinton on Thursday for using a private email system during her time as Secretary of State, according to the Daily Caller. "Hillary Clinton’s potential evasion of laws is something she should answer questions about,” said Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the political action committee Our American Revival, the Daily Caller reported. "Wisconsin has a strong open records law with a broad presumption of access to records and the governor has very specific policies in place in his office to assure that the laws are complied with fully."

Breathtaking. It didn't take long for Democrats to react…

Minutes after the conservative web site's story posted, the Democratic National Committee sent out an email criticizing Walker for using a private email system when he was county executive. The email also referenced reports that Walker aides set up a secret wireless router they used to conduct campaign business while on county time. "If Walker wants to talk about emails, let's look at his history first," the DNC said. The secret system was uncovered by an investigation into illegal campaign activities by Walker's staff that led to six convictions.

 Democrats were ready to jump on Walker anyway, after the Daily Beast ran this:

It’s Not Just Hillary: Scott Walker’s Email Controversy: The Wisconsin Governor kept a secret email system too, and some of his aides were found guilty of other crimes too. And it’s not over yet.

For anyone who might have forgotten, like my conservative friend who still doesn't think it was a big deal:

Gov. Scott Walker' John Doe transcript: Scott Walker must have known of private email, laptop system: At a secret hearing the day before the 2010 fall election, an investigator for the Milwaukee County district attorney testified that he had uncovered email evidence that Scott Walker, then-county executive, was likely aware of campaigning by his staff on county time using personal laptops and a secret wireless Internet router.

Here's the Fox News coverage and grilling from Chris Wallace:

Oddly, Walker totally avoiding what he calls "legal" coordination with outside groups this time.

While my conservative friend in Milwaukee is on a war path to remove Pres. Obama, a deliberate GOP distraction away from our state's problems, the bad news surrounding Scott Walker's time as governor isn't on his radar. I'm getting the feeling this is true for almost every other "stand with Walker" supporter.

So I guess they’ll never notice how Walker is now bragging that he’s “not” coordinating his campaign with other outside groups, like he did in his recall election. At least that’s what we’re being told. WSJ:

Gov. Scott Walker maintained Saturday he broke no laws in soliciting funds for a conservative group during the 2011 and 2012 recalls, but he said he’s not engaged in the practice as he seeks re-election in November. “Everything we’ve done is completely legitimate,” Walker told reporters Saturday in Madison.

Asked why he’s no longer doing it, he said, “as you can imagine I’m pretty busy with my own campaign right now.”

Too busy for the big donors? Well, would you believe...?

The new documents provide supplemental evidence to prosecutors’ previously disclosed legal theory that Walker and his campaign aides were involved in a “criminal scheme.” Milwaukee County investigator Robert Stelter’s conclusion that Walker solicited donations to Wisconsin Club for Growth and that such solicitation violated and was intended to “circumvent” state law on campaign contributions...

Kate Doner, a Walker campaign consultant … wrote to Johnson that Walker wanted Wisconsin Club for Growth exclusively to coordinate campaign themes. "As the Governor discussed ... he wants all the issue advocacy efforts run thru one group to ensure correct messaging," she wrote.

 Deceptive Walker Phrasing Revealed: Walker has been saying all along that he wasn't a "target," and pointed to a statement from investigators saying the same thing. But what I didn't know before was this:

A lawyer for lead prosecutor Francis Schmitz issued a statement in June stating, “Gov. Walker was not a target of the investigation. At no time has he been served with a subpoena.”

Legal experts have told the State Journal that a “target” of a John Doe probe is someone who prosecutors have enough evidence to file charges against, as opposed to a subject, who is someone under investigation for possible wrongdoing.

Which leaves the question of Walker's involvement wide open. I still don't understand why wanting to run all issues through one group isn't proof of illegal coordination.