Slanderous Republicans seek out Enemies...

The juvenile caucus of the Republican authority at the state Capitol are now playing "monkey-see-monkey-do." These guys are now desperately trying to investigate (just like Republicans in DC are trying to smear the special counsel and reopening the Clinton emails) the GAB for their John Doe probes. Flat out political retaliation to hopefully silence critics now and in the future! Grow the f**k up:

GOP leaders of the state Senate approved broadening an investigation into the activities of a state ethics board that they disbanded because they believed it was biased against Republicans ... authorize GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel to look into the activities of the Government Accountability Board, including wide-ranging probes it conducted with prosecutors of Gov. Scott Walker and other Republicans. Schimel has said he welcomes the opportunity to further investigate the agency and the John Doe probes of Republicans. Rep. Robin Vos said, “The idea that individuals who potentially are on the short list of having committed a crime are now going to be in charge of running ethics and elections seems preposterous to me.”

Botched Partisan, Arrogant Decision by Judge Hue: Those horses have left the barn...

A judge said Monday that he shouldn't have authorized the release of some details included in Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel's report ... Jefferson County Circuit Judge William Hue said he should have blacked out some names because prosecutors and other officials did not pursue ethics charges against aides for campaigning on state time. “I dropped the ball in telling (Schimel) he could release it,” Hue said.

State law prohibits prosecutors and investigators from releasing information from a closed ethics investigation that didn’t result in charges. Those who violate the law can be subject to up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine. Hue said if he faced charges related to the release of the ethics investigation details, “I would have to plead guilty.” It’s unclear whether the law would apply to a judge.

After all the outraged GOP whining about a few partisan FBI texts that took shots at both Trump and Clinton, why aren't Republicans here just as offended at Judge Hue, the guy Schimel chose to launch his partisan attack on former GAB members:

Last year, (Judge) Hue posted a message on Twitter in response to a Journal Sentinel story about campaigns working with outside groups.

“Both sides do it but John Doe II only went after Republicans HARD. Imagine if the investigation fairly targeted BOTH parties," he wrote.

When the state Supreme Court in December 2015 ruled the special prosecutor leading the probe of Walker's campaign had been improperly appointed, Hue tweeted, 

"This happens when 'clever' lawyers outsmart themselves. It goes boom. Just play it down the middle. Just a wasteful shame."

Time to Sue for Defamation? Ya think...Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas lets the hammer fall:

The head of the state Elections Commission is calling on Republican lawmakers to stop implying staff at the former Government Accountability Board acted criminally while carrying out a now closed John Doe investigation. In a letter to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), Elections Commission interim administrator Michael Haas argues that recent comments by both have “no factual or legal basis,” and that he believes they may be slanderous. 

“I am respectfully requesting an immediate public apology and correction. Again, there is absolutely no basis for alleging that Mr. Bell or I are potentially on any short list of having committed any crime, much less have committed any crimes ... neither the Attorney General nor any elected official has articulated either to me or in public what I supposedly did wrong as a member of the G.A.B. staff or related to its investigations.”

“Your statements implying that I have been involved in criminal activity are verifiably false, and you have not offered the least bit of evidence to support those claims. You are aware that those statements are untrue and yet you made them with the intent that they would be made public and reported by the media. In short, I am requesting that you stop trashing my name and reputation.”

Schimel botches smear campaign against Scott Walker "opponents" in John Doe investigation!!!

First things first: My first general impression of AG Brad Schimel, before he was elected, was right on the mark:

Schimel Incompetence: Schimel's latest partisan attack against Walker's supposed enemies is a disaster, especially his attempted smear of a Journal Sentinel reporters wife. Let's start at the dubious beginning.

Schimel's already Botched "get even" Investigation: As a shot across the bow to anyone else even thinking about questioning the Walker Authority, Schimel is asking a judge to move ahead with "contempt proceedings" against investigators in the Scott Walker John Doe probe. A still unknown source leaked documents to The Guardian. ("Contempt" simply means "being disobedient to a court that defies their authority.")

In a 91-page report the Republican attorney general sharply criticized the probe's leaders ... "The systemic and pervasive mishandling of John Doe evidence likely resulted in circumstances allowing the Guardian leak in the first place." Special prosecutor Francis Schmitz and the team he led ... handled seized material after courts told them they could not review it further or had to get rid of it.

Republicans Off the Hook - have Citizen rights Above the Law: I'm still waiting for a reporter to please ask Schimel why the courts orders don't apply to the Republican operatives:

Despite secrecy orders ... Schimel investigated the leaks to the Guardian but not ones that were critical of the probe and appeared to be leaked by its targets. Schimel said ... Eric O'Keefe, the head of Wisconsin Club for Growth and a target of Chisholm's probe, had leaked information because "he has a right as a citizen to say whatever he wants. It would smack frankly of authoritarian countries” if someone were barred from saying his or her home had been raided, Schimel said.

DOH!!! Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Demands Schimel Correction: Just how bad is Schimel's "investigation?" You can't make this stuff up:

State Attorney General Brad Schimel said Thursday he will correct a court report in which he falsely implied a reporter’s wife had provided information to the Journal Sentinel while working for the state Supreme Court ... reporter Daniel Bice's wife, Sonya, did not work for the Supreme Court in the year stated in Schimel's report or even in the building he referred to.

So Schimel Lied to Judge: Yup, he lied, according to Journal Sentinel Editor George Stanley:

The reasons Schimel gave for deleting the inaccurate information were as false as the footnote itself. "The Journal Sentinel did not identify sources, nor did the Justice Department ever have any 'other evidence' to support its false footnote," said Stanley.

The Journal Sentinel sets the Record Straight: Calling into question Schimel's entire smear investigation, here's how wrong Schimel got it in his simple bogus footnote:

Schimel’s report included a footnote that stated: “Although DOJ did not announce its visit to the Supreme Court, and was otherwise inconspicuous, the visit was reported by the Journal Sentinel Reporter Daniel Bice, whose wife works in the same office space. DOJ has undertaken no action to determine why a member of the court staff would have reported this visit.”

Sonya Bice had not worked for the Supreme Court for more than a year by the time of the visit from investigators. She never worked in the office space at 110 E. Main St.

In addition, while Sonya Bice worked as a lawyer in the state Capitol for Supreme Court Justice Patrick Crooks, from 2008 until his death in 2015, she did not handle any matters related to the John Doe investigation.
Similarly, Daniel Bice did not report on any matters before the Supreme Court during the years his wife worked for Crooks.

Even radio propagandist Vicki McKenna got this one right: While it was pretty obvious Schimel was an idiot, even McKenna couldn't keep her typical low information Republican from voting for him. Be amused...:

Schimel's incompetence shines with John Doe double standard.

Scott Walker's bumbling AG lapdog Brad Schimel is marvel to watch. At the time, I thought he looked like Homer Simpson, but I had no idea he'd think like him too. 

They think alike...

In deciding to investigate the leaked John Doe documents to the Guardian newspaper, and not doing the same for the leaked documents to the Wall Street Journal, Schimel made it quite clear…the law is what this self-important little mind thinks it is.  

Like Schimel's defense of the “private citizen” who defied a gag order so he could leak information to the Wall Street Journal. One private citizen deserves a gag order, the other does not:

Schimel: "I’ve got to tell you, I’m really puzzled by the criticism that I wouldn’t go after the leak to the Wall Street Journal. There’s a very significant difference between the people we’re looking at (in the Guardian U.S. leak) and the individual who leaked to the Wall Street Journal, because that’s a private citizen. The courts have no authority to order a private citizen to have a gag order on them."  

Funny thing, that “private citizens” admitted he purposely violated a legal gag order. Why, because "he believed it to be unconstitutional." Schimel “believes” that too, without ever having to prove it in court:  

Eric O'Keefe, the director of the Wisconsin Club for Growth told conservative radio host Vicki McKenna in a 2014 interview that that subpoena he was issued in 2012 included a gag order, and has said frequently because he believed it to be unconstitutional. 

Schimel’s comment “That’s incredible to me” is not a professional legal argument:

Schimel: "How can you possibly tell a private citizen who feels they’ve been wronged by government, that has invaded their home, taken their property and more concerning, taken property that contains their thoughts and ideas, and they can’t cry out and say, 'I was wronged'? That’s incredible to me, that anyone who has respect for our constitutional republic and the First Amendment in particular wouldn’t get. That’s as bad as telling a reporter that you can’t report on something. You can’t do that."

Schimel backs that up with his own imagined legal outcome, without ever really testing his theory in a court of law:

It would be "unethical" for Schimel to investigate O'Keefe for sharing information, and the case would be thrown out "in a heartbeat," Schimel said.

Schimel’s partisan hackery would be laughable if he wasn’t so serious. The following makes Schimel’s message very clear about what side he's on, and what he wants to accomplish; manipulate the legal outcome with tampered and untrue testimony exposed to the court and public, which is just how it played out:

The policy underlying secrecy is directed to promoting the effectiveness of the investigation. Courts consider the need to keep information about the investigation from the target in order to:

• prevent flight from prosecution;
• prevent the target of the investigation from collecting perjured testimony for the trial;
• prevent those interested in thwarting the inquiry from tampering with testimony or secreting evidence;
• render witnesses more free in their disclosures; and
• prevent testimony that may be mistaken or untrue or irrelevant from becoming public.6

The precise scope of a permissible secrecy order varies from proceeding to proceeding. Typically, a secrecy order covers questions asked, answers given, transcripts of the proceedings, exhibits produced during the proceedings, or other matters observed or heard in the secret session at a John Doe proceeding.

Summing up...

State Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison: "Is AG Schimel the Attorney General for the entire State of Wisconsin, or just for extreme right-wing activists? Once again, he has made clear he is only interested in investigating The Guardian leak..."

Lawyers helping Families hurt by Lead Paint - BAD; Republicans protecting a lead Paint Company from taking responsibility - GOOD.

Duck, here comes another false equivalency.

First, Journal Sentinel blogger Christian Schneider complained The Guardian article about Scott Walker's John Doe investigation and apparent pay-to-play involving lead based paint, didn't focus on the trial lawyers contributions to the Democrats like it did the lead paint industry donor.

Well, maybe it was because there wasn't illegal campaign coordination...just guessing of course.

But second and most importantly; how are lawyers representing families devastated by the effects of lead based paint (from an industry that dragged its feet while other industrialized countries took it out), equal to conniving Republicans trying to exempt the lead paint industry from ever paying damages?

Stunning disconnect. From Upfront with Mike Gousha:

The lead paint law was a top priority for the state’s business lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, after a 2005 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling exposed lead paint manufacturers to liability for damages in lead poisoning lawsuits. The lead author was Democratic appointee Justice Louis Butler, who Gableman defeated in 2008.

All of Scott Walker's legal problems wiped away!!! Coincidence?

Republican voters are so tired of being victimization by their liberal enemies in in the badger state, that they will do anything now to exact revenge, even make excuses for Scott Walker's mean spirited an intentional corruption of state government.

Coincidence? Think about it for a second:

1. Are we really supposed to believe that Scott Walker wasn't behind the elimination of the John Doe investigations after they nearly jailed him? Coincidence?

2. Are we really supposed to believe that Scott Walker wasn't behind the legalization of campaign coordination with issue advocacy groups after he was caught doing just that, illegally? Coincidence?

3. Did he fail only for the moment to do away with out open records laws for the same reasons he's given for withholding open records requests? Coincidence?

Wisconsin newspapers still won't hold Walker's feet to the fire and badger the hell out of this carnival barker until he breaks or gives up.

Funny thing though, the national media has no problem recognizing corruption when they see it, and they see it, big time. Starting with Esquire's Charlie Pierce:

Essentially, he has initiated a legislative agenda aimed at legalizing the kind of political corruption with which he is more than a little familiar.

Most recently, Walker signed a law that essentially eliminates the kind of investigations for which his career has proven to be such a target-rich environment.

Walker's primary mission in office has been to convert the state into a lab rat for plutocratic experimentation and exploitation. If they could make a banana republic out of Wisconsin, they figured, they can pull it off anywhere. And with Walker, whose penchant for soulless penny-ante grifting is the only distinguishing characteristic of his entire political career, they found the perfect tool, in every sense of the word. (The gutting of the campaign finance statutes is being pushed almost wholly by Wisconsin Right To Life, which is headed by a former official of the state's chapter of Americans For Prosperity.) People opposed to the griftification of Wisconsin have as their only real hope that the vandals will go too far, revolting an electorate that voted for Walker three times in two years. Good luck with that.

Or this from the New York Times: 

Last Friday, Mr. Walker signed a bill to protect public officials like himself from an effective and well-established tool (John Doe investigations) for rooting out political corruption. Bribery, official misconduct, campaign-finance violations and many other election law offenses — all are now exempt from a law that has served Wisconsin well, and without controversy, since the mid-19th century.
Don’t be fooled. Grand juries conduct investigations like this every day, at much greater expense and inefficiency, and rarely to any protest. (There is a reasonable case against the gag orders, but lawmakers could easily have fixed that part of the law by itself.) The real difference here is that the John Doe law was being used against powerful politicians and individuals.
It is a relief that Mr. Walker won’t be able to impose his warped ideas about democratic accountability on the rest of the country. But for the Wisconsinites who are stuck with him until 2018, America’s gain is their loss.

After Nazi comment, GOP Rep. Joe Sanfelippo was asked: "Did you just call my Dane County Deputies Nazis?" Yes.

Republicans are so over us, any accountability and the laws that govern everybody else. Republican Rep. Joe Sanfelippo said that those laws, similar to the ones used by the Nazis, still apply to regular citizens, but not politicians.

Why some law enforcement groups still choose to back Republicans is a mystery to me, especially after Sanfelippo's Nazi comparison. Where do guys like this come from...not Wisconsin?

Here's the exchange featuring Sanfelippo, Dianne Hesselbein, and Chris Danou. A clarifying moment:

Right wing Lawsuit King Esenberg claims guilty Walker aide Rindfleisch innocent. Hmm, she pleaded guilty Rick....

Funny thing, even when Republicans are caught and found guilty of breaking the law, conservative politicians, right wing think tanks and hapless in-the-tank voters will still deny laws were ever broken. This perceived infallibility is a bit on the frightening side.

On WPR's Joy Cardin Show, Rick Esenberg, president the right wing lawsuit mill The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, nonchalantly broke the news that convicted Scott Walker aide Kelly Rindfleisch was innocent, and that she committed no crime. Yes, even after the State Supreme Court turned down her appeal. It was a confident declaration that conservative voters need to believe, and hearing it on the radio helped support their delusions (audio):

Esenberg: "It amazes me that people in Wisconsin on the left, were apoplectic because a handful of staffers in Scott Walker's administration had a private email system to conduct not government business, but political business which they were perfectly free to do..."

In this conversation about Walker's hypocritical comments about Hillary Clinton's emails, the reality based world saw things quite differently. jsonline:

Rindfleisch pleaded guilty in 2012 to doing campaign work at her Milwaukee County government job. Walker's campaign and government teams used a secret email system or private email accounts to deal with the bread-and-butter issues of county government: personnel, budgets and buildings.

A trove of previously sealed documents released last month provides a rearview mirror look into Walker's world and the push to take county government off the official grid. Using private emails for official business can make it harder for the public to find out what its government is doing. 

Emails from private accounts show the Walker campaign and county government teams discussed such varying issues as problems at the Mental Health Complex, the death of a teen at the O'Donnell Park parking structure, reaction to moves made by county supervisors, the attempt to ease out the head of the medical examiner's office, the handling of public records requests, repair estimates for buildings, capital projects, and updates on storm damage and the federal response.

The Progressive's Ruth Conniff responded to Esenberg, calling into question his and congresses credibility on the subject.

With the Supreme Court in shambles, Justices go on Loony Tunes Rants Trashing election law, like Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce intended.

Imagine, after 4 decades (and coincidentally with Republicans firmly in charge), the 4 partisan conservative activist Justices suddenly noticed our campaign laws have been too broad and unconstitutional. The actual unambiguous law blocking coordination between campaigns and outside groups is now seen as ambiguous and too broad. Who knew? Just like that…

…Justice Michael Gableman found collaboration between issue groups and campaigns was not illegal … the special prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist.

And while the leaders of big money special interests whined and released private information barred by the John Doe law, the Justices decided to prevent the investigators from offering their side:

The justices didn't hold oral arguments to avoid disclosing private information. Key details about the probe have emerged in news reports, opinion pieces and a wave of litigation against investigators.

The most ridiculous complaint centered on the investigations lack of arrests and convictions. Hmm, I wonder why…

…stalled for 18 months after a lower court judge…

The tortured logic of the majority conservative justices...:

…found collaboration between campaigns and issue groups is allowed because such groups don't explicitly tell people how to vote.

I guess if the message is the same between the two groups, that’s just a coincidence from like-minded conservatives. And suspicions of lawbreaking, all theoretical, cannot be investigated because that would infringe on the 1^st Amendment:

…it makes clear campaigns can work closely with outside groups … R.J. Johnson simultaneously served as an adviser to the club and Walker's campaign … allowing more political money to flow without the names of donors being disclosed.

Acting as if they were at a bar ranting endlessly about issues not even before their court, the Justices didn’t just trotted out conservative radio talking points, they also played up the “Republicans are victims” card:

Those in the majority raised questions about the way the probe was conducted, with Gableman writing that the search warrants were executed as "pre-dawn, armed, paramilitary-style raids" and Prosser writing in a concurrence that the subpoenas were "so extensive that they make the fruits of the legendary Watergate break-in look insignificant by comparison." The appeals court ruled in favor of prosecutors in the challenge that dealt with technical issues about how the probe was conducted. 

Todd Graves, an attorney for the club and its director, Eric O'Keefe, said in a statement that Chisholm and the accountability board until now "acted like playground bullies without fear of restraint from the courts."

Attorney General Brad Schimel said the ruling "closes a divisive chapter in Wisconsin history."

This thing call “law” is so inconvenient. Maybe Schimel missed the time Scott Walker boasted how he would “divide and conquer” labor in the state. That chapter hasn’t closed.  

Unconstitutional for 4 decades: Thank god we discovered the mistake when the GOP took over:

The Government Accountability Board's Chairman, Gerald Nichol, said the ruling reverses how election officials have interpreted campaign finance laws for four decades. Daniel Weiner, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said in a statement the court "has made campaign finance law extraordinarily easy to evade. No other court has gone this far and for good reason — it is a misreading of the law and threatens fair and transparent elections."

Balls to the Wall Bizarro World: Connecting the dots on this one was easy. Jaw dropping and outrageous, here's how Wisconsin Manufactureres and Commerce (WMC) bought off the court. 

Step 1: Got their justices elected:

WMC, which has received some funding from the Wisconsin Club for Growth and is the state's largest business lobbying group, spent an estimated $2.2 million for Ziegler; $1.8 million for Gableman; $1.1 million for Prosser; and $500,000 for Roggensack.

Step 2: WMC then went ahead and wrote the Justices recusal rules that wiped "conflict of interest:"

2. In a 4-3 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted the Realtors and WMC’s petitions. The petitions sought clarification that a judge does not need to seek recusal where it would be based solely on a party in the case sponsoring an independent expenditure or issue advocacy communication in favor of the judge. the and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (“WMC”) and Wisconsin Realtors Association (“Realtors”) filed separate petitions (that) sought to amend the Judicial Code of Conduct.

Step 3: WMC can now drum up taxpayer outrage over the cost of the public's futile effort to stop business from shredding campaign finance laws, and :

WMC president and CEO Kurt Bauer said, "Taxpayers deserve to know how much of their money was wasted on this unlawful and unconstitutional investigation, and the targets deserve an apology from the prosecutors and GAB regulators who have violated their rights."

Wisconsin Watchdog Scott Walker's lapdog!

Wisconsin Watchdog, once known as Wisconsin Reporter (only minus the reporting), is playing up to the ignorance of it intended readers, with the piece I screen captured below. This online rag is implying the Milwaukee DA is telling Scott Walker to keep his mouth shut about the John Doe investigation. In reality, DA John Chisholm warned Walker that  making defamatory false statements is a chargeable offense.

Keep in mind, a John Doe judge ordered secrecy for all the parties involved. Even Walker made that clear hundreds of times. Of course republican special interests defied the order...so much for the rule of law.

Walker gave this response to WISN’s Mike Gousha: "As you know, as I've pointed out many times in the past when we've talked about this, the law's pretty clear in this state," Walker said. "Anyone who knows anything about a John Doe can't talk about it. Anyone who doesn't know anything about it shouldn't talk about it. So, I've not commented on the Doe itself because I've abided by the law."

Mr. Unintimidated was told to shut up? But conservative activist Eric O'Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth played the victim, and opened their trap.

A director of the Wisconsin Club for Growth told Fox News he was defying a secrecy order in a probe of his group and the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker. O’Keefe said: “Yes. An unconstitutional secrecy order. And I'm defying the secrecy order.”

Of course he knows it's unconstitutional, who needs the courts. Ironically, some of their secret emails were released exposing their nefarious plans.

The article makes the case that Walker can lie if he wants about the DA, even defame his character; it's "political" free speech, a 1st Amendment right. Walker also claimed a raid to collect evidence was pure intimidation:

...criticism that they had ordered aggressive raids on the homes of targets...

But it wasn't that at all:

Chisholm: "Look at the use of the word ‘raid’ for example. Sounds scintillating. But lawfully executed, judicially approved search warrants are not ‘raids.’ I have not trained for or participated in a ‘raid’ since leaving the Army, where it has a very real technical definition.”

Walker could also prove his allegation by releasing some of the secret information, but...

Watchdog's one-sided story skipped the DA's response completely, which would have changed the story and cleared them:

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm suggesting Walker could be criminally charged for lying, “As to defamatory remarks, I strongly suspect the Iowa criminal code, like Wisconsin’s, has provisions for intentionally making false statements intended to harm the reputation of others.”

Special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, a self-described Republican, said “I invite the governor to join me in seeking judicial approval to lawfully release information now under seal … Such information will show that these recent allegations are patently false." Chisholm said he agreed … "Stripped of niceties, Mr. Schmitz is saying the governor is deliberately not telling the truth."

But Watchdog M.D. Kittle didn't write the column to defend the 1st Amendment, he wrote it to character assassinate the Milwaukee DA, who just happens to be a Democratic enemy of the state. 

Walker now talking John Doe details, oozing confidence Activist Supreme Court will apparently let him off.

We can't solve crimes without conducting an investigation, right? 

So, a couple of John Doe investigation took place as a way to determine whether Scott Walker's campaign did anything illegal. Six convictions resulted in the first one, so...

...to hear Scott Walker describe the John Doe's, it was a witch hunt and another way to “intimidate” other conservatives into silence:  

Des Moines radio station WHO-AM - Walker: “I said even if you’re a liberal Democrat, you should look at (the raids) and be frightened to think that if the government can do that against people of one political persuasion, they can do it against anybody, and more often than not we need protection against the government itself. As (the National Review) pointed out, there were real questions about the constitutionality of much of what they did, but it was really about people trying to intimidate people ... They were looking for just about anything. As I pointed out at the time, it was largely a political witch hunt."

My conservative friend in Milwaukee sent me this clip from The Blaze, where poor defenseless conservative victims of liberal witch hunts come to bare their souls and cry like little babies. To be honest, you won't even believe the bullshit here, which is why I had to post it:

While conservative talk hosts believe everything Republican politicians say, with no follow-up questions ever, Milwaukee DA John Chisholm looked at it differently, and had an even stronger message, minus whining:

jsonline-Patrick Marley: Prosecutors fired back by calling Walker's comments inaccurate, offensive and defamatory — with Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm suggesting Walker could be criminally charged for lying. They said Walker should call for the release of sealed court records so the public could know more about the investigation and raids on people's homes.“As to defamatory remarks, I strongly suspect the Iowa criminal code, like Wisconsin’s, has provisions for intentionally making false statements intended to harm the reputation of others.”

But let's hear from a conservative too...

Special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, a self-described Republican. said he was surprised Walker would "speak publicly about specific issues which are now before the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a decision. His description of the investigation as a 'political witch hunt' is offensive when he knows that the investigation was authorized by a bipartisan group of judges and is directed by a Republican special prosecutor appointed at the request of a bipartisan group of district attorneys ... I invite the governor to join me in seeking judicial approval to lawfully release information now under seal which would be responsive to the allegations that have been made. Such information, when lawfully released, will show that these recent allegations are patently false."

Walker's openness about discussing the issues may indicate his confidence in the decision he knows is coming from our activist conservative state supreme court: 

Chisholm said he agreed with Schmitz's statement. "Stripped of niceties, Mr. Schmitz is saying the governor is deliberately not telling the truth."

But Walker won't open up the records, and let everybody read the truth for themselves: 

Walker on Saturday essentially dismissed the idea of releasing more court documents, though he did not directly answer whether they should be unsealed. The investigation, known as a John Doe probe, was conducted in secret. Many details have come out, including showing Walker's campaign worked closely with purportedly independent groups, but others have remained sealed in court records.

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 tried to grease skids for campaign treasurer's bid to provide office space for County.

Scott Walker wasn't charged, so never mind? He still doesn't get how he can be judged by his actions and the choice of people he has around him. Again, why is this always happening to poor Scotty, and why is he declining to answer these questions too:  

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday declined to answer specific questions about why he helped his campaign treasurer in an ultimately unsuccessful bid in 2010 to provide office space for Milwaukee County, where Walker was the county executive. But Walker noted that no one was charged.

“…in that particular case, I opted to go with county property. None of the bidders that ultimately bid on it got the bid because we felt the best deal for the taxpayers of the county at that time was to go with county property.”

Real estate broker John Hiller lobbied for the county to sell its City Campus building and then got detailed information from a top Walker aide around the time bids were being evaluated to provide office space for workers to be displaced by the sale. The emails show that Hiller, Walker’s campaign treasurer, was given information by Cindy Archer, director of the Department of Administration. 

Of course Walker is the victim of partisan politics. He’s a victim alright, but of his own past actions:

Walker said, “Clearly, the highly partisan Milwaukee County executive, who has given $63,000 to my opponent, released four-year-old emails two weeks before the election to distract voters from my opponent’s failed record.”  

Bring out the Walker Recall Blacklist Please: WISGOP’s reaction is laughable and so predictable; they cleverly tried to use Walker’s own problem of illegal coordination as a hammer against Abele. Oh, and someone signed Walker’s recall petition, so they can’t be trusted either. Two birds with one stone:

The Republican Party of Wisconsin said it filed an open-records request with Abele’s office Tuesday, calling the release a “slimy political stunt” involving “directly coordinating messaging” between Abele’s office and the campaign of Democrat Mary Burke. It also accused Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel Paul Bargren of having partisan motives, noting that he signed a petition to recall Walker as governor.

But Abele spokesman Brendan Conway said “From the time the judge ordered these emails to be released, County Executive Abele put himself at arm’s length and had the county’s attorneys, not politicians, fully handle the vetting and release of these public records.” 

More Fallour Update: From the Wisconsin State Journal's Dee Hall:

A national procurement expert said Wednesday that inside information on a county real estate deal provided by top Milwaukee County officials to the treasurer of Gov. Scott Walker’s gubernatorial campaign was “highly unethical” and made a “fraud of the entire process.”

Even the GAB thinks second John Doe needed, say substantial evidence gathered.

Scott Walker and right wing groups like Wisconsin Club for Growth (god I hate their goofy names) have basically admitted their guilt in regards to the second John Doe investigation. What are they trying to hide trying to get the investigation stopped? Not everybody believes our First Amendment rights included illegal campaign coordination, even if it means keeping Walker in as governor.

jsonline: Former judges on the state Government Accountability Board voted unanimously last year to authorize the investigation of fundraising and spending by Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and his allies during the recent recall elections, according to a Tuesday court filing.

Dean Nickel, an investigator hired by the accountability board to assist with the investigation, said in the 10-page filing that he believes the substantial evidence gathered in the probe "coupled with the GAB's unanimous approval of the investigation directly refutes plaintiffs' witch-hunt theory."

Nickel's brief is one of a series filed with the federal court on Tuesday in a bid by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and his aides to get a federal appeals court to intervene in the high-profile John Doe probe … review a decision last week by U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa in Milwaukee refusing to dismiss the lawsuit against them.

Scared Scott Walker hopes activist State Supreme Court kills second John Doe Investigation.

Scott Walker is really worried this time. Perhaps we should talk about the second John Doe a little bit more...? Walker's acting like a very guilty man. What's he trying to hide?

I find it almost humorous the way Walker and the Republicans want every challenged law to go straight to their sure bet, the conservative activist State Supreme Court. Come on, it's an open admission they've got a lock on the law there. jsonline:

Remember this award? 

Gov. Scott Walker's campaign Thursday asked the state Supreme Court to take over a case from the Court of Appeals to determine whether prosecutors had the ability to subpoena documents as part of their secret investigation.

The filing is the latest in the legal maneuvers surrounding a long-running John Doe investigation into campaign fundraising and spending in recall elections.

Conservative "legislative" justices have got their colleagues back:

An attorney for Walker's campaign, former U.S. attorney Steven Biskupic, on Thursday asked the state Supreme Court to take the case from the appeals court and decide the matter itself.

Kelly Rindfleisch, Another conservative victim of their own wrong doing.

She may be guilty of campaign work on a separate wireless network and email account, but Kelly Rindfleisch’s sister is blaming the legal system that caught her. And what a list of excuses and blame that never faults Kelly Rindfleisch. 

It’s true, Republicans don’t commit crimes, they’re just misunderstood.

Rindfleisch's sister says Kelly can't find a job now. Hey, maybe she's a freeloader and just not trying, at least that's what I hear. She can join the long term unemployed and tell us what it's like, maybe even learn a lesson or two.

This is soooooo typically conservative. jsonline-Dan Bice:

The sister of Kelly Rindfleisch, the former deputy chief of staff for Scott Walker, has launched an attack on Milwaukee County prosecutors, accusing them of ruining Rindfleisch's life with their John Doe investigation. In a letter to the editor of the Baraboo News Republic, Anne Hollinsed said her sister can't get a job because of the probe. Sources have said Rindfleisch is now the subject of a second investigation.

It’s everybody else’s fault, don’t cha know:

"Kelly’s life has been ruined by the hatred of Scott Walker in this state," Hollinsed wrote in the Friday letter. "She can’t find employment because of the overreaching single felony conviction she received by a Democratic judge. The overreach in this case is alarming and downright scary when a government worker can be convicted of something so miniscule to satisfy the agenda of those who've made political warfare their top priority." 

Hollinsed said … the initial investigation into some missing funds …"the Democratic Milwaukee County District Attorney, John Chisholm had his foot in the door and gleefully expanded his investigation, seizing the office computers, home computers and cell phones of Walker’s office staff."

Gleefully expanded the investigation? I' getting a real kick out of this stuff. Thankfully, Hollinsed wasn't done:

Hollinsed said her sister spent only six minutes a day on campaign activities … The secret email system in Walker's county office was intended to allow staffers to handle those campaign-related emails. 

Hollinsed lashed out at Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Hansher, who sentenced Rindfleisch, and the TV and print media, accusing them of favoring Democrats.

Her criticism for the district attorney and his staff … "If they couldn’t get Walker himself, his Deputy Chief of Staff would have to do."

Wisconsin GOP Ugly #1: Walker Emails Joke and Ruthlessly Dismiss Teen Death; Ignore Gun Problems at Clinic, Blame Unions Instead!

It’s hard to imagine any voter tolerating the following incredibly bizarre, insensitive, ruthless email exchanges below, but we'll see election day when Wisconsinites cast their votes. Maybe they won’t mind being lumped in with the ghouls Scott Walker felt comfortable with in his administration.

Add these email exchanges to the many, including the callous disregard for a family trying to settle with the county over their daughters tragic starvation death.

This isn't just about the loathsome people Scott Walker surrounded himself with, but a prevailing conservative mindset that’s okay with cutting food stamps, veterans benefits, public safety, unemployment, minimum wages, gay bashing, veiled racism etc.. From WSJ's On the Capitol: 

Example 1: While discussing a fatal Milwaukee parking garage collapse, ex-Walker aide Kelly Rindfleisch joked with a friend — who had complained about the headlines after the tragedy … “You mean Scott didn't push that slab on top of the kid so he could play Guilliani? (sic)” Rindfleisch wrote.

In another exchange, Rindfleisch told her friend Kelly Teelin, a Madison paralegal, that she was looking forward to a social event. To which Teelin responded, “Why, what happened yesterday besides the parking lot falling on some kid.”

Example 2: After Milwaukee County Board member Lynne DeBruin wrote a letter to Walker calling for more security at the county behavioral health department’s walk-in clinic because of incidents in which patients brought in weapons, Walker’s staff discussed ways to defuse the problem.

Tim Russell, the county’s housing director and part of Walker’s inner circle, responded by email: “Lynne is a wholly owned (subsidiary of the) nurses union. These complaints are their agitating, either for more staff or something else. Cindys suggestion to have (county lawyer Tim) schoewe put the fear of god into her and remind her (of her policy) making role would be good. Or a large truck.” 

Walker is in on this bit of union bashing at the expense of clinic safety:

Walker, who was copied on the email, responded: “Yes. Tim S should talk to her.”

Even though a recent poll found overwhelmingly support for Democratic issues, voters still favored Republicans candidates in the November elections.

Has Scott Walker always had a Secret Personal Email System since first becoming county executive?

Was Scott Walker's secret email system actually an updated speedier version than the one deputy chief of staff Tim Russell had installed back in 2002? Did Walker fine tune and get used to a separate confidential email system bypassing public accountability? 

According to Wisconsin State Journal's Matthew DeFour:  

Gov. Scott Walker's Milwaukee County executive office was using a secret Internet system as early as 2002, according to a former county administrator who said he helped set up the network.

That's several years earlier than prosecutors disclosed ... Milwaukee County human resources assistant director Bob Kiefert said he was called into Walker's office in 2002 by then-deputy chief of staff Tim Russell. Kiefert showed Russell how to set up a hard-wired Internet connection using a DSL modem and a telephone line. The network allowed county executive staff to send and receive emails and surf the Web outside the public system set up by the county's Information Management Services Division in 1998.

"They didn't trust the IMSD county system to be the pathway or the gateway through which their emails went," Kiefert said in an interview. "They wouldn't have control of those emails." Kiefert, now retired and a Democratic Party activist in Green Bay who runs a website called Green Bay Progressive, first disclosed that he helped set up the system in a blog entry last week

Here's where Scott Walker gets involved...kinda:

Kiefert said he never spoke with Walker directly about the system but said Russell brought him to Walker's office to be thanked personally for his help. Walker, who was on the phone, looked up, smiled and waved, he said. "There was no talk of how they were going to use it for campaigning or anything like that," Kiefert said. "Russell made it clear I was doing a favor for Scott Walker."
 It's unclear what became of the system Kiefert said he set up for Walker in 2002 or whether it was abandoned or became part of the later system discovered by prosecutors two years ago. Investigators found evidence in one of the county executive's offices that the system involved a 3G broadband Internet connection and wireless router, and an AT&T broadband account paid for by Russell with a service start date of Oct. 16, 2009. Kiefert said the 3G broadband network described in the complaint is a faster, more modern version of the equipment he helped install in 2002.

Kiefert said investigators never contacted him about what he knew about the earlier version of the system.

Uh oh, Walker dodges question about staff using private emails!!!

I edited together the following outtake reel from WKOW’s website today, and found the opening question and Scott Walker answer very interesting, because it goes beyond even what the Journal Sentinel wrote about today.

While reporter Jason Stein talked to a few aides, the video shows Walker dodging the same question; does his current staff use personal emails for any reason during work hours.

Reporter: "Have you given any instructions to your current office...those who work in your office right now about whether or not they can use personal email to do any business, whether it be campaign or state business." 

Walker: "We haven't done that recently, we've had a policy in place since I became governor...we have a very elaborate ethics and code of conduct policy, I know my staff the last few days talked about."

See that and more of his odd reactions: 

Here's what Jason Stein uncovered:

Aide won't say if Walker staff uses private email for state business … Gov. Scott Walker's office never had its own hidden Internet system as his office in Milwaukee County did, aides said.

But spokesman Tom Evenson didn't directly answer whether aides in the governor's office frequently used private email accounts to communicate on sensitive political topics outside of the state official system. "From day one, establishing and maintaining ethical standards has been a priority for Gov. Walker and his administration.

The emails have shown a widespread use of private email accounts in the Milwaukee County office

The Journal Sentinel has requested copies of the signed ethics policies.

Scott Walker's well rehearsed monotone answers irking press.

I've got to hand it to WISC reporter Jessica Arp for asking a question that seemed to take Scott Walker by surprise.

"You understand why people would want to know as a manager whether or not you were aware of the emails and the wireless email system that was happening in your office?"  

Isn't anyone else a little outraged by Walker's sudden admiration of those vilified Democratic investigators conducting their "witch hunt?" That's not what we heard during and after the first John Doe probe.



WKOW's Greg Neumann nailed Walker for staying on "script," and wondered if former campaign manager and editorial "ghost writer" Keith Gilkes still had any influence with his staff:

Former DA's rip critics of John Doe Investigations.

This is a must see regarding the Scott Walker John Doe investigation.

On Upfront with Mike Gousha, former (Republican) Waukesha Co. DA Paul Bucher, and former (Democratic) Kenosha Co. DA Bob Jambois put to rest the idea that these John Doe probes were simply witch hunts. From Bucher's (who represented clients in the first John Doe) and Jambois' perspective, these are serious investigations that should not be reformed like some Republican lawmakers are proposing.