Evidence Mounting that Walker Campaign Is at Center of Criminal Probe

[hue]

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/02/12377/walker-campaign-finance-probe-court-docs-show

Newly-unsealed court documents and media leaks add to a growing body of evidence that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s campaign is at the center of a wide-ranging secret probe into campaign finance violations during the state's contentious 2011 and 2012 recall elections.

The John Doe probe began in August of 2012 and is examining possible "illegal campaign coordination between (name redacted), a campaign committee, and certain special interest groups," according to an unsealed filing in the case. Sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the redacted committee is the Walker campaign, Friends of Scott Walker. Campaign filings show that Walker spent $86,000 on legal fees in the second half of 2013.

A John Doe is similar to a grand jury investigation, but in front of a judge rather than a jury, and is conducted under strict secrecy orders. Wisconsin's 4th Circuit Court of Appeals unsealed some documents last week as it rejected a challenge to the probe filed by three of the unnamed "special interest groups" that had received subpoenas in the investigation and issued a ruling allowing the investigation to move forward.

The special interest groups under investigation include Wisconsin Club for Growth, which is led by a top Walker advisor and friend, R.J. Johnson, and which spent at least $9.1 million on "issue ads" supporting Walker and legislative Republicans during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections. Another group is Citizens for a Strong America, which was entirely funded by Wisconsin Club for Growth in 2011 and 2012 and acted as a conduit for funding other groups that spent on election issue ads; CSA's president is John Connors, who previously worked for David Koch's Americans for Prosperity and is part of the leadership at the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity (publishers of Watchdog.org and Wisconsin Reporter). Other groups reportedly receiving subpoenas include AFP, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, and the Republican Governors Association.

[pscot]

1. we've been hearing about this

for the last 2 years. Is it real? Where is it going and when will it get there? There seems to be lots of smoke but no fire. I'd love to see Walker go down, but nothing concrete ever emerges from these alerts.

[hue]

2. Yeah this has been a bitch and the 1% has done everything to delay justice!

If Christie can fall so can Wanker!! Each day I think of the DOJ working to sift through & prepare the evidence needed to build an air tight case!!

[glinda]

3. All crooks should go to jail. Walker. Christie, Kochs, etc.....

I keep watching the Christie thing because I cannot imagine that Scott Walker might be concerned given all Christie's shenanigans.

[riversedge]

6. yes, it is disheatening.

[riversedge]

7. The fact that Walker is not

denying it.. may be our only clue???

"Walker unambiguously denied being a target in the first John Doe investigation, but has been mum on whether he or his campaign is implicated in the latest probe."

[Blue Owl]

4. Will the real John D'oh please stand already?

Probe is as slow as molasses in January

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Thi must be a reversal of Judge Gregory Peterson's ridiculous ruling.

[dembotoz]

8. but will the shit hit the fan prior to the election