Scott Walker greets supporters during a campaign event at a diner in Amherst, N.H.
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[Madison, Wisc…] The Wisconsin Supreme Court put an end to the John Doe investigation with a 4-2 ruling that was issued early Thursday morning. Besides, in his announcement of his Presidential candidacy, Walker boasted of his record as a union buster.
Almost every top presidential candidate has a personalized super PAC that can raise unlimited sums of money, and many also benefit from political nonprofits that are not required to disclose their donors. “You will see him here a lot“.
“I’ve gone through these battles so many times, I don’t get too up or too down- I’m pretty even keeled on all this”. I grant you the need for discretion.
The investigation that was officially quashed by the state’s highest court had been called a political witch-hunt by Gov. Scott Walker and others that were targeted by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.
Kondik noted that Walker made no mention of same-sex marriage during his announcement speech – demonstrating that he was focused on appealing to a national audience, not one of Iowa or South Carolina caucus and primary voters. “It is time to move past this unwarranted investigation that has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.””THEY CAME WITH A BATTERING RAM”””. Although the recall effort was unsuccessful, it drew attention to the State of Wisconsin and established Walker’s nationwide notoriety as a union buster and enemy of public employees. Walker’s recall election, along with those faced by other prominent Republicans, attracted the attention of wealthy Republicans nationwide. Under that interpretation, the prosecutors’ theory that the groups and Walker’s campaign illegally coordinated on issue advocacy falls apart, they said. Lawyers for those involved have argued that their clients did nothing illegal.
Liberal groups like the Center for Media and Democracy called the fairness of the ruling into question, pointing out that two of the justices in the majority in fact won recent court elections with the help of huge sums spent by the Wisconsin Club for Growth. But questions about the inquiry had dogged Walker for months. This was based on an email found during John Doe I that suggested such activity was taking place.
The court simply adopted rules – THAT WERE PROPOSED BY THE WMC – that say very simply that “that the receipt of a lawful campaign contribution shall not, by itself, warrant judicial recusal”. Advocacy groups have the constitutional right to express their political views, he wrote, and not allowing them to do so would have a “chilling” effect.
Many who took pictures and sought autographs from him after his speeches were eager to talk about their Wisconsin ties – a few wore Green Bay Packers jerseys or carried the team’s mug. The justices ordered Special Prosecutor Francis Schmitz and the five local prosecutors on the case to stop investigating, return any seized property and destroy all of the information they had gathered.
The Koch brothers and their front groups, particularly the Wisconsin Club for Growth, along with the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce group (WMC) have been setting up this ruling for nearly a decade. “We’re pleased that the court agrees with the position we’ve maintained from the time our clients first learned of this improper political investigation”.
So, not only does this decision pull Walker’s cojones out of the fire, it also demolishes whatever was left of Wisconsin’s campaign-finance regulations.
In dissent, former chief justice Shirley Abrahamson writes that the constitutionality of the search methods used was not under review in the cases at hand.
“[T]he majority opinion’s theme is ‘Anything Goes, ‘ ” Abrahamson wrote.
Jay Heck, the executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, called the decision “highly flawed” and recommended that it be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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As a result, candidates and outside groups in Wisconsin now have an open door to coordinate on ad campaigns – so long as those ads stay at least technically limited to issues, rather than elections or votes.
