From Capitol City Project
By Joe Schoffstall
In Wisconsin, dozens of conservative groups and allies of Gov. Scott
Walker are undergoing political intimidation from the left at the hands
of a special prosecutor.
Subpoenas have been issued demanding correspondence and donor
information of right-leaning organizations and individuals and raids
have been conducted resulting in law enforcement officers taking
computers and files in a secret investigation, according to reports.
“In recent weeks, special prosecutor Francis Schmitz has hit dozens
of conservative groups with subpoenas demanding documents related to the
2011 and 2012 campaigns to recall Governor Walker and state legislative
leaders,” the Wall Street Journal writes.
It continues, “Copies of two subpoenas we’ve seen demand ‘all
memoranda, email . . . correspondence, and communications’ both
internally and between the subpoena target and some 29 conservative
groups, including Wisconsin and national nonprofits, political vendors
and party committees. The groups include the League of American Voters,
Wisconsin Family Action, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce,
Americans for Prosperity—Wisconsin, American Crossroads, the Republican
Governors Association, Friends of Scott Walker and the Republican Party
of Wisconsin.”
The WSJ says the latest actions are taking place under Wisconsin’s
John Doe law, which makes it difficult for the groups involved to defend
themselves publicly.
The law, “Bars a subpoena’s targets from disclosing its contents to
anyone but his attorneys. John Doe probes work much like a grand jury,
allowing prosecutors to issue subpoenas and conduct searches, while the
gag orders leave the targets facing the resources of the state with no
way to publicly defend themselves.”
The orders reportedly began in the office of Milwaukee County
Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf just days before Democrat
Mary Burke announced
that she’d be running for governor of the state. Landgraf works
for Milwaukee County Democratic District Attorney John Chisholm — who
led a similar effort against Wisconsin conservatives and Gov. Walker in
the past. This is the second such “John Doe” investigation in just three
and a half years.
Eric O’ Keefe, director of Wisconsin’s Club For Growth and one of the
groups being targeted, said that he knows of at least three of the
targets who have had their homes raided. During the raids, law
enforcement officers confiscated computers and files. A person with
knowledge of the search warrants said they came at the requests of a man named Dean Nickel.
“A person who has seen one of the Wisconsin search warrants tells us
that the warrants were executed based on the request of Dean Nickel, who
filed an affidavit for probable cause.,” the WSJ reported. “Mr. Nickel
is a former head of the Wisconsin Department of Justice Public Integrity
Unit and has worked as an investigator for the GAB. Mr. Nickel told us
he is a contractor for the GAB but wouldn’t discuss the John Doe probe.
GAB Director and General Counsel Kevin Kennedy declined to comment.”
While gagged by provisions and the subpoenas, a source close to Watchdog.org told the Wisconsin Reporter they believe this is a taxpayer funded campaign simply for opposition research purposes.
“This is a taxpayer-funded, opposition-research campaign,” one source
said. “This is not a question of what conservatives did wrong. It’s a
question of one party in this state using prosecutorial powers to
conduct a one-sided investigation into conservatives.”
“Investigators are spying on people and using the power of government
to collect records,” said another source with knowledge of the
occurrences.
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