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Scott Walker Questions Need for Milwaukee District Attorneys Who Pursue John Doe PDF Print E-mail
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Written by GBP Staff   
Friday, 23 September 2016 14:29

walker-ground-breakingGov. Scott Walker questioned the need to fund DA's if John Chisholm continues to pursue an investigation into his recall campaign, even after the U.S. Supreme Court rules, at a groundbreaking in Rock County Thursday.


MADISON - According to investigative reporter Matt DeFour in today's Wisconsin State Journal, Gov. Scott Walker questioned the need for more district attorneys in Milwaukee County if District Attorney John Chisholm continues to pursue an investigation into his recall campaign after the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the case.

Walker made his comments at a groundbreaking for the Riverside Energy Center in Rock County Thursday.

Asked if he was concerned Chisholm might continue to pursue an investigation even if the high court rules against his petition, Walker told reporters “most people in this state would think after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on this, that there is certainly not a lack of work to be done in Milwaukee County on issues related to crime and other issues.”

scott_walker“We hear not only in that county but other counties about the need for additional district attorneys and additional resources,” Walker added. “I think a lot of people wonder, if they continue to spend time after the U.S. Supreme Court were to rule on this, if that is really necessary.”

In 2012 Chisholm opened a John Doe investigation into whether Walker broke state campaign finance law by raising millions of dollars, including from corporations, for the Wisconsin Club for Growth during the 2011 and 2012 recall campaigns. Four other district attorneys, including both Democrats and Republicans, joined the investigation in 2013. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, with a majority of Republican Justices who had also benefited from Club for Growth support, quashed it last year and tried to have the evidence destroyed.

Chisholm, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and Iowa County District Attorney Larry Nelson have appealed the state court’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is scheduled Monday to consider whether to take the case. They didn’t respond to a request for comment on Walker’s statement, says DeFour.

chris-taylorRep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, called Walker’s comments Thursday “outrageous.”

“He seems to be sending a warning to district attorneys that they better not investigate any potential criminal activity by him,” Taylor said.

Walker is allowed to raise money for his campaign, but prosecutors alleged in court documents that the fundraising violated state elections law because campaigns can’t accept corporate checks or exceed certain limits and they must report donations. The Club for Growth accepted unlimited donations and does not disclose its donors.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the Club was an independent group running so-called “issue ads” and the coordination with Walker was protected by the First Amendment.

Recently released emails in The Guardian showed Walker’s top political adviser R.J. Johnson stating that “we own(ed)” the Club, and Walker himself referred to those who gave money as “our (c)(4) donors,” a reference to the IRS code that grants such groups tax-exempt status.

Wisconsin ethics law prohibits politicians from using their position to raise money on behalf of a nonprofit organization with which they are associated.

 

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