Posted on 12/09/2015 4:48:14 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
MILWAUKEE. - The Milwaukee Democrat who launched Wisconsin's notorious John Doe investigation into conservatives on allegations of illegal coordination appears to have broken state campaign finance laws.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm accepted donations in excess of single contributor limits, and failed to disclose who provided his campaign with a $38,000 loan, according to an amended petition asking Gov. Scott Walker to remove the district attorney from office.
The diverse coalition of Milwaukee county residents seeking Chisholm's ouster also is asking state Attorney General Brad Schimel to file a criminal complaint against the DA.
"As not only the top law enforcement officer in Milwaukee County and one who has repeatedly sought to hold others responsible for campaign finance violations, the acceptance of an illegal campaign contribution and failure to properly file campaign finance reports must certainly dictate that John Chisholm face charges for intentional campaign finance violations," Tory Lowe wrote in a letter to the attorney general.
Lowe, a Milwaukee community organizer, has helped lead the campaign to remove the embattled district attorney from office.
The group of citizens - including blacks, whites, liberals and conservatives - nearly a month ago filed the original petition with Walker's office, charging that Chisholm is guilty of malfeasance, neglect of duty and official misconduct.
Interestingly, the citizens are urging the Republican governor to employ a rarely used statute to dispose of the same Democratic district attorney who launched at least two secret and politically driven John Doe investigations involving Walker.
The second John Doe, declared unconstitutional and ordered shut down by the state Supreme Court, included armed, early-morning raids on the homes of conservatives who were never charged with any wrongdoing.
Chisholm and some of his assistant DAs and investigators worked alongside the state Government Accountability Board and their hand-picked special prosecutor, Francis Schmitz, in driving the abusive probe. The secret investigation was launched by the Milwaukee County district attorney in August 2012.
Schmitz, a former federal prosecutor and military man, has been ordered to stand down by the Supreme Court, which declared the probe and Schmitz's role in it invalid from the John Doe’s inception.
The investigation centered on the prosecutors widely rejected theory that 29 conservative groups illegally coordinated with Walker's campaign during the state’s bitter recall election season.
John Doe procedures are similar to grand jury investigations, without the benefit of a jury of peers. A single judge presides over the often-secret proceedings.
Documents obtained by Wisconsin Watchdog show James Greenwald, of Wauwatosa, made two contributions of $3,000 each to Chisholm's campaign – on May 5, 2014, and again on Jan. 20, 2015. Maximum single-donor contributions cannot exceed $3,000 for district attorney candidates in counties with populations of more than 300,000 residents, according to state campaign finance law.
"It would be difficult for John Chisholm or his campaign committee treasurer to claim that the second $3,000.00 contribution somehow 'slipped through the cracks' as James Greenwald was John Chisholm's only contributor during the most recent campaign reporting period," the citizens' amended petition states.
A voicemail message left at Greenwald's home was not returned late Tuesday evening. Wisconsin Watchdog could not reach Chisholm at his home. A message left with Chisholm's campaign treasurer, Tom Mullooly, late Tuesday, also was not returned.
"Given John Chisholm’s role as the lead prosecutor for campaign finance violations in Milwaukee County and his extensive experience in filing and investigating campaign finance violations it is simply not plausible that his campaign's obvious acceptance of an illegal contribution has been anything other than intentional," the petition charges.
Campaign finance documents also show Chisholm's campaign for several years has carried an outstanding loan balance of $38,250, since at least campaign finance records began being posted online about a decade ago.
The petitioners charge that not a single Schedule 3-B form, filed with the GAB, has been correctly prepared for any electronic filing. And the reports show that in 2008 and 2009, the disclosure forms did not note a loan balance.
More so, Citizens for Chisholm has never disclosed in its electronic filings to whom the debt is owed, according to campaign finance records.
"This lack of transparency does not provide the public with the ability to learn the source of the $38,250.00 as was intended by the electronic filing requirement," the petitioners write.
Candidates for elected office may be excused for basic errors in completing Wisconsin campaign finance disclosure forms. But when it's the top law enforcement officer in Milwaukee County, the one who has “repeatedly sought to hold others responsible for campaign finance violations, the acceptance of an illegal campaign contribution and failure to properly file campaign finance reports must certainly dictate that John Chisholm has committed Malfeasance in Office,†the petitioners state.
Those seeking the Democrat's removal include Craig Stingley, father of Corey Stingley, the 16-year-old who died after being restrained by customers in a West Allis convenience store. He had attempted to steal alcoholic beverages from the retailer. His death was ruled a homicide by the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office. Chisholm opted not to charge the customers with any crime.
Another petition signer is John Thomas. Chisholm brought charges of bribery and misconduct in office against Thomas, a former Milwaukee County Board supervisor. A jury took just 90 minutes to find Thomas not guilty.
The petition also alleges Chisholm engaged in the politicization of the district attorney's office in pushing the first of the political John Doe investigations into Walker's former aides and associates when Walker was Milwaukee County executive. In that case, Chisholm charged a major Walker campaign donor with exceeding campaign contribution limits.
Chisholm continued to politicize the office during the expanded John Doe, the petitioners charge.
Conservatives have sought, without success, an investigation into what an increasing body of evidence suggests was a politically driven investigation.
The petition is politically troubling, at least the optics are, for a governor who has mostly remained silent about the partisan DA who targeted his campaign.
It is not clear when Walker will make an announcement on the petition. A Walker spokeswoman told Wisconsin Watchdog on Nov. 18 that the governor’s legal counsel was reviewing the petition.
The petitioners originally brought a dozen allegations of wrongdoing against Chisholm. The amended petition pushes the total to 14.
"We believe as the top law enforcement officer for campaign finance violations for Milwaukee County that John Chisholm's failure to abide by these serious requirements provides an additional and dispositive basis for a finding of Malfeasance in Office," the amended petition states.
Part 301 of 299 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War
PETITION AGAINST CHISHOLM: Sherwin Hughes speaks last month at a rally calling for Gov. Scott Walker to remove Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm from office on misconduct charges.
Milwaukee citizens petition Walker to remove Chisholm from office
So DA is a Doe?
John Chilsholm is hoisted on his own petard and his obvious violation was obscured by the grager of the John Doe charges he was bringing against everybody else. (Reference — today’s Word for the Day) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3370078/posts
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off,this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Chisholm should be wearing an orange jumpsuit for several years.
I sincerely hope so. And I hope that it is the court that sends him to jail — not Scott Walker.
Can the governor do that?
There is a little known statute that allows it, apparently. Or, so say the petitioners.
Sounds like there is a solid case for criminal prosecution.
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