Posted on 12/21/2015 11:42:57 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
MADISON, Wis. - The conservative targets of a politically driven John Doe investigation say they have learned to never underestimate the vindictiveness of the people who have spent years intimidating them.
Despite little chance of success, the Democrat district attorneys who signed off on the unconstitutional probe filed a motion Friday to intervene in the legally dead Doe in hopes of taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, the Democrat who launched the secret procedure in August 2012, filed the motion under seal in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and Iowa County DA Larry Nelson, the other two Democrats who allowed the dragnet to operate in their counties but appear to have had little to do with its operation, came along for the ride.
"Clearly there is no limit to how far these partisan prosecutors will go to in order to punish their political opponents," said R.J. Johnson, one of dozens of conservatives swept up in the abusive investigation.
"It's like Alice in Wonderland and Wisconsin taxpayers will be stuck with an even larger bill for Chisholm, Ozanne and Nelson to continue down a legal rabbit hole," Johnson, a long-time political strategist, added.
The state Supreme Court earlier this month reaffirmed its ruling in July that the investigation was unconstitutional and ordered it shut down. In the 4-2 decision, the court also declared that the position of the John Doe special prosecutor, Francis Schmitz, was invalid from its inception.
The court said Schmitz could no longer involve himself in the case other than to follow orders in informing the people the probe targeted and in returning the physical property illegally seized.
But the DAs in the five-county investigation could intervene. The state Supreme Court gave them until Friday to do so. Chisholm and his fellow Dems waited until the last day to file their motion.
The two Republicans, Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg and Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey, told the court they would not intervene in the legal matters involving the probe.
Klomberg said he commenced the action in Dodge County, where Johnson and his family reside, "after being provided facts and analyses of law from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office and the Government Accountability Board."
"I relied in good faith on those representations," the DA said.
The John Doe procedure is similar to a grand jury investigation, without the benefit of a jury of peers. A presiding judge may issue warrants and subpoenas compelling witnesses to testify to determine whether a crime has been committed.
Prosecutors of "John Doe II," as it has been dubbed, targeted 29 conservative organizations and Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign on allegations of illegal coordination during Wisconsin's bitter recall season.
The probe included a lengthy spy operation that seized millions of emails and other documents, and early morning armed raids on the homes and offices of several targets.
Johnson's home was raided before dawn while he and his wife were away. Armed investigators served their warrant on the Johnsons' 16-year-old son who was made to watch investigators root through his family’s possessions and seize their property. He was told that he could not contact his parents, his grandparents who lived down the road, not even an attorney.
Deborah Jordahl, Johnson's partner at Madison-based political consultant firm Johnson Jordahl, had her home raided on the same day, part of a coordinated search-and-seizure operation.
Through it all, Jordahl, her husband, and her teenage children were confined to the home's family room, guarded by Dane County Deputy Sheriff Linda Kohlmeyer.
"At one point early on, I started to get up from the sofa," Jordahl told Wisconsin Watchdog in July. "I told the deputy who was guarding us that I wanted to call my lawyer. She backed me down on the sofa and told me I could not call anyone."
"I felt completely helpless in my own home."
None of the conservative targets was charged with any wrongdoing.
"It is utterly clear that the special prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist in order to investigate citizens who were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing," Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman wrote in the court's majority opinion of July 16. "In other words, the special prosecutor was the instigator of a 'perfect storm' of wrongs."
It is clear from court documents that the probe was the work of Chisholm and his assistants, the state Government Accountability Board, and the agency’s hand-picked special prosecutor.
What is not clear is just how much taxpayer money they spent on their politically driven probe.
The investigation has cost targeted conservatives plenty.
Prosecutors went after activist contact information, donor lists, financial records, and a wide range of professional and personal documents. Ultimately, they froze right-of-center political speech and the ability of conservative groups to freely associate.
"It's already cost us millions of dollars to defend our innocence and our rights. Ones confirmed both by the John Doe Judge and Wisconsin's highest court," Johnson said. "Where and when does this state-sponsored and taxpayer-funded abuse end?"
Presumably at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Legal experts say the district attorneys have almost no chance of having their case heard by the high court.
The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors this week rejected laying aside funds for Chisholm to pursue a petition in the court, a legal process estimated to cost more than $25,000.
Targets of the probe assert the cost means little to Chisholm, a prosecutor who is so motivated by his political enemies that he is willing to pursue a fool's errand to keep his investigative vendetta alive.
Conservative activist Eric O'Keefe, one of the targets of the probe, said Chisholm has now abandoned his claim that the John Doe investigation is not his.
"Mr. Chisholm's name on the filings will not change the Constitution or the outcome. But perhaps the additional civics lesson about free speech will be worth the expense," said O'Keefe, director, Wisconsin Club for Growth.
It’s good to know that Milwaukee County won’t fund a John Doe ruling appeal, but state taxpayers are still on the hook.
Where will it end, indeed?
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Where in the hell is the governor of this state? Arrest every one of these slimeballs - is there a state equivalent of RICO charges???
There are are serious Federal civil rights violations here. Lawsuits need to be filed.
L
Wisconsin “John Doe” anti-conservative hunters become the hunted
http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/12/wisconsin-john-doe-anti-conservative-hunters-become-the-hunted/
Now the John Doe prosecutors are mulling an attempt to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, to which one of the targets of the probe essentially says “make my day”
They need to start paying a price when they try stuff like this. Conservatives play nice, so libs have nothing to lose, no matter how far-fetched whatever they’re pulling is.
Walker hasn't been sleeping when it comes to this witchhunt
Gov. Scott Walker has cemented key changes in time for the 2016 political campaign, signing into law bills giving campaign finance law its biggest makeover in decades and dismantling and replacing Wisconsin's oversight board for elections and elected officials..
Walker's signing of the two bills, announced in a press release, was conducted in private Wednesday. It was widely expected after the bills passed the Legislature last month on votes that largely mirrored party lines.
The campaign finance measure dials back restrictions on money flowing into state political campaigns, some of which had been struck down by court rulings.
The signing of the measure dismantling the Government Accountability Board kicks off a six-month transition to new elections and ethics commissions that will succeed it on June 30.
What's more, Republicans in the state legislature are moving forward on a bill, which presumably will be signed by Walker, to authorize legislative investigations into the John Doe Prosecutors and GAB role:
The committee would have the authority to "investigate all facets of a John Doe investigation," once it is officially closed.
In the case of the politically driven John Doe probe into conservatives, the committee could turn the tables on the state Government Accountability Board and the John Doe prosecutors, compelling them to testify about their activities and conduct.
Agreed. Slam dunk 14th Amendment violation. Costs plus punitive damages.
They “could”. But will they? No one fights back.
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