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Former Walker aide to file civil rights lawsuit against John Doe prosecutor (WI)
Wisconsin Watchdog ^ | 7-1-15 | M. D. Kittle

Posted on 07/01/2015 8:56:37 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic

MADISON, Wis. – Cindy Archer was once made to beg sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents not to shoot her dogs during an early-morning raid on her Madison home.

Now the former aide to Gov. Scott Walker who has never been charged with a crime in the Democrat-launched John Doe investigation is fighting back in court.

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published Tuesday evening, Archer writes that Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and his agents ransacked her house and ruined her career.

“After much soul-searching, I am filing a civil-rights lawsuit on Wednesday against Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm,” Archer writes in the column headlined “Why I’m Filing a Civil Rights Lawsuit.”

“I fear his retaliation, given what I know of his methods, but the Chisholm campaign against me that began at dawn on Sept. 14, 2011, requires a legal response to discourage the prosecutor’s continued abuse of his office.”

Archer, a close adviser to Walker when Walker was Milwaukee County executive and for a time at the start of the Republican’s first term as governor, goes into stark details of a stunning assault on her liberty and her reputation – an investigation and its violent raid all done in the name of politics.

“Nothing could have prepared me for waking up to the shouts of men with battering rams announcing that they were about to break down my door on that morning in 2011. It was so unexpected and frightening that I ran down from my bedroom without clothes on,” she writes.

Archer first told her story to the National Review in April. In that vivid account, the former Walker aide recalled that she “begged and begged investigators, ‘Please don’t shoot my dogs, please don’t shoot my dogs, just don’t shoot my dogs.’ I couldn’t get them to stop barking, and I couldn’t get them outside quick enough. I saw a gun and barking dogs. I was scared and knew this was a bad mix.”

In her column Tuesday, Archer recounts agents with weapons drawn swarming her house and barging into the bathroom where her partner was showering.

“I was told to shut up and sit down. The officers rummaged through drawers, cabinets and closets. Their aggressive assault on my home seemed more appropriate for a dangerous criminal, not a longtime public servant with no criminal history,” she writes.

When the agents finally left, Archer said she took inventory of the damage. She found drawers and closets ransacked, her “deceased mother’s belongings were strewn across the floor.” Like so many other targets of the secret John Doe investigation into Wisconsin conservatives, Archer was forced to watch her neighbors watch her – the star of a very public search-and-seizure operation.

And like her fellow targets, she was told she couldn’t contact her attorney and she could say nothing publicly about being a target of Chisholm’s probe.

Archer in her Wall Street Journal column asks, what prompted the raid?

She speculates it had much to do with her key role in drafting Walker’s Act 10, the public employee collective-bargaining reforms that big labor and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin despised so much that they pushed a recall movement against Walker and several Republican state senators.

Chisholm, a Democrat, grew incensed with Walker and Act 10, according to Michael Lutz, a highly decorated former Milwaukee police officer who worked as a special prosecutor in Chisholm’s office in 2011.

Lutz told the American Media Institute that Chisholm felt he had to protect his wife, Colleen Chisholm, a union shop steward at an area school, from Walker’s law. She “frequently cried when discussing the topic of the union disbanding and the effect it would have on the people involved … She took it personally.”

Her husband did, too.

“He felt it was his personal duty to stop people from being treated like this, to stop Walker from treating people like this,” Lutz told Wisconsin Watchdog last year.

Chisholm and his assistants have not returned dozens of calls from Wisconsin Watchdog seeking comment.

Archer writes that her ties to Walker an Act 10 made her a “prime target for Mr. Chisholm’s campaign to intimidate anyone close to the governor.”

“In other words, I was targeted because of my politics—in plain violation of the First Amendment and federal civil-rights statutes,” she writes in the WSJ column.

Archer says she was interrogated by Chisholm’s assistants numerous times in the months following the raid, but never charged with any wrongdoing.

“I faced seven grueling confrontations that seemed designed simply to intimidate and harass me into providing damaging information about Gov. Walker—though I had none,” Archer writes.

Kelly Rindfleisch, another former aide to Walker in the county executive’s office who was ensnared in a sweeping raid of all of her digital communications, has also said that prosecutors leaned on her to get information on Walker.

And Archer, like Rindfleisch has, expressed her disappointment in Walker’s team for leaving her for dead on the brutal political battlefield.

“Worst of all, I have discovered that my demotion as Gov. Walker’s deputy director of administration, which came four weeks before the raid on my house, appears to have been engineered by the governor’s team after word reached them that I had been targeted by the district attorney. Subsequently, I have not been given any role in the administration that may bring public attention,” Archer writes.

Sources say Archer will file her civil rights complaint in state court. That’s important, because a civil rights lawsuit against John Doe prosecutors filed by other conservatives ultimately failed at the federal level after an appeals court ruled that the legal controversies involved are matters for state courts.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on several questions related to the John Doe, particularly whether the stalled investigation has to be permanently shut down.

Chisholm’s probe, launched more than five years ago, has spread into a multi-county investigation into Walker’s campaign and 29 conservative organizations. As Wisconsin Watchdog reported this week, court records show the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office was engaged in an ongoing spy operation on conservatives for years, tapping into their digital records. Some of the targets of the probe may have no idea that they were under surveillance, documents suggest.

“There should be no place in America where powerful law-enforcement officials are allowed to misuse their offices for political purposes,” Archer concludes in the Wall Street Journal piece.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: 2016election; chisholm; cindyarcher; election2016; fourthamendment; johndoe; justice; kellyrindfleisch; michaelgableman; rindfleisch; scottwalker; wallstreetjournal; wisconsin; wsj
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To: afraidfortherepublic

I heard Rush talk about this months ago. There is a dirty Judge involved as well. Chisholm always went to this specific judge when he wanted his search warrants.


21 posted on 07/01/2015 9:29:41 AM PDT by DAC21 (.z)
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To: Flintlock

I’m quite sure that the answer will be that Gov. Walker was holding himself aloof from this investigation because it had nothing to do with him and he wasn’t going to oplay into their hands. He has been really good for Wisconsin, so I support him. But, I would like a clear explanation as to why these low level aides have been hung out to dry.

They have been refused even the right to consult an attorney.


22 posted on 07/01/2015 9:31:15 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: DAC21
There is a dirty Judge involved as well.

Nettesheim and Kluka were the 2 judges involved.

23 posted on 07/01/2015 9:33:14 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: Mr. K

He doesn’t look like a very nice fellow. He looks like he is still PO’d that he couldn’t get a date for the senior prom.


24 posted on 07/01/2015 9:35:05 AM PDT by ladyjane
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To: afraidfortherepublic

I hope she wins her suit against John Chisholm.


25 posted on 07/01/2015 9:42:33 AM PDT by chud
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To: afraidfortherepublic
One thing that is not being understood here - the way the John Doe laws are written in Wisconsin, it would have been illegal for Walker to have warned her. See in the article where it talks about the victims (which includes Walker) not being allowed to even talk to a lawyer about it.
26 posted on 07/01/2015 9:45:33 AM PDT by T. P. Pole
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To: afraidfortherepublic
At least they weren't fired.

-- They have been refused even the right to consult an attorney. --

That's what the John Doe process provides for. Similar to NSA letters that go to internet service providers and telecoms.

The secrecy argument doesn't hold water in this case, the searches were tantamount to public events.

I don't hold this against Walker, sometimes your good soldiers take a hit. I do feel bad for naive people, those who live in a fantasy land of loyal bosses, fairness and rule of law. All of those are illusions, when it comes down to brass tacks.

27 posted on 07/01/2015 9:45:34 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: afraidfortherepublic

It is about time someone did this.


28 posted on 07/01/2015 9:58:10 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: afraidfortherepublic
"And Archer, like Rindfleisch has, expressed her disappointment in Walker’s team for leaving her for dead on the brutal political battlefield."

These two accusations, if true, disbar Walker from public office. He will not get my vote.

29 posted on 07/01/2015 10:00:53 AM PDT by I am Richard Brandon
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Then there is Lois Lerner..... she must tried, convicted and executed for her crimes against the Republic

The penalties must be so severe to cause those with the thought to tremble in fear of their own death for committing the crime


30 posted on 07/01/2015 10:03:42 AM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12, 73, ..... No peace? then no peace!)
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To: I am Richard Brandon
You should rethink that. Higherups are often in the tough position of sacrificing foot soldiers. Scooter Libby (who shot himself in the foot to boot), Ollie North, and so on. Walker is going to be a slave to the law even when it is unfair, ridiculous, and wrong. To do otherwise opens him up to direct fire.
31 posted on 07/01/2015 10:07:04 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: Cboldt

Rethink done. He was wrong, wrong, wrong. What happened to “I’ve got your back?” Managers should support their staff.


32 posted on 07/01/2015 10:12:41 AM PDT by I am Richard Brandon
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To: T. P. Pole

That is a very good point, and one that I keep forgetting because it seems so contrary to the normal process.


33 posted on 07/01/2015 10:15:28 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: I am Richard Brandon
"I've got your back" is a falsehood at bottom. Anybody who expects it or believes in it is naive.

As a matter of principle, I think supporting your charges is the right thing to do, loyalty being (in principle) a two way street.

My only point and suggestion, which you took, was to consider his action in light of his circumstances. He;s a slave to the law, and he is a politician. There is no such thing as a principled politician, so you have to use other criteria to discriminate between them.

34 posted on 07/01/2015 10:18:15 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: T. P. Pole

I think I would take that chance and talk to my lawyer, no matter what the statute said.


35 posted on 07/01/2015 10:44:46 AM PDT by ClayinVA ("Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it")
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To: ClayinVA
I think I would take that chance and talk to my lawyer, no matter what the statute said.

Too bad the ACLU can't be trusted. I would think this is just the kind of thing they were created for.

Fortunately, organizations like the Institute for Justice have sprung up to take their place. That's who I'd call.

36 posted on 07/01/2015 11:01:14 AM PDT by Forgotten Amendments (Peace On Earth! Purity of Essence! McCain/Ripper 2016)
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To: Timber Rattler; All
This article on the subject is interesting. GOP Prosecutor Defends Scott Walker Criminal Probe, Says "Let's Get the Truth Out"

Submitted by Brendan Fischer on May 1, 2015 - 9:26am Related Articles Scott Walker Dumped as Chair of the Jobs Agency He Created Privatization Fail: Scott Walker’s WEDC in Full Meltdown Walker's Dark Money Allies Orchestrate Coup of the Courts -- By Brendan Fischer and Mary Bottari

Two career prosecutors--one a Republican, one a Democrat--just called Scott Walker a liar, and not a single national newspaper took notice.

The comments came after Walker, an unannounced candidate for president, used an appearance on an Iowa radio show to publicly attack a bipartisan criminal investigation into his campaign as a "political witch hunt" with the aim of "trying to intimidate people."

The Special Prosecutor leading the probe, Francis Schmitz--a Republican who voted for Walker in 2012--fired back, stating, "these recent allegations are patently false." "His description of the investigation as a 'political witch hunt' is offensive when he knows that the investigation was authorized by a bipartisan group of judges and is directed by a Republican Special Prosecutor appointed at the request of a bipartisan group of district attorneys," Schmitz said.

Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm, a Democrat whose office initiated the probe, added that, "Stripped of niceties, Mr. Schmitz is saying the governor is deliberately not telling the truth." Then, the prosecutors threw down the gauntlet.

Schmitz called upon the Governor "to join me in seeking judicial approval" to release sealed documents "which would be responsive to the allegations that have been made." Chisholm agreed: "the truth is always a defense, so let’s get the truth out in a legal manner, not through lies, distortions and misrepresentations."

The public comments and challenge are remarkable from the usually-reserved career prosecutors, who until now have remained silent as their reputations have been dragged through the mud by Walker's allies.

The heated public exchange comes just as the Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to take up a series of challenges to the probe, and as the U.S. Supreme Court considers granting an appeal of a federal lawsuit that the 7th Circuit rejected last year.

And, the comments follow a National Review magazine article published online April 20 that savaged Chisholm and decried the probe as "the use of law enforcement as a political instrument, as a weapon to attempt to undo election results, shame opponents, and ruin lives."

Although the piece also repeated long-discredited allegations from Wisconsin's right-wing blogs, it was quickly picked up by the national right-wing echo chamber, including Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and the Wall Street Journal editorial board and trumpeted as a breakthrough "investigation."

Yet the National Review article doesn't even mention the Republican prosecutor leading the probe, Francis Schmitz, nor does it touch on the evidence of corruption that gave rise to the bipartisan investigation.

As former Milwaukee District Attorney E Michael McCann told the Center for Media and Democracy: "If you've got the facts on your side, fight on the facts. If you've got the law on your side, fight on the law. If you've got neither, fight the DA."

Serious Allegations of Corruption Involving Walker

The current criminal investigation into Walker involves serious allegations that the governor and his campaign disregarded the state's campaign finance laws during the 2012 recall elections. Indeed, when Republican and Democratic District Attorneys petitioned for the investigation, Walker was already the highest-profile politician in modern Wisconsin history and a likely presidential contender.

Launching a criminal investigation into the most powerful political figure in the state could not have been an easy choice: these career prosecutors initiated the probe because they believed there was a strong legal and evidentiary basis for doing so, under Wisconsin's long-standing campaign finance laws.

Republican prosecutors gathered evidence of Walker secretly raising millions of dollars for the supposedly "independent" nonprofit Wisconsin Club for Growth (WiCFG), with the express purpose of bypassing campaign finance disclosure laws.

Talking points prepared for the governor advised him to "stress that donations to WiCFG are not disclosed," to call the group "his 501c4," and to tell donors "that you can accept corporate contributions and it is not reported." And evidence suggests that Walker had a lot to hide.

There is the secret $700,000 donation to WiCFG from an out-of-state mining company, Gogebic Taconite, which at the time was pushing for an open-pit mine in Northern Wisconsin (and got it, after Walker won re-election). And there's the undisclosed $1.5 million donation from billionaire John Menard, whose company Menard's Hardware was awarded $1.8 million in tax credits from the jobs agency Walker chairs, not to mention a drop-off in environmental law enforcement.

WiCFG spent at least $9.1 million during the recall elections, and funneled at least $10 million more to other politically-active groups like Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, while reporting that it spent $0 on politics to the IRS.

Since the beginning, Walker and his allies have fought the probe not by denying coordination, but by claiming the rules don't apply to so-called "issue ads" that stop short of expressly telling viewers how to vote. But if the Walker campaign coordinated activities with third-party groups, state law is clear that the coordinated spending is not "independent," but legally considered an in-kind campaign contribution subject to reporting laws, regardless of whether it involved so-called "issue ads."

The same is true in federal elections, under federal law. In January of 2014, Judge Gregory Peterson--who had only recently been assigned the case--sided with arguments from Walker and WiCFG and quashed subpoenas issued in the probe, but just two weeks later stayed his own order, writing that the state's theory "is an arguable interpretation of the statutes" and asking that an appellate court resolve the dispute.

WiCFG and other Walker allies soon filed an array of lawsuits in state and federal court, and the probe has remained stalled ever since.

Republican-Led Investigation Supported by "Credible, Hard Evidence"

Although repeatedly portrayed as a "partisan witch hunt," the investigation involves five District Attorneys, from both the Republican and Democratic parties. It was authorized by both Republican and Democratic judges, including Judge James Daley, the GOP-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court earlier this year. And it is led by Special Prosecutor Francis Schmitz.

Schmitz started his legal career as a clerk for federal judge John Coffey, a Reagan appointee who the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described as "an unyielding conservative." Schmitz worked for years as a federal prosecutor, receiving two awards from the U.S. Department of Justice, including the prestigious "U.S. Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service" from Republican Michael Mukasey. Schmitz was on George W. Bush's shortlist to be named the chief federal prosecutor in the state as U.S. attorney, and he served in the U.S. Army and in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring with the rank of Colonel.

Wisconsin's Republican Attorney General, J.B. Van Hollen, was initially asked to lead the probe, but declined--not because he thought the investigation was legally suspect, but because of a possible conflict-of-interest, with Van Hollen acknowledging that “a campaign financing investigation… could foreseeably involve individuals with whom I have relationships.” Van Hollen said the probe was better handled by the state's Government Accountability Board, which is a nonpartisan board of retired judges, from both parties, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate, and charged with interpreting and applying the state's campaign finance law.

The Board unanimously approved its participation in the investigation. Its current Chair Gerald Nichol--a former Republican elected official--has stated that the Board does "not take investigations lightly" and launched the probe after being presented with "credible, hard evidence" the law had been violated.

The investigation has been conducted under the state's "John Doe" statute, a proceeding similar to a grand jury but overseen by a judge. Former Milwaukee County District Attorney McCann, a Democrat who utilized the John Doe process to prosecute former State Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala (D-Madison) during the 2001-2002 Legislative Caucus Scandal, explained that"John Does" are particularly effective for investigating political corruption cases.

The alternative is to impanel a grand jury of 17 citizens for months on end, a costly and burdensome process rarely used in Wisconsin. Doug Haag, a career state prosecutor for 29 years, explained to the Center for Media and Democracy how the John Doe works.

"It's the only vehicle other than a grand jury that allows a prosecutor to subpoena witnesses and compel testimony in the investigative stage," he said. While grand juries were common before the 1970s they fell out of use in more recent years and the John Doe process is now used commonly for a variety of crimes. Haag is a "very strong supporter" of the John Doe law as currently constituted.

"At this point it would be very cumbersome to impanel a grand jury when in fact you can get the same information with a single judge, compel testimony and protect the identity of witnesses before the John Doe," Haag said. The John Doe statute allows for a judge to order that the investigation be conducted in secret, which applies not only to prosecutors, but also to the targets of the investigation.

The duration of the gag orders raise First Amendment concerns, yet have long been part of the standard operating procedure for John Doe investigations, including political corruption investigations into both Democrats and Republicans. Prosecutors argue that secrecy is needed to encourage cooperation by people reluctant to testify against powerful individuals, as well as to protect the reputation of the targets while the investigation is in a pre-charge state, since many John Does are closed without charges.

In commencing this John Doe probe, Republican prosecutors in Dodge (PDF) and Columbia (PDF) counties found "evidence that criminal violations" of the state's campaign finance laws had occurred and, like their Democratic counterparts, asked that the probe be conducted under a secrecy order, given that "the individuals involved in this investigation are well-placed political operatives closely tied with the current Governor of the State of Wisconsin." Making the investigation public, they wrote in their court filings, "would generate substantial publicity," which could result in the destruction of evidence and damage reputations before criminal charges were filed.

Yet soon after the first subpoenas were issued in the probe, Wisconsin Club for Growth director Eric O'Keefe spoke with the Wall Street Journal editorial board, and the investigation has been subject to selective leaks ever since.

With the case now before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, prosecutors are asking that more documents be unsealed, so the public can assess for themselves the PR campaign to call the bipartisan criminal probe a "political witch hunt." Yet the Court has so far declined to open up the documents, and Walker hasn't joined their call for transparency.

Milwaukee District Attorney's Long Record of Prosecuting Democrats

The current investigation grew out of an earlier John Doe probe into corruption in Walker's office when he was Milwaukee County Executive. Milwaukee County District Attorney Chisholm opened the first John Doe in 2010 after Walker's office stonewalled an investigation into the theft of money from a veteran's fund. That probe, which was closed in 2013, eventually led to convictions of six former Walker aides and associates, on charges ranging from the embezzlement of veteran's funds, to child enticement, to illegal political campaigning on the public dime.

A second John Doe was opened in August of 2012, and soon spread to four other counties, thanks to a GOP-backed law requiring that campaign finance violations be prosecuted in the counties where defendants reside.

Special Prosecutor Schmitz was appointed to lead the five-county effort and to limit the appearance of partisan bias. Although "John Doe 2" is led by a Republican Special Prosecutor, involves Republican and Democratic prosecutors from across the state, and was approved by Republican judges, Walker's allies have nonetheless made Chisholm their target for the "political witch hunt" claims, since he is elected to office as a Democrat.

Outlets like Fox News and the National Review have repeated allegations from a "former staff prosecutor" that Chisholm's investigation into Walker--which started in 2010--was actually motivated by his public school teacher wife's dismay at Walker's anti-union Act 10 legislation, which was introduced in 2011. Yet the source for the claims, the "former staff prosecutor," was actually a former unpaid intern who worked just 5 1/2 months filling out grant applications and previously made drunken death threats to Chisholm and his family.

In reality, Chisholm does have a long record of prosecuting political corruption, but he almost exclusively has gone after fellow Democrats. In 2010, for example, Chisholm used the John Doe process to prosecute Democratic Milwaukee County Supervisor Toni Clark on felony charges related to the personal use of $6,300 in campaign funds. Clark was sentenced to six months in jail, with work-release privileges, and three years' probation.

Scott Walker, who was Milwaukee County Executive at the time, didn't portray that investigation into a Democrat as a "political witch hunt," nor did he decry the charges as an example of the "criminalization of politics"--after all, Chisholm had thrown the book at her, pursuing felony charges against a county official who misused a few thousand in campaign funds. Instead, Walker said the case was "a reminder to all others in office that we must maintain the highest ethical standards."

In 2007, Chisholm worked with federal officials in a complicated John Doe case involving bribery and intimidation charges for Alderman Michael McGee, a Democrat. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, McGee was convicted by a federal jury and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison, and later pled no contest in state court to the felony of lying to an elections official and the misdemeanor of violating court orders related to the John Doe proceeding.

In 2012--at the same time that Chisholm was pursuing the John Doe investigation into Walker--the Milwaukee District Attorney was leading a broader John Doe investigation into corruption allegations in the Democrat-led Milwaukee County government. Chisholm's office oversaw a sting operation aimed at Milwaukee County Supervisor Johnny Thomas, a Democrat described as a "rising star of the Board's left wing," and brought felony charges after Thomas accepted a $500 campaign contribution that was allegedly offered in exchange for promoting a company for a county contract. A Milwaukee jury acquitted Thomas of bribery and misconduct charges.

And following Walker's victory in the 2012 recall elections, court filings show that his opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, was fined $20,000 for accepting PAC donations in excess of campaign finance limits. All evidence suggests that Chisholm's office takes the rules governing ethics and political corruption very seriously, whether the violations are committed by a Democrat or a Republican.

"Pre-Dawn Raids" or Typical Search Warrant?

The National Review article devotes a lot of space to the execution of search warrants, which it describes as "armed" "pre-dawn raids." The outlet makes the astounding claim that "these raids and subpoenas were often not based on traditional notions of probable cause but on mere suspicion, untethered to the law or evidence, and potentially violating the Fourth Amendment," but provides no evidence to back up the hyperbole.

In contrast, this October 2013 affidavit in support of subpoenas, which is publicly available, lays out the facts establishing the legally-required probable cause that the searches will produce documents relevant to the criminal campaign finance violations that were the subject of the John Doe. "No judge will authorize a search warrant based on 'mere suspicion,'" Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney, a Democrat, explained to CMD. "The statutes are very clear. To get a search warrant, you have to write out a complaint laying out probable cause that you will find evidence at that location. If you think the computers you are looking for are in the home based on intelligence you have gathered, you have to convince a judge. A lot of thought and detail goes into presenting this to a judge, because the evidence could later be thrown out if there was not a legitimate finding based on facts outlined in a complaint."

Although search warrants are issued by a judge, in response to a petition from a prosecutor, how the warrants are executed is left to law enforcement--so any critique of the John Doe "raids" is really a complaint about standard law enforcement practices, former prosecutors and law enforcement officers tell CMD. And nothing described by the National Review appeared out of the ordinary for executing search warrants to secure evidence that could be destroyed, they say.

Indeed, although targets of the Walker probe have challenged various aspects of the investigation in a barrage of well-funded lawsuits and legal maneuvers, they haven't legally challenged how the search warrants were executed, despite hyperbole in right-wing press.

"Law enforcement has two goals in executing a search warrant: the safety of all involved and to prevent the destruction of evidence," Mahoney said. "You don’t call ahead and let them know you are coming." The first step when entering a home is to secure the premises and take control of the situation. "You get in, assess any dangers, secure the scene, and allow it to be searched," one former prosecutor said. "This is not a party invitation."

"Safety is always a concern," McCann told CMD. "Even a law-abiding person may have firearms, and they might wake up after you enter home, get startled, and grab for a weapon." Mahoney described an instance he had a gun drawn on him while executing a search warrant for a white-collar crime, and says that sheriff’s deputies regularly find weapons during searches.

Although the National Review leads with the claim that officers brought a battering ram to the home of one Walker aide, Mahoney says this is not out of the ordinary. “You are required to knock and give people a reasonable time to open the door, but you are also required to execute the warrant with necessary force," he said. "So if they don’t open the door, you don’t leave a calling card and say ‘I’ll be back in an hour.’ If they are not home or not answering, you sometimes have to knock down the door.” Otherwise, the targets of the search warrants can begin destroying evidence. Likewise, when looking for documents, "you want the person on the premises," McCann says, "so you do it early in the morning, before, they go to work, when they are most likely to be home."

If the warrant is executed in winter, that means it is going to be dark. This is not to say that the tactics used by police in executing search warrants are above criticism. But the way warrants were executed in the Walker investigation appeared to follow standard law enforcement practices, which should be the same whether the warrant is served in a low-income community of color or a white middle-class neighborhood.

As the Wisconsin Supreme Court gets ready to take up the John Doe this month, behind closed doors and without oral arguments, the prosecutors' challenge for full disclosure still awaits a response from the Governor. Will Walker urge the court to release all records, to clear the air--and perhaps his name--or will he continue to cry "witch hunt" in hopes that Wisconsin's deeply-compromised Supreme Court will sweep the John Doe under the rug

- See more at: Link

37 posted on 07/01/2015 1:51:03 PM PDT by conservativejoy (We Can Elect Ted Cruz! Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God!)
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To: ClayinVA
I think I would take that chance and talk to my lawyer, no matter what the statute said.

Me too, and if the corrupt state court charged me for it, then I would challenge the legality and constitutionality of such an order in federal court, based on the 4th and 5th Amendments.

38 posted on 07/01/2015 2:28:34 PM PDT by Timber Rattler (Just say NO! to RINOS and the GOP-E)
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To: conservativejoy; afraidfortherepublic; onyx; Hunton Peck; Diana in Wisconsin; P from Sheb; Shady; ..

You’ve posted this steaming pile of crappy lies again. Aren’t you ashamed of allying your self with the thugs that are conducting political warfare against conservatives in Wisconsin? Do I have to hear lie-filled lefty propaganda about Walker that I’ve been hearing for years AGAIN????? Let me again refute the lies that you are spreading.

“””“””Two career prosecutors—one a Republican””” – Schmitz claims to be a Republican, he has not held office, he has not been part of the party. This is only political cover for the assault from the statists protecting their Blue State power.

“”“””The public comments and challenge are remarkable from the usually-reserved career prosecutors,””” So reserved that Schmitz said that Walker was the center of a conspiracy and then had to RETRACT THAT STATEMENT (via his lawyer).

Randall Crocker, the lawyer for special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, noted the investigation has been halted, saying, “At the time the investigation was halted, Governor Walker was not a target of the investigation. At no time has he been served with a subpoena.”

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/06/26/wisconsin-prosecutor-backtracks-scott-walker-not-a-target-of-investigation/

“”“”””until now have remained silent as their reputations have been dragged through the mud”””” —— Silent? There have been YEARS of leaks to the friendly city newspaper timed for maximum effect on Walker’s election.

http://watchdog.org/18927/leaks-abound-but-where-is-wis-no-show-john-doe/

http://mediatrackers.org/wisconsin/2012/01/27/da-chisholm-may-have-illegal-leaks-from-office

http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2013/05/23/op-ed-why-dan-bice-should-resign/

“”“””””nor does it touch on the evidence of corruption that gave rise to the bipartisan investigation.”” -— Walker’s chief of staff requested the investigation for embezzlement and was shocked that it was expanded to political warfare.

http://www.wpr.org/new-documents-show-top-walker-aide-distrusted-john-doe-start

“””because they believed there was a strong legal and evidentiary basis for doing so””” —— Ed Morrisey said it best ““They’re deliberately misleading people by minimizing or outright omitting the fact that two different courts have looked at these charges and sneered at them”

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/06/20/friendly-reminder-to-the-media-from-scott-walker-two-different-judges-have-rejected-the-lefts-new-scandal-about-me/

Five Years, EVERY EMAIL WALKER EVER SENT AS COUNTY EXEC AND GOVERNOR, and Millions of dollars of investigation and Chisolm and his gangsters couldn’t find anything to charge!! Do you get it???

The rest of is more steaming crap thrown in all lefty propaganda. Just one example, like Menards

“”””In 2006, after threatening to leave Wisconsin because of heavy-handed regulations from former Gov. Jim Doyle’s Department of Natural Resources, Menard got a lot more for less.
According to an April 2007 profile of Menard in Milwaukee Magazine, it only took $20,000 in donations (the maximum legally allowed) from Menard for Doyle to give up $4.2 million in tax breaks.””

http://www.rightwisconsin.com/featured/Why-the-John-Menard-Smear-Doesnt-Add-Up-297402941.html

Its fine to passionately support your candidate, but don’t make yourself a lying whore smearing Walker.


39 posted on 07/02/2015 8:45:41 PM PDT by sgtyork (Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy)
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To: sgtyork

bttt!


40 posted on 07/02/2015 11:07:53 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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