Free Republic

MADISON, Wis. – A newly released audio recording of the 2011 raid on the home of a former aide to Gov. Scott Walker confirms that the political John Doe investigation into dozens of conservative groups was a “fishing expedition aimed at ensnaring” the Republican governor and his associates, says the attorney representing Cindy Archer in her civil rights lawsuit. And according to a statement released Tuesday by Archer’s legal counsel David B. Rivkin, Jr., the recording adds important details “regarding the true purpose of the raid and tactics” used by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. Rivkin was responding to...

It was still dark outside when “Jonah” (not his real name) heard the pounding on his front door. As luck would have it, he was awake — or mostly awake. He’d gotten up at 4:00 a.m. on October 3, 2013, to see his parents off to the airport. They were leaving on a quick trip to raise money for the children’s charity his father runs. Jonah was 16 at the time, old enough to stay home alone for a short time, but not old enough to deal with what awaited him on the other side of the door. The pounding...

MADISON, Wis. – Kelly Rindfleisch’s roller-coaster ride to justice got rougher Tuesday. Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman withdrew the motion he filed late last week asking the court to reconsider its denial of Rindfleisch’s Fourth Amendment appeal. In a brief letter filed in the court Tuesday, Gableman said Rindlfleisch will nevertheless “have the benefit of review by the entire Court” because she has also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review her case. Sources close to the case tell Wisconsin Watchdog that Gableman was concerned he would not have the votes to win reconsideration because Justice David Prosser would...

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...

In April, three victims of Wisconsin’s long-running “John Doe” investigations broke their silence. Former Scott Walker adviser Cindy Archer spoke to National Review on the record while two other women asked for their identities to be concealed. All three, however, told remarkably similar stories — of police raids at dawn, pounding on the door, threats of battering rams, and ransacked homes. They weren’t suspected of drug crimes, violent crimes, or other crimes recognizable to the American public. Rather, they were either close associates of Scott Walker or involved in the broader conservative movement in Wisconsin — and were caught up...