WATCHING YOU: Documents reviewed by Wisconsin Watchdog show prosecutors of Wisconsin’s political John Doe probe engaged in a years-long spy operation into conservative activists. It appears some targets don’t know they were being watched.
Posted on 06/29/2015 9:52:20 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
MADISON, Wis. – Democrat Milwaukee County prosecutors tapped the email and text communications of conservative activists as part of a five-year probe aimed at bringing down Republican Gov. Scott Walker, affidavits reviewed by Wisconsin Watchdog reveal.
One target of the spying operation told Wisconsin Watchdog the methods used to keep tabs on Wisconsin residents were like those of the National Security Agency’s domestic spying program.
“It was actually worse because (Milwaukee County prosecutors) were taking the body of emails and looking at actual data,” said the source, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution from the prosecutors.
“The (documents) reveal just how far they went,” the source said. “These warrants reached well beyond what could be seen as real targets.”
A December 2012 affidavit reveals that Milwaukee County prosecutors sought and received secret subpoenas or warrants to seize the email, phone, and text records of 17 people. The subpoenas and warrants were served on a multitude of Internet service providers and cellular phone providers, including AT&T, Google and Yahoo.
With the assistance of the service providers, investigators confiscated 19 months of communications, from Jan. 1, 2011 through July 31, 2012.
The bank records of at least one organization were also sought for the same time period, along with information for multiple free conference-call services, according to the documents.
The 19-month time period outlined in the warrants and subpoenas precedes by two days Walker’s inauguration to his first term as governor.
As governor, Walker quickly drafted and pushed for passage of Act 10, the state law reforming Wisconsin’s public-employee collective-bargaining law. Several months later, Wisconsin Democrats and labor unions launched a contentious campaign to recall the governor. Walker easily beat back the recall effort.
Now serving his second term, Walker is considering a run for president.
The warrant requests were submitted by Robert Stelter, a Milwaukee County District Attorney investigator with a long law enforcement resume that includes working in high-intensity drug investigations. He specialized in investigations that involved federal wiretapping of electronic communications.
The affidavits suggest Milwaukee County prosecutors engaged in one continuous spy operation on conservative activists and conservative advocacy organizations beginning in 2010 as part of a secret “John Doe” investigation.
The last known warrants in the initial phase of the John Doe were issued in May 2012 by John Doe Judge Neal Nettesheim.
On Aug. 10, 2012, the DA’s office received permission from the judge to roll over the massive file into what became known as John Doe 2 into conservative groups, dispelling any notion that the investigations were separate. The investigation would turn into a wider, five-county political probe.
Less than a month later, on Sept. 5, 2012, reserve Judge Barbara Kluka signed off on the broad John Doe to investigate the prosecutors’ exotic and far-reaching assertion that Walker’s campaign illegally coordinated with 29 conservative organizations during Wisconsin’s bitter recall season of 2011 and 2012.
The prosecutors’ illegal coordination idea has been roundly rejected by multiple courts, and the state Supreme Court is expected soon to decide whether the stalled investigation must be shut down for good.
Some of the individuals whose records were confiscated via the December 2012 secret warrants appear to be only loosely affiliated with the apparent targets. Some may not have even known the targets during much of the time period for which the records were sought.
Many of the individuals whose records were confiscated are unaware the government is holding at least 19 months of their phone, text and email records.
That’s because the investigation’s gag order prevents the release of information, and, sources tell Wisconsin Watchdog, the prosecutors in many cases failed to inform individuals they were targets of the secret probe. It is not clear when—if ever—the state government will have to return the records, or even disclose to those individuals that prosecutors could have been reviewing their private communications for the better part of three years.
The December 2012 affidavit also indicates that secret warrants for the email, phone and bank records of individuals and organizations were executed in May, September and October of 2012. The last of the warrants were served a full year before armed sheriffs’ deputies raided four homes and served dozens of subpoenas in sunrise raids on Oct. 3, 2013.
It’s unclear why those dramatic raids were even necessary. By that time, prosecutors’ electronic surveillance appears to have already netted much of the records they would sweep up in the raids.
The prosecutors’ surveillance of conservatives and Walker was part of a now five-year investigation that began in May 2010, when Walker was Milwaukee County Executive and a rising star in Wisconsin politics.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, a Democrat, and his assistants launched the probe that began when Walker, who was running for governor, informed the DA’s office of a discrepancy in a county veterans fund.
Ironically, Chisholm and his assistants used Walker’s own concerns about fraud in the veterans fund as a pretext to investigate Walker’s office and allies – opening the door on what some conservatives have described as a “political opposition research investigation” into Walker.
It is possible that many other individuals and organizations spied on have been unwittingly caught up in the secret searches of their emails, phone, text and bank records.
“Think about how many people they hit with these warrants,” said a target of the probe who spoke with Wisconsin Watchdog. “People need to start asking themselves, ‘Did they get me?’”
Part 213 of 212 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War
WATCHING YOU: Documents reviewed by Wisconsin Watchdog show prosecutors of Wisconsin’s political John Doe probe engaged in a years-long spy operation into conservative activists. It appears some targets don’t know they were being watched.
Moe John Doe — now it’s revealed that it has been a 5 year spying operation aimed at bringing down Scott Walker.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
These people need to go to PRISON.
BTW, Freepers, you can pretty much be sure this is happening to many of us...
Warrants should automatically expire in a certain number of days and reauthorization must be obtained based on only new credible evidence.
Wisconsin is nutz. If the state government and judges spent a dollar for every hour they spent harassing people both in the body politic and in private, their bank accounts would be at zero.
Times close to conservative cowards running for the hills..
And conservative patriots to “do something else”..
The noose is tightening.. Saul Alinsky’s revenge is pregnant to give birth..
Declaration of Martial Law would make me say.. what took so long.?.
I know it’s coming, YOU know it’s coming, because it (( IS )) COMING..
We need an offshore database that lists the home addresses of some of these buffoons, like the judges and Chisolm, along with relatively current pictures.
It is getting real close to time to let rule 308 take its own course.
They should. But even in prison Chisholm would be protected by one of the prison gangs.
Too bad there is no one that interested in Hillary and the other Rats.
if this was done to a democrat gov and democrat activists it would be national news, democrats would be demanding hearings and criminal prosecutions and there would be a hollyweird movie about it...
So they could say they picked up the info from the raids and not from spying on citizens!
Why won’t more do this since the culprits are completely getting away with it.
Bump for reading later.
Is this malfeasance, misfeasance or official oppression?
John doe is Obama’s test project for bigger things...
Statists are NOT just zealous people for their idea of how to govern...
They are ALL TRAITORS... performing sedition....
AND should be HUNG PUBLICLY...
In the US.. Statism is the NEW normal.. CWII is on it’s way..
bump
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