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Part 306 of 308 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War MADISON, Wisconsin - Conservatives who sued the state's political speech cop for helping to drive a politically motivated investigation picked up a huge victory in court Thursday. Conservative activist Eric O'Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth resolved their lawsuit against the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, with the GAB agreeing it will refrain from funding and assisting future criminal prosecutions in violation of its statutory authority. The victory for conservatives targeted in the unconstitutional John Doe investigation was announced a day after Gov. Scott Walker, himself a target of the...

Part 307 of 306 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War MADISON, Wis. - With a state Supreme Court deadline looming, a conservative target of Wisconsin's notorious John Doe investigation is urging Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm to take his case to the court. Political activist Eric O'Keefe believes there's a teachable moment here for the partisan DA who launched the investigation more than three years ago. O'Keefe in a statement issued Wednesday said Chisholm should file to intervene in the Wisconsin Supreme Court's recent ruling that reaffirmed the politically driven probe into dozens of conservative groups and the campaign...

Part 305 of 305 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War MADISON, Wis. - Ding dong, the witch-hunter is dead. More than a month after the Republican-led Legislature passed a bill dismantling the state Government Accountability Board, Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday finally signed the bill into law - with a partial veto. The bill's supporters, including conservatives targeted by the GAB and Milwaukee County prosecutors in the unconstitutional and politically driven John Doe probe, rejoiced while the left prophesied biblical-proportion campaign finance and election law disasters. "Reform to this broken agency was long overdue and I'm proud of today's accomplishment,"...

Part 297 of 295 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War MADISON, Wis. - The special prosecutor of the politically driven probe the state Supreme Court has twice declared dead laments the conservatives he intimidated for more than two years are legally tougher than the "violent criminals and terrorists" he investigated as a federal prosecutor. "The miscalculation I made in this investigation was underestimating the power and influence special interest groups have in Wisconsin politics," Francis Schmitz, point man for the unconstitutional "John Doe II" probe said Wednesday in a press release. "My career in the military and as a federal...

Part 279 of 277 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War MADISON, Wisconsin — As the Senate seems to be coming to terms on a “compromise” that would retain at least a couple of retired judges on the state Government Accountability Board, one of the targets of the rogue agency’s unconstitutional investigation is asking senators to think again. On Thursday, Eric O’Keefe of the Wisconsin Club for Growth sent Wisconsin policymakers a detailed communication outlining “potential misconduct” by GAB chairman Gerald Nichol.” O’Keefe cites several “troubling statements” Nichol has made in recent weeks that have exposed the judge’s partisanship serving on...

MADISON, Wisconsin — This week the Wall Street Journal revealed just how expansive Wisconsin’s political John Doe investigation was, targeting not only Badger State conservatives but national political figures such as Jeb Bush and Newt Gingrich. Now Wisconsin Watchdog has learned the unconstitutional probe also went after state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and other Wisconsin conservative leaders who may not be aware that they, too, were targets of a widespread spying operation. The information comes from the same sealed court documents referenced in the Wall Street Journal editorial board piece published Tuesday. Sources have shared with Wisconsin Watchdog the...

Part 274 of 272 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Watchdog MADISON, Wis. – As Kevin Kennedy goes about trying to save his job and his rogue state agency, the director of the state Government Accountability Board is twisting, if not torturing, some facts. In his supplemental testimony on the agency released this week, Kennedy takes issue with state Sen. Leah Vukmir’s question on the GAB’s early involvement in a political John Doe probe into 29 conservative organizations and the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker. The Supreme Court in July ruled the investigation unconstitutional and...

Part 273 of 271 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Watchdog MADISON, Wis. – While Senate Republican leadership attempts to woo a few members cool to a key provision in a Government Accountability Board overhaul bill, a vocal target of the GAB’s secret probe is using his constitutional rights to target lawmakers holding up reform. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, tells Wisconsin Watchdog that the bill will be taken up, although likely not until next week. The proposal, which passed last week in the Assembly along party lines, could be...

Part 263 of 262 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War MADISON, Wisconsin — The public will have to wait for trial to see the brunt of “hot documents” attorneys have said will be “very embarrassing” to the state Government Accountability Board. On Thursday, Waukesha County Judge Lee Dreyfus Jr. opted against lifting the protective order on 181 pages of records from a lawsuit alleging the GAB overstepped its authority at taxpayer expense in driving a politically charged John Doe investigation into dozens of conservative groups and the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker. Dreyfus said the documents would probably come out...

MADISON, Wis. – Targets of Wisconsin’s political John Doe investigations will share their stories of government-stifled speech on an upcoming Fox News special. “Censored in America,” as reported by John Stossel, airs at 7 p.m. Central Time Saturday. “America is the first country to say to its people: all of you have a right to speak. But today speech is under siege,” Stossel writes in a blog promoting the special. In it, he tells the stories of several people who have lost that right to speak, suffering varying consequences for doing so. Stossel includes the story of John Doe targets...

WAUKESHA, Wis. – It’s a battle for public disclosure, and the state Government Accountability Board is fighting to keep thousands of documents related to its role in the political John Doe investigation in the dark. Attorneys for conservative plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the GAB on Wednesday argued for their motion to open the records to public inspection. Their motion asks Waukesha County Judge Lee Dreyfus Jr. to lift a protective order that keeps the information under seal. “This is a matter of great importance about government misconduct,” said Eddie Greim, an attorney for long-time political activist Eric O’Keefe and...

MADISON, Wis. – So how much has it cost Wisconsin taxpayers to defend the rogue prosecutors of a political investigation that has been ordered shut down by the state Supreme Court? More than $1.1 million and counting – $1,189,199.70 to be precise, according to information obtained by Wisconsin Watchdog through a records request. The records were provided by the state Department of Administration. And the bill continues to grow. Taxpayers spent $407,558.25 to defend special prosecutor Francis Schmitz in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by targets of the lengthy John Doe investigation into 29 conservative organizations and the campaign...

MADISON, Wisconsin — This is what an abusive, politically motivated investigation looks like: The sun had yet to rise when deputies pounded on the door of Deborah Jordahl’s home in a quiet suburb of Madison. They had a warrant, and they were coming in. Armed law enforcement officers, led by Milwaukee County District Attorney investigator Anna Linden, proceeded to root through the home. They hauled out computers, smartphones, paper records and an array of “evidence” that had nothing to do with the investigation, private possessions that weren’t listed on the sweeping warrants. Through it all, Jordahl, her husband, and her...

Madison — A federal judge kept alive a lawsuit Tuesday attempting to throw out a long-running secret investigation of fundraising and spending by conservative groups during Wisconsin's recent recall elections. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and others have been looking into whether the Wisconsin Club for Growth or others illegally coordinated with any candidates during the recalls. In the most prominent race, Gov. Scott Walker in June 2012 became the first governor in the country's history to survive a recall election. The Club for Growth and one of its directors, Eric O'Keefe, in February sued prosecutors, investigators and the...

MADISON, Wis. – Political activist Eric O’Keefe told the Wall Street Journal he’d been subpoenaed in a Democrat-led John Doe investigation of Wisconsin conservatives. That simple act of speech could land O’Keefe, director of conservative advocacy group Wisconsin Club for Growth, in jail. Under Wisconsin law, individuals who violate the state’s John Doe secrecy oath may be held in contempt of court. A legal expert familiar with the investigation says chances are good Bruce Landgraf, the Milwaukee County assistant district attorney who launched the investigation, will go after O’Keefe. “(The prosecutor) wants to conduct his program without any interference. I...