Free Republic

It turns out that the vast left-wing conspiracy isn’t all that vast. From the Wall Street Journal: Wisconsin’s campaign to investigate conservative tax-exempt groups has always seemed like an echo of the IRS’s scrutiny of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. It turns out that may be more than a coincidence. Former IRS tax-exempt director Lois Lerner ran the agency’s policy on conservative groups. Kevin Kennedy runs the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) that helped prosecutors with their secret John Doe investigation of conservative groups after the 2011 and 2012 recall elections of Governor Scott Walker and state senators. Emails...

Madison— Key Assembly Republicans renewed their call Friday for overhauling the state's elections and ethics board after The Wall Street Journal reported the agency had been in touch with the Internal Revenue Service as it investigated conservative groups. "Nothing should be more important than free speech and it's outrageous that there's a coordinated effort to undermine this basic constitutional right," said a joint statement issued by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Rep. Dean Knudson (R-Hudson). "Now that the state budget is complete, it's time to double down on finalizing the necessary reforms for the (Government Accountability Board) so the...

Takata, already at the center of the largest and most complex auto recall in history, says many of the cars already repaired will have to have a second airbag replacement. In prepared testimony for a Congressional hearing later Tuesday, a Takata executive says many of the cars repaired so far have an inflator, known as a "batwing" inflator, that is now believed to be tied to the exploding airbags. The batwing inflators have been found in cars that had exploding driver-side airbags tied to most of the dozens of serious injuries and all six deaths that have prompted the massive...

MADISON, Wis. — Could it be a case of John Doe collateral damage? At least one target of Wisconsin’s politically charged John Doe investigation — whose home was raided and whose personal information was seized — tells Wisconsin Reporter they’re a victim of identity theft. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe comes with a strict gag order. Targets who speak publicly about the John Doe could go to jail. Wisconsin Reporter obtained a copy of an Internal Revenue Service letter alerting the subject to the identify theft problem. The letter, titled, “Identity Verification Service,” advises that...

MADISON – During a luncheon yesterday in Madison, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester, 53rd District) said that Government Accountability Board Director Kevin Kennedy should go. Speaker Vos made the comment during a lunch-time speaking engagement with Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha, 64th District). The comments made by the Assembly Speaker came after he responded to a question from Jeff Mayers of WisPolitics.com regarding campaign finance laws. Vos said that the GAB will not exist in its current format two years from now. “I promise you that two years from now the GAB will not be in the current format....

MADISON, Wis. — One year ago, about an hour before dawn, police surrounded the homes of several Wisconsin conservatives and then hit them with floodlights. Police didn’t draw their guns. They didn’t have to. Garish light blinded the groggy targets of the secret probe, startling neighbors. The uniforms, the lights, the early hour got everybody’s attention. One of the targets says police threatened to use battering rams to break down the front door, but the targets let them in. Armed with warrants approved at the request of prosecutors, investigators searched the homes for evidence of a political crime. The fact...

MADISON, Wis. — On the eve of the one-year anniversary of sweeping raids in Wisconsin’s politically charged John Doe investigation into conservative activists, Eric O’Keefe, one of the targets of that probe, is going public in a big way. Speaking at length for the first time O’Keefe, a director of the conservative Wisconsin Club for Growth, tells Wisconsin Reporter he was shocked by the prosecutors’ tactics: predawn, paramilitary-style raids on the homes of conservatives, and the confiscation of their papers and electronic equipment. “We ran a meticulous political operation; not only did we comply with Wisconsin’s laws — we were...

MADISON – The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) reaffirmed their approval of voting technology from their August meeting. During Tuesday’s meeting, the GAB upheld their requirement that all election systems be hardened, or solely designated for voting and tabulation. Brown County Clerk Sandy Juno requested to allow counties to use existing equipment. She cited budget concerns over purchasing equipment solely for the purpose of election day practices saying such equipment purchases would cost her county a minimum of $15,000. Because Brown County’s voting equipment creates a paper trail, Juno believes that there is enough ability to verify the accuracy of...

Madison - The state’s top election official said Tuesday he told the state Department of Justice he did not want to immediately appeal two decisions blocking the state’s new law requiring photo IDs at the polls because voters should have plenty of advance knowledge of what rules will be in place for the April 3 election. Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen did not heed that request and on Thursday appealed both decisions. “We advised the attorney general’s office that it would be better if nothing changed before April 3,” said Kevin Kennedy, director of the state Government Accountability Board....

MADISON — The state’s elections watchdog Tuesday announced it would release all 153,335 pages of recall petitions online, 24 hours after pausing to consider the impact of posting personal information about domestic violence victims. The decision comes after victims’ advocates and the state’s attorney general weighed in on the question. ‘Balancing test’ Following an analysis, the Government Accountability Board [1], or GAB, determined the petitions will be released, in accordance with Wisconsin law, as well as a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, “Doe v. Reed [2],” which involved the release of referendum petition in Washington state. “Unlike an elector’s vote,...