Topic: Welcome to the terror of Wisconsin’s “John Doe” raids... (Read 866 times)
John Doe targets in Wisconsin can finally tell their stories
Now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has forcefully terminated the John Doe investigations in Wisconsin, the targets of those probes can now speak openly of their experiences at the hands of politically motivated prosecutors. Some of those experiences began leaking out a few months ago, courtesy of David French and his mainly unnamed victims of the Government Accountability Board’s jeremiad against Scott Walker supporters. The court decision offers a few more description of the nighttime and dawn raids on homes and the prosecutors’ abuse of the rights of those targets, but now with the case at an end, the victims can finally speak openly to what happened.
The WSJ’s Collin Levy interviews Eric O’Keefe, the Wisconsin Club for Growth official who found himself at the center of an attack that he couldn’t have dreamed possible in his state — or in America:
John Doe Judge Neal Nettesheim compelled Mr. Johnson’s attorney to disclose what emails they had reviewed together and told him that attorney-client privilege didn’t apply. “When we sat down for our interview, I was told my attorney couldn’t speak, couldn’t object. I was asked how does my business operate, who are my contacts, how do I make money, what are my percentages, who are my clients? If I didn’t answer I would be in contempt.”
At the end of that conversation, Milwaukee Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgrafasked a question, Mr. Johnson recalls: “ ‘Is there any reason at the end of the campaign you deleted all of your emails?’ So I knew then I had been tracked all the way through, that they had been reading my emails. . . . They knew what they were looking for all along, but I didn’t know anything again until they showed up at my door.”
Once news of the subpoenas was leaked to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a favorite venue for prosecutors, his business was in the cross hairs. While many of his longtime contacts were supportive, Mr. Johnson says, some business calls went unreturned, and he had to pass up an opportunity in another state because he could have been a liability for the clients. “Even if they hadn’t heard about the Doe” investigation, he says, “it would have been unethical for me to bring them in blind. So I had to turn down business on that account.”
At least O’Keefe knew his home had been raided. His business partner tells Levy that prosecutors took business records without notifying either of them, and still have not accounted for what was seized:
His business partner, Deborah Jordahl, says that while her own home was being searched and her children were roused in the dark by law enforcement, prosecutors were searching her office without her knowledge. “Earlier this year I learned . . . David Budde,the lead investigator for Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, was searching our office in Madison. My partner and I were never notified of the search of our office,” Ms. Jordahl says, “and the prosecutors never provided us with a copy of the warrant or an inventory of what was taken.” (Mr. Budde did not respond to a request for comment.)
The raid on O’Keefe’s home took place while his 16-year-old son was home alone. Law enforcement told the minor that he could not call his parents during the raid — or a lawyer:
Mr. Johnson was on a plane when the raids happened, and his 16-year-old son woke up at home to find six law-enforcement agents with guns and a warrant. “He was told he couldn’t move, that he couldn’t call a lawyer, that he couldn’t call his parents. He was a minor and he was isolated by law enforcement,” Mr. Johnson says.
Thanks to David French, the rough outlines of the abuses suffered by politically active conservatives in Wisconsin have already been known, but are still shocking to the conscience. What possible rational reason would a state government have to conduct raids on residences in the middle of the night to seize records, while denying these citizens — and especially a minor — resort to legal counsel and the consultation of his parents? The GAB in Wisconsin, the prosecutors, and the judges involved perpetrated an abuse that one normally sees in banana republics rather than an American community.
Let’s keep telling these stories, and make it clear that we will not tolerate this kind of oppression and abuse of power in the future.
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/07/23/john-doe-targets-in-wisconsin-can-finally-tell-their-stories/
Scott Walker is a crook, everyone in Wisconsin knows that. lol
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
Are you sadden by this outcome?
Comments of RodeoX which are ACTUALLY RELATED to the "criminal investigations" are bolded.
Hmm....
Rodeox, could it be that your attitude is or was pretty much the same as the "investigators?"
That would explain how they rationalized their behavior. Doesn't make it right, just thinking about it...
Some bullshits. It's time corrupt government, cops, and anyone who supports them need to be shot dead.
Why should YOU care? Isn't this the perfect example why you hate the US and capitalism so much?
Some bullshits. It's time corrupt government, cops, and anyone who supports them need to be shot dead.
....But I doubt that walker (X) is innocent......
What if the same tactics were directed at you, since you worked for (Y)...
....next year?
Oh, wait. You don't have to worry about that, because Republicans won't do that sort of despicable thing.
Yeah, really.
Scott Walker is a crook, everyone in Wisconsin knows that. lol
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
Are you sadden by this outcome?
OK. As long as hating walker, or trump, or jeb, or the ruling elite for personal political conviction does not preclude you from agreeing that what was happening there was a total abuse of power on innocent people...
But I doubt that walker is innocent. There are other skeletons in his closet and I think we are going to hear a lot more about that in the coming year. Just a week ago he tried adding an amendment to the budget that would change Wisconsin's open records law. It would legally keep anyone from knowing who writes and introduces laws. You do not have to be Sherlock Holmes to know that means someone is trying to hide something from you.
None of his cronies knew who introduced this at the very last min. That is what they all said and had it passed it would be illegal to find out. When the amendment was met with outright hostility from both parties and was dropped, we found out it was the same guys who didn't know who did it. Typical lying B.S.
Scott Walker is a crook, everyone in Wisconsin knows that. lol
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
Are you sadden by this outcome?
OK. As long as hating walker, or trump, or jeb, or the ruling elite for personal political conviction does not preclude you from agreeing that what was happening there was a total abuse of power on innocent people...
Scott Walker is a crook, everyone in Wisconsin knows that. lol
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
Are you sadden by this outcome?
Scott Walker is a crook, everyone in Wisconsin knows that. lol
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
Are you sadden by this outcome?
Scott Walker is a crook, everyone in Wisconsin knows that. lol
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
He had a private network set up in the office so he could allow government workers to work on his election at taxpayer expense. That dropout isn't qualified to be assistant dog catcher much less president. Although we all have popcorn ready to watch him implode as the hard questions start. It's going to be comedy gold.
Wisconsin Supreme Court: the partisan John Doe investigation was unsupported in reason or law
The long unraveling of the so-called “John Doe II investigation” convened by partisan district attorneys in Wisconsin is now complete. This case was about using vague campaign-finance rules to intimidate conservative groups and smear Republican officials, including Gov. Scott Walker. No charges were filed in the John Doe II investigation and it was halted by both the state and federal courts.
Today, the Wisconsin Supreme Court releases its final disposition in the case:
To be clear, this conclusion ends the John Doe investigation because the special prosecutor’s legal theory is unsupported in either reason or law. Consequently, the investigation is closed. Consistent with our decision and the order entered by Reserve Judge Peterson, we order that the special prosecutor and the district attorneys involved in this investigation must cease all activities related to the investigation, return all property seized in the investigation from any individual or organization, and permanently destroy all copies of information and other materials obtained through the investigation. All Unnamed Movants are relieved of any duty to cooperate further with the investigation.
The theory of the prosecutor’s case was that conservative groups had illegally coordinated with candidates for office by means of issue advocacy. Applying well-settled principles of election law, the Wisconsin high court holds that this goes too far because “[d]iscussion of issues cannot be suppressed simply because the issues may also be pertinent in an election.” The courts have long treated express advocacy—that is, speech directly supporting a candidate for election—as wholly separate from issue advocacy—that is, speech about political issues. The court explains that, insofar as the Wisconsin statute purports to regulate issue advocacy the way that it does express advocacy, it is overbroad and vague under both the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Wisconsin’s own Article 1, Section 3.
The court did not spare the feelings of the special prosecutor. As my pal @Popehat noted, “unsupported in reason” is a particularly harsh thing to say. The court did not stop there:
The special prosecutor has disregarded the vital principle that in our nation and our state political speech is a fundamental right and is afforded the highest level of protection. The special prosecutor’s theories, rather than “assur[ing] [the] unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about of political and social changes desired by the people,” Roth, 354 U.S. at 484, instead would assure that such political speech will be investigated with paramilitary-style home invasions conducted in the pre-dawn hours and then prosecuted and punished. In short, the special prosecutor completely ignores the command that, when seeking to regulate issue advocacy groups, such regulation must be done with “narrow specificity.” Barland II, 751 F.3d at 811 (quotations omitted).
The Court’s conclusion lauds the targeted individuals and groups for fighting back against the investigation:
Our lengthy discussion of these three cases can be distilled into a few simple, but important, points. It is utterly clear that the special prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist in order to investigate citizens who were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing. In other words, the special prosecutor was the instigator of a “perfect storm” of wrongs that was visited upon the innocent Unnamed Movants and those who dared to associate with them. It is fortunate, indeed, for every other citizen of this great State who is interested in the protection of fundamental liberties that the special prosecutor chose as his targets innocent citizens who had both the will and the means to fight the unlimited resources of an unjust prosecution. Further, these brave individuals played a crucial role in presenting this court with an opportunity to re-endorse its commitment to upholding the fundamental right of each and every citizen to engage in lawful political activity and to do so free from the fear of the tyrannical retribution of arbitrary or capricious governmental prosecution. Let one point be clear: our conclusion today ends this unconstitutional John Doe investigation.
This is extraordinarily firm language about the disposition of these cases. Moreover, the Wisconsin court’s use of the state’s constitution to invalidate the investigation forecloses additional appeal to the federal courts for the partisan district attorneys, despite what they may be claiming. The Wisconsin Supreme Court gets the last say on what the state’s constitution requires. They did so here, making federal intervention moot.
This decision does not punish the instigators of the John Doe II investigation, beyond tanking their reputations for pursuing what a concurring justice calls “a fishing expedition into the lives, work, and thoughts of countless citizens.” A federal civil rights lawsuit was shut down by the 7th Circuit last year on the grounds that it was premature to involve the federal courts before the state courts had a chance to resolve the claims. That lawsuit, or one like it, may be revived. A state action for civil damages is also a possibility.
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/07/16/wisconsin-supreme-court-the-partisan-john-doe-investigation-was-unsupported-in-reason-or-law/
.....
This was the on-the-ground reality of the so-called John Doe investigations, expansive and secret criminal proceedings that directly targeted Wisconsin residents because of their relationship to Scott Walker, their support for Act 10, and their advocacy of conservative reform.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417155/wisconsins-shame-i-thought-it-was-home-invasion-david-french
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Progressives hate cops... Until they can use them as the thought police against their (peaceful!) conservative opponents...
Sad, but not surprising...
What, exactly is your problem?This was the on-the-ground reality of the so-called John Doe investigations, expansive and secret criminal proceedings that directly targeted Wisconsin residents because of their relationship to Scott Walker, their support for Act 10, and their advocacy of conservative reform.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417155/wisconsins-shame-i-thought-it-was-home-invasion-david-french
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Progressives hate cops... Until they can use them as the thought police against their (peaceful!) conservative opponents...
Sad, but not surprising...
Obama promised hope and change.
Here it is.
The "allowed abuse" is the redaction of individual rights, which is specifically what the Justice Department has done in anything anti-Obama or anti-Obama's policies. Given that blatant and openly expressed attitude, what else would one expect?
This kind of approach was an everyday practice in the communist block during the 50's 60's. Welcome to our world guys .
.nope remember in ussr it was pro... in America it's banana republic style... very low class, low skill, low everything you want, but top in corruption.
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=JN.0P302ppc86C4iiWz5TtWGw&pid=15.1&H=134&W=160
resumed in a single picture.
This kind of approach was an everyday practice in the communist block during the 50's 60's. Welcome to our world guys .
. 
Holy crap, I consider myself more informed than most but this is the first I've heard of this. This political hunting has to stop and those responsible (rogue prosecutor or whomever) need to face significant prison terms and have their finances wiped out. Furthermore, I think they need to get their asses kicked in a public square. Scott Walker should be getting the state police to arrest those involved in this matter.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
easy to understand why the un chartrist hate the real usa...
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417155/wisconsins-shame-i-thought-it-was-home-invasion-david-french
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Progressives hate cops... Until they can use them as the thought police against their (peaceful!) conservative opponents...
Sad, but not surprising...
How the war on terror morphed from a far outpost thing to a very domestic one is very interesting... those locals will not be able to defeat the us forces once jade helm is in place... who did serve for that to happen at home, isn't it tragic to have to use the vocal of home front and co facing such oppressive people... the war on terror 2.0 the empire returns... remember it ain't cop but d.e. costumed... to use a famous analogy of the old past red coats... but this time they are blue coats, but they are the same, they don't want to be free. Anyway... those guys don't realize how taged they have been... stupidity has disadvantage that's for sure.
the longest part was the planning to be able to execute a smooth cleansing without destabilizing the nations to much... I hope it will be a work of art, lot of military fame to be gain for such an operations... it's the fuck the nation after all... must clean, professional and fast. enjoy... (you can even eat local, perfect bf, but it will be more like super scaled police work, may have some pokets of deep resistance (specially around the girls hide outs) but most are old and fat so... yep... maybe some private security guards will try to do some show... but unless they are crazy overwhelming total full capability on the home soil, will be more than enough to assure a perfect clean board a the end. after better to mass grave the enemies than to assist to one funeral of fall one in duty (specially actually as it's only troll, and only possible in Sino-Russian World).
sorry. would have been cool... but too coward, too politically correct.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
[...]
She got the dogs safely out of the house, just as multiple armed agents rushed inside. Some even barged into the bathroom, where her partner was in the shower. The officer or agent in charge demanded that Cindy sit on the couch, but she wanted to get up and get a cup of coffee.
“I told him this was my house and I could do what I wanted.” Wrong thing to say. “This made the agent in charge furious. He towered over me with his finger in my face and yelled like a drill sergeant that I either do it his way or he would handcuff me.”
They wouldn’t let her speak to a lawyer. She looked outside and saw a person who appeared to be a reporter. Someone had tipped him off.
[...]
The John Doe investigations are a form of domestic lawfare, and our constitutional system is ill equipped to handle it. Federal courts rarely intervene in state judicial proceedings, state officials rarely lose their array of official immunities for the consequences of their misconduct, and violations of First Amendment freedoms rarely result in meaningful monetary damages for the victims. …
Yes, Wisconsin, the cradle of the progressive movement and home of the “Wisconsin idea” — the marriage of state governments and state universities to govern through technocratic reform — was giving birth to a new progressive idea, the use of law enforcement as a political instrument, as a weapon to attempt to undo election results, shame opponents, and ruin lives.
Most Americans have never heard of these raids, or of the lengthy criminal investigations of Wisconsin conservatives. For good reason. Bound by comprehensive secrecy orders, conservatives were left to suffer in silence as leaks ruined their reputations, as neighbors, looking through windows and dismayed at the massive police presence, the lights shining down on targets’ homes, wondered, no doubt, What on earth did that family do?
This was the on-the-ground reality of the so-called John Doe investigations, expansive and secret criminal proceedings that directly targeted Wisconsin residents because of their relationship to Scott Walker, their support for Act 10, and their advocacy of conservative reform.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417155/wisconsins-shame-i-thought-it-was-home-invasion-david-french
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Progressives hate cops... Until they can use them as the thought police against their (peaceful!) conservative opponents...
Sad, but not surprising...
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