December 24, 2015

Prosecutors Set to Appeal Scott Walker "John Doe" Case to U.S. Supreme Court

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/12/13006/JohnDoe_SupremeCourt_Walker
"In July, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a decision rewriting the state's limits on money in politics and ending the "John Doe" investigation into Walker's campaign coordinating with dark money groups. Yet some justices faced serious conflicts-of-interest in the case, since the same groups that coordinated with Walker's campaign were among the majority's biggest financial supporters, spending $10 million to elect the court's majority. Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the justices likely should not have heard the case at all. The Special Prosecutor leading the probe, Francis Schmitz, asked two justices to recuse but they refused to do so. Schmitz vowed to appeal, yet earlier this month the Court took the extraordinary step of firing him, rescinding his appointment as Special Prosecutor and hindering any potential appeal. "My career in the military and as a federal prosecutor fighting violent criminals and terrorists did not fully prepare me for the tactics employed by these special interest groups," Schmitz said in a statement. That might have been the end of the story. But Friday's motion suggests that Walker and his allies haven't beaten back the John Doe just yet."