Political Bombshell in Wisconsin: Governor Scott Walker at Center of "Criminal Scheme"

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Thursday - June 19, 2014

Political Bombshell in Wisconsin:
Governor Scott Walker at Center of "Criminal Scheme"

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago ordered the release of numerous documents pertaining to an ongoing criminal investigation of possible illegal coordination or collusion between Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's campaign and outside special interest groups supporting Walker and/or attacking Democrats during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections in Wisconsin.

This secret "John Doe" investigation commenced two years ago, following Walker's victory in the June, 2012 recall election, and was undertaken by three Democratic district attorneys, two Republican district attorneys, and a Republican Special Prosecutor who said that he had voted for Walker in the recall election.

This is not a partisan "witch hunt" – as supporters of Walker and Wisconsin Club for Growth (which spent more than $9 million in support of Walker and Republicans in 2012) have misleadingly charged.

Included in the documents today was a 2012 email from Scott Walker himself to Karl Rove, the former top political adviser to President George W. Bush in which he tells Rove how one of Walker's former top political deputies, R.J. Johnson, was now an adviser to Wisconsin Club for Growth and that he would lead the coordination campaign of outside groups with Walker and other Republican campaigns.

In Wisconsin, such coordination is illegal – even if it does not involve express advocacy and only issue advocacy – because such coordination constitutes a political contribution to a candidate. This has been state law for many years and it is the issue at the heart of the investigation.

Today's revelations are the first that directly implicate Governor Walker and the Walker campaign. For more details go here.

Common Cause in Wisconsin has called for the investigation to continue and has been critical of repeated partisan attempts to undermine and block it.

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CONTACT:

Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)



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