Wisconsin John Doe Probes Seek If and by Whom Crimes Are Commited

The John Doe probe shows Scott Walker is at the center of a criminal scheme to funnel $10s of millions into the recall elections of 2011-12, so are GOP operatives,  R.J. Johnson and Deborah Jordahl.

This does not make them guilty of crimes, John Does are not mini-trials.

This does not make them "targets." John Does are not grand juries and do not designate targets as federal grand juries do (and as some other states' counties do).

It makes them subjects in an investigation that has Wisconsin Republicans and their paymasters across the country scared as rabbits.

This week John Doe special prosecutor Francis Schmitz' attorney, Randall Crocker released a statement: "While these (released) documents outlined the prosecutor's legal theory, they did not establish the existence of a crime; rather, they were arguments in support of further investigation to determine if criminal charges against any person or entity are warranted. Mr. Schmitz has made no conclusions as to whether there is sufficient evidence to charge anyone with a crime. It is wrong for any person to point to this sentence in a legal argument as a finding by the special prosecutor that Governor Walker has engaged in a criminal scheme. It is not such a finding." (Stein, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

At the least the released documents demonstrate that the accumulated evidence exceeds the reasonable suspicion standard for the John Doe probe to proceed. Most jurists (the non-Federalist Society kind) would see the evidence exceeds a higher standard, probable cause, for further investigation.

As for the public relations lines, Prosecutor: Scott Walker is not a target, as the Wisconsin State Journal's hard copy edition blares this morning. No kidding.

Neither are Bambi, Guy Fawkes or Mickey Mantle.

You become are "target" when you are charged with a crime, and the investigation is not completed, halted and awaiting a ruling from the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit before it can proceed.

The State Journal headline this morning, Prosecutor: Scott Walker not a target, is intentionally misleading, likely written by a pro-Walker copy editor or other staffer with pro-Walker leanings.

The John Doe investigation is not completed; stopped by the ethically challenged Judge Rudolph Randa with a bizarre opinion that should become the subject of ridicule from the panel of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Randa's opinion doesn't end the John Doe probe, as White Wisconsin asserts. White Wisconsin apparently forgot about the federal appellate court circuit, deliberating the appeal.

As for when someone should be charged under a John Doe probe, and by what standard of evidence: Probable cause or guilt beyond on a reasonable doubt, If you can get a straight answer on background from a knowledgeable jurist, good luck.

No one appears to know.

In the meantime, treat words from Scott Walker and his mouthpieces with a heavy does of salt: Scott Walker has no credibility and a well-documented history of lying to the people of Wisconsin.

This we know beyond a reasonable doubt.

Wisconsin Democrats, Don't Let This One Slip Away

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Mike Tate, Scott Walker's
Most Important Ally Besides the Koch Brothers.
Image: Wisconsin Public Television

Update: Someone got to Mike Tate and in the colorful lexicon of politics suggested he is not proceeding correctly. See Democrats go after Walker on John Doe allegations (Craver, The Capital Times), green-lighting the release of a video and press release two days after Tate told Wisconsin reporters that blasting Scott Walker's criminal corruption and Walker's failure on jobs is too complicated for Tate to communicate clearly.

If Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair, Mike Tate, Were Coach of the Packers, He Would Find a Way to Screw-up a Game against a Junior-High School Team That Doesn't Have the Plays Down Yet. He Should Resign and Here's Why

What's the Matter with Kansas? (Thomas Frank, Holt Paperbacks, 2005), Thomas Frank famously asked, eyeing the authoritarian and statist political leanings of working-class Kansans who vote with elitist, big-moneyed interests and religious extremists.

Prairie populism is gone from Kansas, and 700 miles to the northeast in Wisconsin, the Badger state is headed the same way under the direction of the bureaucratic groupthink and grab-a-paycheck electoral strategy encouraged by Mike Tate, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, supposed opposition party to Scott Walker, the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the Koch brothers.

Facing Scott Walker and an enemy so rich in political targets, a given opposition political party could metaphorically grab a pistol, close its eyes, fire and hit dead-center, Tate and the Dems keep missing the mark.

Mike Tate and the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor, Mary Burke, have made a strategic calculation to ignore the dirtiest and most spectacular political scandal in state history: John Doe II, right as the story was beginning to penetrate the casual voter in central and northern Wisconsin.

It would distract from jobs and the economy, Mike Tate explains.

"We had volunteers that knocked on over 3,000 doors this past weekend to talk about Mary Burke and Democratic candidates," said Tate. "What we heard at the doors wasn't whether the governor was at the center of criminal scheme. What we heard was that they wanted Wisconsin to get back to work" (Halstad, WPR).

No shit, you better focus on jobs and corruption and the environment and public schools.

Tate and the Democratic Party communications team are as effective as a 1970s television receiving signals through its rabbit-ear antennae.

This does contrast with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin's web site of course where a fund-raising page presently reads, "Wisconsinites are tired of Scott Walker’s legal troubles, controversial proposals and absence from the Governor’s office as he ramps up his Presidential run," but put that aside.

This is the massive Republican implosion, with more to come, that Wisconsin's non-Scott Walker candidate needs.

Tate decided to do "a conference call with reporters" this week and let it be known that the most effective way to hype Walker's terrible record on jobs is to minimize Scott Walker's criminal corruption (Stein, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

Where does the Democratic Party of Wisconsin draw up this strategy?

John Doe coverage is filtered through the Gannett Co. and local broadcast media; most people don't read the news often anyway, but Scott Walker being at the center of a nationwide criminal scandal is a sexy story with legs that reinforces what most people already believe about Scott Walker: He's a crook.

Watergate was awful, but it was also a spectacular news story that took down a president, and brought in a new age of crusading journalism. [If anyone wants a quick history, I recommend Jimmy Breslin's How the Good Guys Finally Won: Notes from an Impeachment Summer.]

A candidate today has to sell the story (one would hope with the help of a political party), expand the narrative of criminal corruption to jobs, water, erosion of public education and giving away and destroying what took generations of Wisconsin families to build.

A couple of questions for Mike Tate?

Do you think Scott Walker's corruption and extremism have caused a net loss of jobs? (Hint, think rejection of $800,000,000 (that's $800 million, lots of zeroes) in federal funds to build labor-intensive railroad infrastructure.)

Do you think the message that 'Scott Walker is not for you, Walker sold out family-supporting jobs to special interests and out-of-state billionaires' has political appeal? (Hint, think single-mother families, rejection of $4.4 billion in federal Medicaid money through 2020 (Bauer, AP), and the underemployed.)

In the 2011-12 recall elections, Scott Walker benefited from the air-dominance of TV spots resulting from the temporary no-contribution-limit-for-recalled-candidates election rule allowing no caps on individual donations, resulting in Scott Walker receiving numerous six-figure individual contributions mostly from out-of-state interests.

Scot Ross, Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now, said in August 2012, "Scott Walker bought the (June 2012 Recall) election with a waterfall of money no other candidate could legally raise."

Turns out Walker did not legally raise the money; he purposely and with malice of forethought broke Wisconsin election laws to win and screw the people of Wisconsin.

"Walker and his allies were able to stay on television non-stop across Wisconsin from late October 2011 until Election Day in June (2012) nearly 225 straight days," notes Ross.

To no one's surprise it turns out the numerous "issue advocacy" groups working for the election of Scott Walker were coordinating with Scott Walker, in apparent violation of Wisconsin campaign finance law, explaining why Walker and other big-moneyed interests do not want law enforcement looking anywhere near Walker's communications to Karl Rove and other Republican operators and big-money donors.

So, John Doe investigators have come upon a nationwide criminal scheme of corruption and a network of dark money centering on Scott Walker and the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

The new and innovative response of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and its chair, Mike Tate: Look away, nothing to see here.

Several excellent candidates and officeholders have won here in Wisconsin, mostly by ignoring Mike Tate and running progressive campaigns accurately painting a compelling picture of out-of-touch Republicans selling out the Wisconsin people.

As for Mike Tate, I do have constructive suggestions: How about you take your undisclosed salary and contribute it to the political citizens groups, Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors, Green Bay Progressive and Citizens Concerned about the Proposed Penokee Hills Mine. (Facebook, open site)

Then resign gracefully.

Scott Walker Alleges Corruption of Five Wisconsin DAs, Takes John Doe to New Level

Scott Walker Runs to Fox and Friends
Host, Steve Doocy for PR Help
Last Week after Documents Reveal
DAs Believe Walker Is Part
of Criminal Schtheeme

Updated - Neo Confederates follows Walker's lead. From James Varney, New Orleans Times-Picayune (NOLA.com): "Unscrupulous Democratic operatives there (in Wisconsin) are doing everything they can to bury a successful GOP executive.
What is particularly scary about Wisconsin, and what should give Americans of all stripes pause, is that the operatives there are prosecutors. Under a 'John Doe' banner - a distinctly Bolshevik sort of tool that should be illegal in the United States - prosecutors have launched a witch-hunt against Walker and some of his conservative supporters."

See also Scott Walker Says the Dark Money Probe Is 'Over,' but He's Wrong (Fischer, PRWatch).

See also Scott Walker's Non-Denial Denial of John Doe Criminality
---
Scott Walker's explanation made in response to the blockbuster report of allegations of a wide-ranging criminal scheme made by five Wisconsin district attorneys is that these five law enforcement Constitutional Officers (and special prosecutor Francis Schmitz) are corrupted by the political motivations of "big-government special interests;" and are corrupt allies who deny the John Doe probe they are conducting is "over;" "is a case that has been resolved;" and that "there is no argument" on the legal disposition of the John Doe litigation.

That the five Wisconsin District Attorneys continue to litigate on appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is attributed by Walker as an attempt to impugn the reputation of Walker by the five district attorneys, to "trash" Walker to use the word of a Fox and Friends host with whom Scott Walker enthusiastically agreed.

It's a good thing for Walker, the appellate justices do not consider news reports in ruling on the merits of John Doe litigation, instead rightfully consigning themselves to the arguments in legal briefs and oral arguments.

The five district attorneys (plus special prosecutor Francis Schmitz) are:

• Milwaukee County DA John T.Chisholm
• Dane County DA Ismael R. Ozanne
• Iowa County DA Larry E. Nelson
• Dodge County DA Kurt F. Klomberg
• Columbia County DA Jane E. Kohlwey

Fox and Friends Host, Steve Doocy [video is linked at left] put it to Walker: "It looks like they're just trying to trash you."

Unsealed Court Order and Exhibits from John Doe Probe

Walker agreed with Fox's Doocy, saying in response, "I think there's no doubt. This is one of those where the media jumps on this; some on the left spin this; you get our detractors out there trying to claim there's something more than there is. ... This is a prime example of what happens when you take on the big-government special interests. They're looking for ways to come at us. They'll continue to do it. They did it, you know, two years ago in the recall election. They're going to do it again now; we got another tough election this Fall. And so, they're going to come at it with just about everything out there."

As noted here yesterday, this alternative reality of the legal situation is too much for the editorial page of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel which blasted Walker in substance and blistering tone not seen yet in commentary in the daily newspaper that has broken most of the reporting on the John Doe investigation.

Reads the editorial in part:

It's over, Gov. Scott Walker is arguing: The John Doe case looking into whether his campaign illegally coordinated with supposedly independent groups is done. Kaput. Finished.

Well, sorry, governor, but that simply isn't true.

Yes, the investigation into the conduct of the campaign and outside groups during the 2012 recalls was halted by federal Judge Rudolph Randa in May when the judge ruled that the secret investigation violated the free speech rights of its targets. Randa's decision is now before a federal appeals court, and just like the recent federal court decision ending Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage, this case will continue until all appeals are exhausted.

That could be a while, which means that this story is far from over. Nor should it be.

We think Randa should have not shut down a duly commissioned state investigation into the campaigns. The prosecutors, with affinities for both parties, were simply doing their jobs: State law limits what outside groups such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth can do. Such groups are supposed to remain independent of campaigns; they cannot strategize with candidates.

Randa's decision was stunning for its overreach. He ordered the investigation shut down and found that only "express advocacy" — that is, explicitly urging people to vote for or against a candidate — was subject to state limits and control.

But coordination between campaigns and outside groups has long been illegal in Wisconsin for good reason. It's in the state statutes and was upheld by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in a 1999 decision involving a state Supreme Court race. State election regulators later reaffirmed that a campaign cannot coordinate with an outside group, and on that basis, John Doe investigators proceeded to look into how the recall elections were conducted.

Walker's characterization of the ethics and motivation of the five District Attorneys is as ludicrous as Walker's reading of the legal disposition of the now several cases involving the investigation of Scott Walker and possible other parties at the center of the criminal scheme to funnel money into the recall races of 2011-12.

Walker also includes the media of course as in cahoots with the five District Attorneys: "Still, many in the media proceed as though the opinion of the partisan prosecutors is new information and ignore the truths I have stated .... It is not. It is old news that has already been discounted by two judges. No charges. No case," said Walker.

Walker's accusations demonstrate the callow and reckless disregard Walker has for the truth and those he defames.

Walker's message of corrupt district attorneys is dutifully picked up by the righwing press used as a lead-in for pieces about different topics, "Wisconsin doesn't have just a problem with rogue prosecutors (see the Milwaukee County DA's John Doe probe of Governor Scott Walker's allies). It also appears to have a rogue education department." (Finley, Wall Street Journal)

If the five district attorneys are engaging in partisan character assassination of Scott Walker [an unlikely possibility considering that two of the five DAs are Republicans and the fact that all have shown themselves to be ethical jurists in good standing with the State Bar of Wisconsin], Scott Walker should make a public and formal declaration of prosecutorial misconduct and proceed on this basis. Name the names and tell all of the facts.

Of course, any non-Republican can see that Walker is engaging in desperate spin and formally questioning the conduct (which would be an unjust and defamatory exercise) of the District Attorneys would likely result in making public more hard evidence and documentation of the affairs of Scott Walker while serving as Milwaukee County Executive and Governor.

This is the last thing Scott Walker wants.

Scott Walker Runs into Arms of Fox, Hoping District Attorneys Will Just Leave

Update: Striking editorial, pedagogic in tone from the GOP-leaning editorial page of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, chides Scott Walker for his spinning and fact-free legal analysis.

Erudite and subtly jabbing Walker, the title of the editorial is "Walker should be careful what he wishes for."

Reads the Sunday editorial in part:

It's over, Gov. Scott Walker is arguing: The John Doe case looking into whether his campaign illegally coordinated with supposedly independent groups is done. Kaput. Finished.

Well, sorry, governor, but that simply isn't true.

Yes, the investigation into the conduct of the campaign and outside groups during the 2012 recalls was halted by federal Judge Rudolph Randa in May when the judge ruled that the secret investigation violated the free speech rights of its targets. Randa's decision is now before a federal appeals court, and just like the recent federal court decision ending Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage, this case will continue until all appeals are exhausted.

That could be a while, which means that this story is far from over. Nor should it be.

We think Randa should have not shut down a duly commissioned state investigation into the campaigns. The prosecutors, with affinities for both parties, were simply doing their jobs: State law limits what outside groups such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth can do. Such groups are supposed to remain independent of campaigns; they cannot strategize with candidates.

Randa's decision was stunning for its overreach. He ordered the investigation shut down and found that only "express advocacy" — that is, explicitly urging people to vote for or against a candidate — was subject to state limits and control.

But coordination between campaigns and outside groups has long been illegal in Wisconsin for good reason. It's in the state statutes and was upheld by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in a 1999 decision involving a state Supreme Court race. State election regulators later reaffirmed that a campaign cannot coordinate with an outside group, and on that basis, John Doe investigators proceeded to look into how the recall elections were conducted.
---
There Can Be No Whitewash in Wisconsin. People Have to Got Know Whether or Not Their Governor Is a Crook

In October 2013 a story broke that the John Doe probe had "(spread) to five Wisconsin counties," and evidence was leading investigators to look into possible violations of state law during the 2011-12 Recall races.

The investigation was revealed to be led by Francis Schmitz, a well-known Republican jurist who was on George W. Bush's shortlist for nomination to the US Atty of the Eastern District of Wisconsin in 2001. (Bice, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, October 21, 2013)

Scott Walker had a response to the piece that he communicated before going back into hiding: "We expected that with a new Democrat candidate for governor in the race that there would be stories like this along the way," said Walker on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's October story on the John Doe investigation. (Murray. WPR)

So, the Republican-led investigation is simply a concocted story to help the expected Democratic nominee for governor (primary election is in August 2014), and stories breaking about the John Doe investigation are not true, is this what Walker was saying?

Walker wouldn't say, preferring innuendo to candor.

But Walker's quick comment-and-hide strategy made it plain Walker knew this probe was coming and where the investigation was heading.

When the blockbuster story broke on Thursday, June 19 that bipartisan Wisconsin prosecutors allege in documents that Scott Walker "was at the center of an effort to illegally coordinate fundraising among conservative groups to help his campaign and those of Republican state senators fend off recall elections during 2011 and '12," (Patrick Marley, Daniel Bice and Dave Umhoefer in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) Walker's first response was to run to Fox and Friends, and not to face the people of Wisconsin in a no-hold-barred, question-and-answer session addressing allegations of criminality of a Wisconsin governor that have no precedent in Wisconsin history.

Walker speaking in a more rapid cadence than employed in his usual evasions did not repeat the  language made public that Walker was at the center of a "criminal scheme," but pretended that the accusations from the John Doe probe did not exist and that the matter had already been "resolved."

This would come as news to the five prosecutors, the special prosecutor and the attorneys working to appeal an adverse decision in appellate court.

Walker implies these five district attorneys and the special prosecutor are just pawns of big-government special interests.

Said Walker on Fox and Friends to Co-host Steve Doocy:

"This is one of those where the media jumps on this; some on the left spin this; you get our detractors out there trying to claim there's something more than there is. ... This is a prime example of what happens when you take on the big-government special interests. They're looking for ways to come at us. They'll continue to do it. They did it, you know, two years ago in the recall election. They're going to do it again now; we got another tough election this Fall. And so, they're going to come at it with just about everything out there."

Scott Walker is alleged to have been at the center of an effort to illegally coordinate fundraising among 12 rightwing groups to help his campaign and those of Republican state senators fend off recall elections, in violation of campaign laws intended to insulate special interests and campaigns for public office.

This sounds pretty big to me.

Why doesn't Scott Walker come before a town hall-type meeting, say at Camp Randall, take questions until the audience is exhausted and clear the air?

I'm betting Walker won't.

Following is video of an excellent segment at Politics Nation, and a piece by United Wisconsin, Failing to Prosecute Illegal Coordination in John Doe Case Threatens Legitimacy of State Campaign Finance Law.

From United Wisconsin:

MADISON, WI – Based on evidence provided in Exhibit C of the John Doe documents unsealed Thursday, failing to prosecute illegal campaign coordination exposes a grave threat to the public’s trust Wisconsin elections by undermining state campaign finance safeguards in place to prevent corruption.

“The unsealed John Doe documents reveal a clear case of the corruption of Wisconsin elections at the hands of Scott Walker’s campaign and outside conservatives groups. The failure to bring charges in Walker’s “criminal scheme” puts in jeopardy Wisconsin campaign finance laws which were put in place to ensure the integrity of the electoral process,” said United Wisconsin Executive Director Lisa Subeck.

Prosecutors laid out the case that Gov. Scott Walker was at the center of a “criminal scheme” to coordinate illegal campaign fundraising among his campaign and conservative groups to fund the running of phony “issue advocacy” campaigns clearly designed for the direct political benefit of Walker’s campaign and Republican legislators facing recall elections in 2011-12.

Despite what appears to be clear evidence of illegal coordination, a recent stay issued by Federal Judge Rudolf Randa halting further investigation leaves Wisconsin campaign finance laws governing disclosure of campaign spending unenforceable and stripped of legitimacy.

According Francis D. Schmitz, special prosecutor in the John Doe investigation “Movants argue that “coordination” of political activities that do not arguably express advocacy cannot be a crime under Wisconsin law. These arguments fail to recognize or misinterpret Wisconsin statutes, administrative rules, and G.A.B. formal opinions. Movants have also ignored controlling Wisconsin case law. Indeed, in their submissions, movants – FOSW, Citizens for a Strong America, Inc. (CFSA) Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Inc. (WMC) and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce-Issues Mobilization Council (WMC-IMC) and Wisconsin Club for Growth (WiCFG) appear to have tacitly admitted to violating Wisconsin law.”

“Failing to prosecute what is clearly a violation of state campaign finance law leaves our elections more vulnerable than ever to this type of alleged illegal coordination and erodes any sense in eyes of voters that Wisconsin elections are truly fair,” Subeck said.
 #
United Wisconsin is an independent, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing progressive values, strengthening democracy, and ensuring every Wisconsinite has a voice. For more information, visit our website at www.unitedwisconsin.com.

Two Governors Face Scandals, Only One Governor Faces the People

Scott Walker avoids questions as DAs
say Walker is at center of massive
criminal scheme to illegally funnel
$ 10s of millions

Update II: Chris Christie Says He'll Campaign for Scott Walker at the Appropriate Time (Arco, NJ.com)

This would be before Scott Walker is formally charged with a crime.

Notes John Amato at Crooks and Liars:

Gov. Chris Christie says Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is "a good man" and voiced support for his fellow Republican, who faces allegations he took part in a nationwide criminal scheme to coordinate fundraising with conservative groups.

Christie defended Scott Walker this evening after greeting patrons of a New Hampshire restaurant during a campaign stop for a Republican gubernatorial hopeful. Christie dismissed the allegations against Walker, a potential GOP presidential candidate, as nothing more than attacks from enemies.
"Listen, we all understand that the more you try to bring change to your individual state, and that change starts to sweep the country, the more you’re going to be attacked by your opponents," said Christie, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate.

'That’s just something you’re going to have to deal with in this job," he said. "But I’ve already communicated with Scott today, he’s doing well. I completely support him and I look forward to going to Wisconsin and campaigning for him at the appropriate time."
---
The thesis advanced by Walker and Christie remains: Walker secretly planned to destroy the right to collectively bargain and gut environmental protections of water (uncontroversial), so the five John Doe District Attorneys (two of whom are Republicans) and the Republican special investigator are retaliating and attacking Walker, alleging a contrived "criminal scheme," because Walker-initiated "change (has started) to sweep the country."

Interesting theory out of two guys from whom most people will no longer buy bridges.

Love to see this Wisconsin-DAs-are-corrupted-by-big-government line voiced by Walker in front of a citizens' town hall meeting.

Update: Whether Scott Walker decides to turn around and face the people of Wisconsin, something qualitatively different is happening after this latest release of John Doe documents—the story is penetrating local broadcast and print (old) media. See WDIO-TV (serving Duluth, Superior and northern Wisconsin) Prosecutors: Gov. Walker Part of 'Criminal Scheme,' and National media pounce on release of John Doe II documents (Joyce, The Capital Times).

One thing to bear in mind after Judge Frank Easterbrook of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit shreds Judge Randa's opinion, John Doe II is a law enforcement investigation conducted by Constitutional Officers (under the Wisconsin Constitution) acting under the specific authority of Wisconsin's John Doe statute that Walker and others desperately are trying to stop. Now, we know why.

Wisconsin John Does are conducted under the statute that is a reformist initiative, written to ensure an orderly and fair investigation.

As attorney Marcus J. Berghan writes: "As the investigation in Milwaukee County has shown, the John Doe proceeding may lead to criminal charges. Those charges need not be directly related to the complaint that started the proceeding. When complete, the judge will determine whether probable cause exists to charge any additional individuals with a crime."
---
Governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Chris Christie of New Jersey face legal-political crises as reports broke yesterday revealing escalating criminal investigations placing both pols near or at the center of criminal conspiracies.

"Indictments against four Christie cronies are near certain, sources say," reads an exclusive in Esquire (Scott Raab and Lisa Brennan). Christie has held over 100 town hall listening sessions and open call-in radio appearances, apparently taking all questions and offering his unvarnished view.

This accessibility would be a shocking departure for Scott Walker's in-the-bubble communication strategy.

"Prosecutors in Wisconsin assert that Gov. Scott Walker was part of an elaborate effort to illegally coordinate fund-raising and spending between his campaign and conservative groups during efforts to recall him and several state senators two years ago, according to court filings unsealed Thursday." (Davey, Confessore, New York Times)

Walker issues quick one-answer, unresponsive lines to non-GOP press, refusing to hold even one town hall-style listening session.

The gravity of the charges, constituting the reasonable suspicion predicating the John Doe investigation, are pooh-poohed by Walker who says the bipartisan investigation is partisan, and the heavily criticized U.S. District Judge, Rudolph Randa (who temporarily halted the John Doe probe in a results-oriented, contrived order and opinion), is "independent."

The $ tens of millions raised and apparently illegally coordinated is on a massive scale.

"Beginning in March 2011, there were 'open and express discussions' of the need to coordinate the activities of entities like Americans for Prosperity, Wisconsin Club for Growth, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, the Republican State Leadership Committee and the Republican Governors Association, special prosecutor Francis Schmitz wrote. Conference calls were held between the Walker campaign, the governors association and the business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, he wrote."

The scope of the criminal scheme under investigation 'is expansive,' Schmitz wrote. 'It includes criminal violations of multiple elections laws, including violations of Filing a False Campaign Report or Statement and Conspiracy to File a False Campaign Report or Statement.' (Patrick Marley, Daniel Bice and Bill Glauber, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) [See also Lisa Kaiser, Milwaukee Shepherd-Express, and Philip Bump, Washington Post]

David Koch told a reporter that he took credit for the fact the Republicans maintained control of the Wisconsin legislature in the Senate recall elections held in August 2011. Koch has given $ millions to the group, Americans for Prosperity and openly acknowledges his support for Americans for Prosperity and its activities in Wisconsin. It remains to be seen whether Koch was involved in Walker's scheme to funnel money.

"The accusation of any wrongdoing written in the complaint by the office of a partisan Democrat District Attorney by me or by my campaign is categorically false," said Walker. So why avoid the people of Wisconsin?

Walker's statement, though short, is full of errors.

Actually, there are five district attorneys, and two of them are Republicans. [One would hope this fact would follow reporting of Walker's statement, but this has not been the case.] And there has been no allegation of partisanship made by the presiding judge overseeing the five prosecutors.

As for the investigators' statements being categorically false, how about Walker holds a long question-and answer session, if Walker is truly innocent?

Even as Scott Walker refuses to face the Wisconsin people and offer an explanation for his role in the conspiracy, Walker's true constituents work to shut down the probe.

For an excellent summary of events, see The Chris Hayes show segment below:

John Doe Prosecutors: Scott Walker at Center of 'Criminal Scheme'

Scott Walker email to Karl Rove made public as John Doe probe reveals Walker at center of illegal coordination

A record tens and tens of millions of dollars were spent in a gubernatorial race in 2011-12.

But this was in Wisconsin, a middling state with a population of only 5.7 million people.

Now, in what is already being widely portrayed as a tipping point in the corruption of Scott Walker being laid plain, the bipartisan Wisconsin prosecutors allege in documents just released that Scott Walker "was at the center of an effort to illegally coordinate fundraising among conservative groups to help his campaign and those of Republican state senators fend off recall elections during 2011 and '12, according to documents unsealed Thursday," report Patrick Marley, Daniel Bice and Dave Umhoefer in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Write Marley, Bice and Umhoefer:

In the documents, prosecutors lay out what they call an extensive 'criminal scheme' to bypass state election laws by Walker, his campaign and two top Republican political operatives — R.J. Johnson and Deborah Jordahl.

The governor and his close confidants helped raise money and control spending through 12 conservative groups during the recall elections, according to the prosecutors' filings.

The documents include an excerpt from an email in which Walker tells Karl Rove, former top adviser to President George W. Bush, that Johnson would lead the coordination campaign. Johnson is also Walker's longtime campaign strategist and the chief adviser to Wisconsin Club for Growth, a conservative group active in the recall elections.

'Bottom-line: R.J. helps keep in place a team that is wildly successful in Wisconsin. We are running 9 recall elections and it will be like 9 congressional markets in every market in the state (and Twin Cities),' Walker wrote to Rove on May 4, 2011. ...

Federal Appeals Judge Frank Easterbrook unsealed the court documents Thursday as he reviews a lawsuit attempting to permanently halt the secret investigation into the so-called John Doe probe into the recall elections.

Scott Walker was enchanted with speaking to Karl Rove early in Walker's term in 2011 during the period when Wisconsin Act 10 was rushed through the legislature in violation of Wisconsin's open meeting statute, it has been widely alleged.

Evidently, Walker felt a little too enchanted as he has again been demonstrated bragging about his proximity to money and directing how the money is spent.