Wisconsin's Special Interest-Owned Court Quashes Walker Probe

Four Republican "justices" on the (elected) Wisconsin Special Interest Supreme Court quashed the John Doe investigation of campaign finance violations in the 2011 and 2012 Scott "Koch Head" Walker elections:

Dealing Gov. Scott Walker a victory just as his presidential campaign gets underway, the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a sweeping decision Thursday ruled the governor's campaign and conservative groups had not violated campaign finance laws in recall elections in 2011 and 2012.

The ruling means the end of the investigation, which has been stalled for 18 months after a lower court judge determined no laws were violated even if Walker's campaign and the groups had worked together as prosecutors believe.  [snip]

Writing for the majority, Justice Michael Gableman found a key section of Wisconsin's campaign finance law is "unconstitutionally overbroad and vague" and that the activities prosecutors had investigated were not illegal. He ordered prosecutors to return all records they seized and destroy any copies they made of them.  (our emphasis)

Let's be sure to destroy the evidence, just in case!

As Charles Pierce notes, the ultra-right interest groups (Wisconsin Club for Growth and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce) got what they paid for:

The Wisconsin Club for Growth is estimated to have spent $400,000 for [Justice] Ziegler in 2007; $507,000 for [Justice] Gableman in 2008; $520,000 for [Justice] Prosser in 2011; and $350,000 for [Justice] Roggensack in 2013. WMC spent an estimated $2.2 million for Ziegler; $1.8 million for Gableman; $1.1 million for Prosser; and $500,000 for Roggensack. In addition, Citizens for a Strong America — a group funded entirely by the Wisconsin Club for Growth — spent an estimated $985,000 to help Prosser. The spending estimates come from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks political spending.  [snip]

If you're keeping score at home, the same organizations that were the subject of the criminal probe gave hundreds of thousands of neatly laundered dollars to the judges who ruled that those same organizations did nothing wrong on behalf of Scott Walker because fk you, that's why.  (our emphasis)

That sound you hear is Robert LaFollette spinning in his grave.

BONUS:  Brian Murphy has a great piece on Walker and the court here.