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.

Walker And Christie Feeling The Heat

Billionaire Koch-brothers-endorsed Republican Gov. Scott "Koch Head" Walker (R-Kochland) is engaging in the "nothing to see here, move along" strategy when it comes to answering questions about the criminal investigations into his 2012 recall campaign operations:

Two career prosecutors--one a Republican, one a Democrat--just called Scott Walker a liar, and not a single national newspaper took notice.

The comments came after Walker, an unannounced candidate for president, used an appearance on an Iowa radio show to publicly attack a bipartisan criminal investigation into his campaign as a "political witch hunt" with the aim of "trying to intimidate people."

The Special Prosecutor leading the probe, Francis Schmitz--a Republican who voted for Walker in 2012--fired back, stating, "these recent allegations are patently false."

"His description of the investigation as a 'political witch hunt' is offensive when he knows that the investigation was authorized by a bipartisan group of judges and is directed by a Republican Special Prosecutor appointed at the request of a bipartisan group of district attorneys," Schmitz said.  [snip]

The current criminal investigation into Walker involves serious allegations that the governor and his campaign disregarded the state's campaign finance laws during the 2012 recall elections.

Or, 

As former Milwaukee District Attorney E Michael McCann told the Center for Media and Democracy: "If you've got the facts on your side, fight on the facts. If you've got the law on your side, fight on the law. If you've got neither, fight the DA."

Meanwhile, the Bridgegate scandal involving Gov. Chris "Krispykreme" Christie (R-Toast) and his closest staff  has taken an ominous turn for the Narcissist from Newark:

Gov. Chris Christie's high-school buddy and former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey appointee, David Wildstein, has pleaded guilty to plotting to create a 2013 traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge as political payback against a Christie opponent.

But Wildstein isn't the only fish in the net:

In addition, Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie have been indicted by Paul J. Fishman, the United States attorney for New Jersey. Those indictments include "multiple counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, including 'knowingly converting and intentionally misapplying property of an organization receiving federal benefits.'" You can read the full indictment here.

Krispykreme's continuing to employ the Sgt. Shultz (his mustachioed Doppelganger) defense, which should in and of itself disqualify him from further consideration as a presidential candidate.

(Image:  Walker and Christie - "If we end up sharing a cell, I get the bottom bunk.")

Bad Money

Facing a recall election threat this spring, right-wing Koch head Gov. Scott "Take A Walk" Walker is now being accused of over a thousand campaign finance violations in his gubernatorial campaign in 2010. Take A Walk is accused of not properly reporting over $500,000 in contributions (*cough, Koch, cough cough*), and could face $557,500 in fines. What would be most helpful is an accounting of all the mystery donors, who they are and what they contributed; what they wanted was a piece of the State.

Take A Walk and his plutocrat backers expected to waltz through Wisconsin busting unions, dismantling the Democratic Party, and making life much easier for the wealthiest individuals and corporations. Didn't happen. And we're hopeful that officials in Wisconsin throw the book at Take A Walk and send a message to the right wing elites that Wisconsin isn't for sale.