From jsonline, Milwaukee: Dealing Gov. Scott Walker a victory just as his presidential camapaign 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.....
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 destory any copies they made of them.
"It is utterly clear that the special prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist in order to investigate citizens who were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing," Gableman wrote.
Calling those who challenged the probe "brave individuals," Gableman wrote that their litigation gave "this court with an opportunity to re-endorse its commitment to upholding the fundamental right of each and every citizen to engage in lawful political activity and to do so free from the fear of the tyrannical retribution of arbitrary or capricious governmental prosecution. Let one point be clear: our conclusion today ends this unconstitutional John Doe investigation."...
A spokeswoman for Walker's presidential campaign applauded the ruling.
"Today's ruling confirmed no laws were broken, a ruling that was previously stated by both a state and federal judge," AshLee Strong said in a statement. "It is time to move past this unwarranted investigation that has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars."...
Walker and other Republicans have insisted the probe is a political witch hunt — claims prosecutors deny.
Those in the majority raised questions about the way the probe was conducted, with Gableman writing the search warrants were executed as "pre-dawn, armed, paramilitary-style raids" and Justice David Prosser writing in a concurrence that the subpoenas were "so extensive that they make the fruits of the legendary Watergate break-in look insignificant by comparison."
In all, 29 organizations and individauls received subpoenas seeking millions of documents. Some of the material seized was "wholly irrelevant information, such as retirement income statements, personal financial account information, personal letters, and family photos," Gableman wrote.
Todd Graves, an attorney for O'Keefe and the club, praised the ruling and said in a statement Chisholm and the accountability board until now "acted like playground bullies without fear of restraint from the courts."
"The government acted as if key protections in our nation's Bill of Rights simply did not apply," Graves said in his statement. "They used search warrants to conduct pre-dawn raids on families and secretly obtained millions of personal emails from numerous parties, including individuals who still do not know they were targeted. They counted on a veil of secrecy to assault the fundamental liberties of our clients and commit taxpayer funds for an outrageous misuse of their offices and the law."
Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel — who had no role in the investigation — issued a statement that said the ruling "leaves no doubt that the John Doe investigation is over."
"This closes a divisive chapter in Wisconsin history, and the assertive recognition of First Amendment rights by the Wisconsin Supreme Court protects free speech for all Wisconsinites," his statement said.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/wisconsin-supreme-court-ends-john-doe-probe-into-scott-walkers-campaign-b99535414z1-315784501.html
This was a bogus investigation from the beginning and it was a huge political witch hunt that targeted walker.
The democrats/liberals running the investigation tried to use the criminal courts to get to Walker because they simple hate the man and they fear him as a presidential candidate.
This is how low and evil the Democrats/liberals have become- they are willing to convict and ruin a person's life just because they don't like their politics. It is disgusting and evil and if you believe in an after life, they will rot in hell for their actions.
At the Prairie Café...
3 hours ago
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