September 29, 2014

"The man who sued the prosecutors of a secret John Doe investigation into dozens of conservative groups now wants the lead prosecutor investigated..."

"... on charges of feloniously using his office for political persecution and personal reward."
Long-time political activist Eric O’Keefe, a director of the Wisconsin Club for Growth, on Monday sent a certified letter to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm demanding that Chisholm ask the Milwaukee County Circuit Court to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the conduct of the DA and his office....

O’Keefe notes that Wisconsin law prohibits a district attorney from using the powers and privileges of his office for the financial benefit of himself, his immediate family members, or an organization with which his immediate family members are associated.

A distric [sic] attorney also is prohibited from using those powers and privileges to obtain an unlawful advantage for third parties, such as political candidates and recall committees; to obtain through official functions for those illegitimate purposes; and from allowing his office to become de facto campaign grounds.
Details at the link. This ties back to the revelations in the Stuart Taylor Jr. article we discussed herehere and here.

61 comments:

Original Mike said...

This is going nowhere, right?

BarrySanders20 said...

We need an special secret investigator to investigate the secret investigator, and we need a special investigative reporter to investigate the investigative reporter who reported on the secret investigation.

garage mahal said...

They are completely bugging out over this investigation. Makes you wonder what prosecutors have.

traditionalguy said...

This may be the only legal remedy for the victims of the recent Star Chamber inquisitions selectively done under cover of laws against political donor speech.

Mark said...

It will probably go nowhere in the courts. The DA's office (as I understand it) has a huge amount of discretion in what it does and does not investigate.Investigating one of their own is certainly not in their immediate best interest.

As political theater though it will play well in the Red parts of Wisconsin, and all the state-wide candidate at least will have to be prepared to field questions about it. So the whole "John Doe" thing is going to get a little more daylight shed on it than anyone who supports it really wants.

Original Mike said...

"They are completely bugging out over this investigation. Makes you wonder what prosecutors have."

No, it doesn't. They're bugging out because Chisholm has shut down conservative donations. Which was his whole point. This guy belongs in jail.

Mark said...

garage, if O'Keefe were "bugging out" about it he'd just be happy to let the whole investigation fade into memory.

Chin up, though. Palin still said the Whitehouse was at 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue.

FleetUSA said...

The DA will sit on this until after Nov elections.

garage mahal said...

They're bugging out because Chisholm has shut down conservative donations. Which was his whole point. This guy belongs in jail..

You honestly think Chisholm convinced 4 judges, 5 county DA's, a Special Prosecutor, and every single GAB Board member to open an investigation without a evidence?

garage mahal said...

*Foot Stomp*
Investigate YOURSELF.
*Slams bedroom door*

Birkel said...

Shorter "garage mahal":

Fuck the civil rights of my political enemies.

Birkel said...

Fascist. Pimp.

Original Mike said...

"You honestly think Chisholm convinced 4 judges, 5 county DA's, a Special Prosecutor, and every single GAB Board member to open an investigation without a evidence?"

What evidence?

Mark said...

Two days after one frivolous lawsuit was thrown out in Federal Court, Club for Growth files a frivolous complaint.

How many suits can they file claiming the same basic claim?

A truly unethical prosecutor would leak the 8 sealed documents. Apparently Chisholm isn't that.

Rocketeer said...

They are completely bugging out over this investigation. Makes you wonder what prosecutors have.

Why would the DA even hesitate to request that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate his office? Makes you wonder what he's trying to hide.

Big Mike said...

You honestly think Chisholm convinced 4 judges, 5 county DA's, a Special Prosecutor, and every single GAB Board member to open an investigation without a evidence?

In a left-wing lunatic state like Wisconsin? They could easily have had twice as many.

irishguard said...

If they have all this evidence, they've been at this an awfully long time.....why are they not able to get any kind of conviction?

JD said...

Birkel-Garage Mahal stalker.

Drago said...

Unknown: "Birkel-Garage Mahal stalker"

Unknown-"Birkel-Garage Mahal-Interaction" stalker

Curious George said...

"garage mahal said...
Makes you wonder what prosecutors have."

Only if you are a retard. Because this is an easy one:

That have nothing. Thousands of man hours, million of dollars. Nothing.

Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Or they would bring charges.

That clear if up for you Corky?

Drago said...

Mark: "A truly unethical prosecutor would leak the 8 sealed documents. Apparently Chisholm isn't that."

LOL

No, leaking all the sealed documents would show there is no "there" there.

Now, selective leaking of nefarious sounding snippets without context that can be used to generate headlines that negatively impact Walker? That's precisely what an unethical prosecutor would do.

And whaddya know, that's what happened.

Who could have guessed?

Completely unpredictable.

Drago said...

Even better from the leftist POV, the targets who are being smeared by the selective leaks are forbidden by law to address the charges!!

Beria would have been quite proud of this WI gang.

garage mahal said...

What have nothing. Thousands of man hours, million of dollars. Nothing.

So O'Keefe set his hair on fire over nothing? They want Chisholm to open an investigation into himself over nothing? Stupid or really gullible. (could be both)

damikesc said...

So O'Keefe set his hair on fire over nothing? They want Chisholm to open an investigation into himself over nothing? Stupid or really gullible. (could be both)

What are so afraid of them finding about Chisolm?

Why are so obsessed with him?

They're saying they want him to investigate possible corruption, which you claim to support doing.

Why not here?

Mark said...

"If they have all this evidence, they've been at this an awfully long time.....why are they not able to get any kind of conviction?"

They have been fighting off 4 various frivolous lawsuits from Club for Growth for much of 2014.

So if Chisholm doesn't investigate himself, O'Keefe threatens to go to Mom if he doesn't.

Oh wait, he threatens to go to Walker to stop the investigation into himself and punish the DA.

This is getting comical.

Original Mike said...

"They have been fighting off 4 various frivolous lawsuits from Club for Growth for much of 2014."

2014!?!?!? Chisholm has been investigating Walker since John Doe 1. I'll leave it to the historians on this blog to provide you with the date.

Publicly, he's got nothing to show for it. Privately, he has accomplished his goal; shutting down Repub donations.

Curious George said...

"garage mahal said...
So O'Keefe set his hair on fire over nothing? They want Chisholm to open an investigation into himself over nothing? Stupid or really gullible. (could be both)"

Really Corky? He's spending hundreds of thosuands of dollars, and donor dollars are drying up.

But nice squirrel since you can't respond on point.

Curious George said...

"Mark said...
"If they have all this evidence, they've been at this an awfully long time.....why are they not able to get any kind of conviction?"

They have been fighting off 4 various frivolous lawsuits from Club for Growth for much of 2014."

It started in August of 2012. ANd forget conviction, they have been able to charge anyone with anything.

Next weaksauce attempt please.

garage mahal said...

He's spending hundreds of thosuands of dollars, and donor dollars are drying up.

Donor dollars are drying up.....over Chisholm having zero evidence?

kcom said...

You really are playing especially dumb today, Garage. Purposefully misreading comments is so lame.

I'll tease it out for you so you can't pretend to misunderstand any more.

Because it's a bogus investigation (as demonstrated by the results and confirmed by several judges), Chisholm has nothing to show for his case.

"They want Chisholm to open an investigation into himself over nothing?"

Abusing the power of your office to run a bogus, partisan investigation of political opponents is something well worth investigating. The fact that he did all that for nothing, in the sense of legal results, shows that other motives were paramount.

"Donor dollars are drying up.....over Chisholm having zero evidence?"

No, dollars are drying up over the prosecutor using the intimidating, secretive power of his office to suppress the operations of Republican groups through implicit threats of prosecution, without having to provide any actual evidence. That's the scandal, he can abuse his office to get what he wants without having any actual evidence.

It's certainly worth investigating how's that possible in a system that's supposed to be non-partisan.

Emil Blatz said...

For those playing at home in other parts of the country, I doubt that you can appreciate the polarization of two metro areas in Wisconsin, in opposition to the rest of the state. Madison (Dane County) and Milwaukee (Milwaukee County) are heavily Democratic, and are generally balanced by the rest of the state (but not in the last Presidential election.) When you see Michelle Obama in Wisconsin, it is in Milwaukee, occasionally Madison, but never Appleton or Green Bay. Her recent visits have been attempts to excite the urban vote in Milwaukee to support Mary (yawn) Burke, who Scott Walker is about to beat like a rented car.

In the John Doe investigation I have been impressed by how much this regional polarization has bled into low level judicial decisions (and now DA led investigations). Look at all of the low level decisions which have held against the Walker Administration, only to be overturned by a higher court. This sort of home cookin' jurisprudence was something I expected of Chicago or Miami, but it has been apparent of late in Wisconsin.

Original Mike said...

"Donor dollars are drying up.....over Chisholm having zero evidence?"

You can't be so stupid as to not understand.

Curious George said...

"garage mahal said...
He's spending hundreds of thosuands of dollars, and donor dollars are drying up.

Donor dollars are drying up.....over Chisholm having zero evidence?"

No because storm trooper raids and thousands spent in legal fee Corky.



Curious George said...

"Original Mike said...
You can't be so stupid as to not understand."

garage wears an "I Tappa Kegga" T-Shirt in public. Seriously. So yes.

StoughtonSconnie said...

It started in August of 2012. And forget conviction, they have been able to charge anyone with anything.

Actually, the John Doe started in 2010, over a misappropriation of veteran funds in Milwaukee County. It was asked for by then County Exec Walker's office.
The fact the the Milwaukee DA made splashy arrests that were described as looking into the Milwaukee County Execs Office certainly wasn't political. And that those arrests were made on the eve of the 2010 gubernatorial election was of course a coincidence. . .
The current John Doe is just a continuation from the first. Calling it John Doe 1 vs. John Doe 2 is a formality. Chisholm didn't get the scalp he wanted in the first John Doe, so they kept digging, egged on by personal bias and animosity. You'd have to be a fool or named Garage not to see that.

hombre said...

Seems reasonable given the absurd overreaching of the investigations and the lower court rulings, regardless of the Taylor articles.

garage mahal said...

Chisholm can convince Republican judges and Republican DA's to open a 5 county-wide investigation into Republican groups. Without a shred of evidence?

It's funny because Randa praised O'Keefe & Co for getting around the law. And, Republicans attempted to change campaign finance laws two weeks after people received subpoenas.

You have to be smoking some good shit to believe that prosecutors have no evidence. On the other hand you have to be smoking some good shit to still be a Walker supporter.

Michael K said...

"You have to be smoking some good shit to believe that prosecutors have no evidence. On the other hand you have to be smoking some good shit to still be a Walker supporter."

Garage, not even you are this stupid. It is obvious that, if the DA had found something in this witch hunt, we would have seen those indictments you keep obsessing about. After all, it didn't take much in Texas to indict Perry.

The point of the complaint is to give the lefty DA something to do until after the election.

Paul said...

O’Keefe and Snowden...

What is a corrupt politician to do?

Evil hates the light and these two men above turn the light on evil and the cockroaches scatter.

SCOTUS invented the idea of 'immunity' for police, judges, and prosecutors.

Time to un-invent that term. Nothing in the Constitution gave them any such thing.

Mark said...

My understanding is the John Doe investigation has been halted by the State Courts; the Seventh Circuit decision not to intervene in the question of possible Civil Rights violations was because the State Courts were being skipped over. (Maybe the Professor, if she isn't totally exhausted and bored with the topic, can clarify.)

It seems to me that two years fishing without a thing to show for it other than a burgeoning PR fiasco has manifestly been a blatant waste of tax dollars.

Birkel said...

"garage mahal":
"It's funny because Randa praised O'Keefe & Co for getting around the law."

Shorter "garage mahal":
No crime was committed.

Original Mike said...

"It seems to me that two years fishing without a thing to show for it other than a burgeoning PR fiasco has manifestly been a blatant waste of tax dollars."

You don't understand (or choose not to). It's been a hugely successful partisan initiative. And the icing on the cake is that you paid for it.

garage mahal said...

It's been a hugely successful partisan initiative.

Even when it's pointed to you, on multiple occasions, that it isn't in fact a partisan initiative, you still refuse to accept it. It's just bizarre.

Original Mike said...

Even when it's pointed out to you how weak your bipartisan claim is, you still ignore it.

garage mahal said...

You have no claim that Republicans aren't involved in this investigation. Republicans ARE involved. Why haven't Walker or anyone else demanded Chisholm resign? Why haven't they mounted a recall against him? Because it's a bogus charge. Much easier to smear Chisholm in the media where they have a huge advantage.

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

Original Mike said...

"Why haven't Walker or anyone else demanded Chisholm resign? Why haven't they mounted a recall against him?"

That would be an insane strategy for a politician months before an election.

Why did Judge Kluka recuse herself?

garage mahal said...

That would be an insane strategy for a politician months before an election

Walker will smear Chisholm in the media but won't actually do anything to prevent these partisan witch hunts from happening again?

P.S. This investigation was authorized by the GAB initially, not MKE County. The GAB Chair, David Deininger, was a longtime Republican in the Assembly and Tommy Thompson appointee to the 4th Circuit. What happened to Deininger? Walker sacked him of course.

Original Mike said...

"Walker sacked him of course."

Gee, no motive there.

Original Mike said...

"Walker will smear Chisholm in the media"

Please provide examples.

garage mahal said...

You can find the examples.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Glad to see the Republicans upping their lawfare game. Sue the bastards a lot, and all the time.

Original Mike said...

There aren't any. You're full of shit.

garage mahal said...

Walker hasn't smeared Chisholm in the media with "partisan witch hunt" arble garble? You've got to be kidding me. Walkerism is a cult I swear.

Original Mike said...

Walker said that? Provide link. Put up or shut up.

tim in vermont said...

"They are completely bugging out over this investigation" - Garage

So using prosecutory powers for political ends doesn't strike you as a problem? Of course not. This is what democracy looks like, right?

James Pawlak said...

I suggest the the proper solution is to begin a "John Doe Hearing" in some county where a Democrat is NOT the DA. Perhaps, in that county where a Gestapo style raid was inflicted on citizens.

Curious George said...

I see garage is rolling out the "bipartisan" bullshit.

Of course. because he has no answer to the fact that in two years, and thousands of man hours, and millions of dollars, Chisholm has brought no charges against anyone. Not convictions...charges!



garage mahal said...

I. Am. A. Robot. And. I. Support. Scott Walker. No. Charges. Democrat DA.

Big Mike said...

@garage, I think a fair-minded person would support Scott Walker in this instance given the available facts.

You accuse everyone who disagrees with you of being a "robot." Perhaps you need to look in the mirror to see the robot. We all get that you have a personal animus towards Walker, but sooner or later even you need to grow up.

Annie said...

Garage isn't stupid....in this case. He is well aware of the how and why.

He fully approves.

Anonymous said...

When you see Michelle Obama in Wisconsin, it is in Milwaukee, occasionally Madison, but never Appleton or Green Bay.

It is silly to say she has never been in Appleton

http://www.nbc26.com/links/171209651.html

https://my.barackobama.com/page/s/find-out-how-to-see-michelle-obama-in-appleton

But what is even sillier if the way the Blue Emu insists that there has been nothing found in the John Doe investigations when in reality there have been seven felony convictions, and counting.