State GAB vote launched probe into Walker recall By Patrick Marley and Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel Updated: 7:03 p.m.
Madison — The six judges on the state Government Accountability Board voted unanimously to authorize the investigation of fundraising and spending by Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and his allies during the recent recall elections, according to a Tuesday court filing.
Dean Nickel, an investigator hired by the accountability board to assist with the investigation, said in the 10-page filing that he believes the substantial evidence gathered in the probe "coupled with the GAB's unanimous approval of the investigation directly refutes plaintiffs' witch-hunt theory."
Nickel's brief is one of a series filed with the federal court on Tuesday in a bid by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and his aides to get a federal appeals court to intervene in the high-profile John Doe probe.
Chisholm and two other prosecutors filed paperwork Tuesday to have the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals review a decision last week by U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa in Milwaukee refusing to dismiss the lawsuit against them. The prosecutors need Randa's approval to get their case before the appeals court.
They are also asking Randa to halt the case until the appeals court rules — a move that would prevent prosecutors from getting deposed by the targets of the investigation.
Chisholm and others have been conducting a secret John Doe investigation to look into whether the Wisconsin Club for Growth or others illegally coordinated with any candidates during the recalls. In the most prominent race, Walker defeated an attempt in June 2012 to oust him from office.
John Doe probes are overseen by judges and allow prosecutors to compel people to produce documents and give testimony, as well as bar them from talking publicly about the investigation.
The Club for Growth and one of its directors, Eric O'Keefe, in February sued prosecutors, investigators and the state judge overseeing the probe into their activities. They contend the investigation violates their rights to free speech, free assembly and equal protection.
The prosecutors argue the federal civil rights lawsuit should be dropped because prosecutors are generally immune from lawsuits and federal courts often are not allowed to get involved in state proceedings. Randa rejected those arguments, and Chisholm and the others now want to take it to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In filings last week, O'Keefe and the Club for Growth indicated the group wanted to start running television ads as the 2014 campaign season ramps up. They are seeking an injunction to shut the investigation down.
"Defendants' conduct has had its intended effect, pushing the Club and its allies off the air and out of the public square in Wisconsin," wrote their attorney, David Rivkin. "This court's immediate action is necessary and appropriate to vindicate plaintiffs' federal rights against Defendants' continuing abuse."
The club is also trying to use a recent major campaign finance decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to its advantage. Earlier this month, the court ruled 5-4 that a federal law limiting the total amount donors can give to congressional candidates and political funds is unconstitutional.
The court determined those limits could not stand because they did not uphold the government's interest in fighting corruption. The same logic means Wisconsin's prosecutors cannot continue their ongoing probe, the Wisconsin Club for Growth argues.
Prosecutors say such a finding would undermine key portions of Wisconsin's campaign finance law aimed at letting the public know who is bankrolling campaigns.
If Club for Growth prevails, a candidate "could solicit millions of dollars in funds from individual and corporate donors, direct those funds to a 501(c)(4) (nonprofit) organization and then direct the expenditure of those funds to benefit the candidate's campaign — all without the electorate's knowledge," special prosecutor Francis Schmitz wrote in a filing last week.
Walker's campaign last week asked the state Supreme Court to take from the Court of Appeals the challenge over the subpoenas. That puts at least some aspect of all three cases in state court before Wisconsin's high court, and the justices must decide whether to take any of them.
In separate filings in the federal case, officials with the accountability board — which oversees state election and ethics laws — tried to make the point that they are not partisan in matters they pursue. The agency has been working with prosecutors on the John Doe investigation.
"The board, employees and contractors of the GAB must be nonpartisan and remain nonpartisan at all times when associated with the GAB," wrote Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the agency.
A staffer provided the federal court with an extensive list of its election-related cases. Among them are 11 complaints filed by Democrats and liberal groups against Walker in connection with Act 10, which restricts collective bargaining rights for public employees.
The board dismissed all of the complaints.
The accountability board consists of six members who former judges, including liberals and conservatives.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A federal judge in Milwaukee struck down Wisconsin's voter identification law Tuesday, declaring that a requirement that voters show a state-issued photo ID at the polls imposes an unfair burden on poor and minority voters.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman sided with opponents of the law, who argued that low-income and minority voters aren't as likely to have photo IDs or the documents needed to get them. Adelman said the law violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. He also said the law appeared too flawed to be fixed by legislative amendments.
Adelman's decision invalidates Wisconsin's law and means voter ID likely won't be in place for the fall elections, when Republican Gov. Scott Walker faces re-election. While Walker last month committed to calling a special legislative session if the law were struck down in court, his spokeswoman wouldn't commit to that Tuesday.
"We believe the voter ID law is constitutional and will ultimately be upheld," Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said in an email. "We're reviewing the decision for any potential action."
The ruling could set a precedent for similar legal challenges in Texas, North Carolina and elsewhere. There are 31 states with laws in effect requiring voters to show some form of identification, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Seven states have strict photo ID requirements similar to the one a state judge struck down in Arkansas last week; that decision has been appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Pennsylvania's voter ID law has been put on hold because of court challenges.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama waded into the voter ID debate, accusing Republicans of using restrictions to keep voters from the polls and jeopardizing 50 years of expanded voting access for millions of black Americans and other minorities.
A Dane County judge had already blocked Wisconsin's law in state court. The state Supreme Court heard arguments in two separate lawsuits in February, although it's not clear when the justices will issue a ruling. For voter ID to be reinstated, the state's high court would have to rule that it doesn't violate the state constitution, and Adelman's decision would have to be overturned on appeal.
Wisconsin's Department of Justice, which defended the state law in court, pledged to continue the fight.
"I am disappointed with the order and continue to believe Wisconsin's law is constitutional," Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said in a statement. "We will appeal."
Republican backers had argued that requiring voters to show ID would cut down on voter fraud and boost public confidence in the integrity of the election process. But Adelman said the state failed to prove that voter fraud is a legitimate problem.
"(V)irtually no voter impersonation occurs in Wisconsin and it is exceedingly unlikely that voter impersonation will become a problem in Wisconsin in the foreseeable future," he wrote in a 90-page opinion.
Wisconsin's Republican-led Legislature passed the photo ID requirement in 2011, scoring a long-sought GOP priority. Former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, had vetoed a similar requirement three times between 2002 and 2005.
Wisconsin's law was only in effect for a 2012 primary before a Dane County judge declared it unconstitutional.
Adelman pledged to expedite any proceedings should Wisconsin's Legislature attempt to amend the law, but he also had strong cautionary words for lawmakers.
"Given the evidence presented at trial showing that Blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to lack an ID, it is difficult to see how an amendment to the photo ID requirement could remove its disproportionate racial impact and discriminatory result," Adelman wrote.
Wisconsin residents can get a free state ID from a Department of Motor Vehicles by presenting documents such as a certified birth certificate, passport or Social Security card. Each document must be unexpired, and the person's name must be spelled identically on each document.
A number of witnesses testified the regulation was a problem, either because their names were misspelled on a key document or because they were born in rural areas during an era when birth certificates weren't always issued.
Adelman cited their testimony in his ruling, noting that they faced challenges that could deter them from voting.
"Although not every voter will face all of these obstacles, many voters will face some of them, particularly those who are low-income," the judge wrote.
The federal challenge combined two separate cases. One was brought by minority-rights groups, including the Wisconsin chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the other involved the American Civil Liberties Union and the Washington, D.C.-based Advancement Project.
ACLU spokesman Dale Ho said his group was "ecstatic" over the victory, and felt Adelman rendered a fair assessment of the evidence.
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