U.S. top court rejects bid to revive
Wisconsin governor probe
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[October 04, 2016]
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme
Court on Monday rejected a request to revive an investigation in
Wisconsin into whether Governor Scott Walker's campaign to withstand a
union-backed 2012 recall election illegally coordinated with
conservative advocacy groups aligned with him.
The justices, on the first day of their new term, let stand a 2015
Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to end the probe into whether the
Republican governor and conservative groups violated campaign finance
laws.
The investigation, led by special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, was
launched two months after Walker became the first state governor in U.S.
history to survive a recall election. Walker last year mounted an
unsuccessful bid for his party's presidential nomination.
"The United States Supreme Court, the Wisconsin Supreme Court and
multiple judges have all reached the same conclusion with every ruling -
that this investigation by prosecutors was without merit and thus must
be ended," Walker said in a statement.
Walker last year signed a state law prohibiting prosecutors from using
Wisconsin's secret investigation statute, which had been used to convict
four of his aides and investigate his campaign, to probe political
crimes.
Three Democratic county prosecutors who asked the justices to hear an
appeal of the state court ruling expressed disappointment.
"The state Supreme Court decision, left intact by today's order,
prohibits Wisconsin citizens from enacting laws requiring the full
disclosure of disguised contributions to a candidate," they said in a
statement.
That includes money spent by third parties at the direction of a
candidate to support that candidate's election, they added.
The investigation focused on possible unlawful coordination between
Walker's campaign and conservative groups including the Wisconsin Club
for Growth in 2011 and 2012.
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Former Republican U.S. presidential candidate and current Wisconsin
Governor Scott Walker speaks during the third day of the Republican
National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 20, 2016.
REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich/File Photo
A federal judge in 2014 initially stopped the probe after the
Wisconsin Club for Growth filed a lawsuit accusing investigators of
sidelining the group from political activities and violating its
rights under the U.S. Constitution to free speech, association and
equal protection under the law.
A federal appeals court later said the investigation could continue
but Wisconsin's high court ultimately stopped it.
Brendan Fischer, a lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center that
advocates strong enforcement of campaign finance laws, said the
justices' move did not endorse Walker's actions.
"Governor Walker secretly told out-of-state donors they could
support him by secretly giving to Wisconsin Club for Growth which,
he emphasized, could accept corporate contributions without limit,"
Fischer said.
"Walker's campaign adviser controlled how Wisconsin Club for Growth
spent the money, and after winning re-election, Walker signed
legislation advancing the interests of the secret donors."
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Additional reporting by Timothy
Mclaughlin; Editing by Will Dunham)
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