Post by Logan on Feb 29, 2016 5:18:26 GMT -6
GAB official: 'Scott Walker was always the principal target' of criminal probe
Gov. Scott Walker “was always the principal target” of a now-halted criminal investigation into his recall campaign, the state’s top ethics administrator wrote in a June 2014 email released Friday.
The email from Government Accountability Board Ethics Division Administrator Jonathan Becker was written within minutes of special prosecutor Francis Schmitz issuing a statement on June 26, 2014, saying Walker was not a target of the probe. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ended the investigation in July saying the investigation’s legal theory was invalid.
“I am thoroughly disgusted by your proposed press statement and it is simply not true,” Becker wrote. “The other side wants to obfuscate the case and make it seem like we are attacking independent (groups) and it needs to be clear that we are investigating a CANDIDATE’S improper coordination.”
The email was one of thousands of pages of never-before-seen documents released Thursday and Friday as part of the resolution of a lawsuit by the Wisconsin Club for Growth and the GAB. The group argued the GAB’s involvement in the investigation was improper, but the case was settled in December with no finding of wrongdoing.
Read more: host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/gab-official-scott-walker-was-always-the-principal-target-of/article_51aa480a-0ec7-5922-8c05-c1fa825471a7.html
Gov. Scott Walker “was always the principal target” of a now-halted criminal investigation into his recall campaign, the state’s top ethics administrator wrote in a June 2014 email released Friday.
The email from Government Accountability Board Ethics Division Administrator Jonathan Becker was written within minutes of special prosecutor Francis Schmitz issuing a statement on June 26, 2014, saying Walker was not a target of the probe. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ended the investigation in July saying the investigation’s legal theory was invalid.
“I am thoroughly disgusted by your proposed press statement and it is simply not true,” Becker wrote. “The other side wants to obfuscate the case and make it seem like we are attacking independent (groups) and it needs to be clear that we are investigating a CANDIDATE’S improper coordination.”
The email was one of thousands of pages of never-before-seen documents released Thursday and Friday as part of the resolution of a lawsuit by the Wisconsin Club for Growth and the GAB. The group argued the GAB’s involvement in the investigation was improper, but the case was settled in December with no finding of wrongdoing.
Read more: host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/gab-official-scott-walker-was-always-the-principal-target-of/article_51aa480a-0ec7-5922-8c05-c1fa825471a7.html