Legislators, who represent more than half of state assembly Democrats, call for district attorney to initiate investigation into alleged criminal misconduct

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Nineteen Wisconsin legislators have called for an official investigation into alleged criminal misconduct by the Republican governor Scott Walker, based on their review of court documents leaked to the Guardian.



Scott Walker, the John Doe files and how corporate cash influences American politics Read more

The legislators, who represent more than half of the Democratic group within the state assembly, have written to the prosecutor for Dane County, which covers the state capital Madison as well as Walker’s home residence.

They urge the district attorney, Ismael Ozanne, to initiate an immediate investigation into what they describe as “serious allegations … of possible crimes”, in order to “protect the public interest in a government that is free of corruption”.

The signatories of the letter, who include assembly minority leader Peter Barca, allege that they have identified ways in which Walker “may have engaged in criminal conduct” that have never before been addressed in any official inquiry.

In particular, they say, the governor may have violated a long-standing prohibition on soliciting and accepting corporate money through so-called “dark money” groups that do not disclose the sources of their income.

“These potential crimes have not previously been raised or considered during the various John Doe proceedings about these issues,” the legislators write.

The assembly members base the new allegations on a close reading of more than 1,300 pages of leaked documents that were published by the Guardian earlier this month, as an investigation into the role of corporate cash in modern American elections.

The documents were gathered as part of a so-called “John Doe” – that is, anonymous – investigation into suspected campaign-finance irregularities surrounding Walker and his network of advisers, rightwing lobbyists and major conservative donors, among them Donald Trump.

The John Doe investigation was terminated last year by a ruling of Wisconsin’s highest court. But that decision has in turn been appealed to the US supreme court, which this week reviewed the petition and is expected to announce if it will take on the case within a matter of weeks.

Among the Guardian’s John Doe files were several large donations from billionaire rightwing figures cut on corporate checks.

The legislators state in their letter: “Wisconsin has had a long history of banning direct and indirect corporate contributions and disbursements to candidates and candidate committees. This ban on accepting corporate money … has never been struck down by any court, was in place during the conduct in question, and exists today.”

The signatories go on to say that anyone found to have violated the corporate ban is subject to “serious consequences, including forfeiture of the candidate’s right to office and felony penalties”.

Joe Fadness, a spokesman for Scott Walker’s political campaign, dismissed the letter as a “frivolous complaint that fails to acknowledge the facts”.

Leaked documents reveal secretive influence of corporate cash on politics Read more

He added: “Several courts shut down the baseless investigation on multiple occasions, and there is absolutely no evidence of any wrongdoing.”

So far, the Republican leadership of Wisconsin has failed to respond to any of the allegations raised by prosecutors in the John Doe files that were leaked to the Guardian.

Legal filings contained in the leaked documents show investigators alleged that in 2011 and 2012 Walker’s team possibly violated campaign finance laws by channeling millions of dollars of donations secretly through outside lobby groups that were not obliged to disclose the payments.



Wisconsin attorney general Brad Schimel, backed by assembly speaker Robin Vos, both Republicans, have indicated they may launch an official inquiry into the source of the Guardian leak.

Walker responded to the leak by questioning whether the state needed additional district attorneys when they continued to pursue the investigation into his campaign-finance activities.

“I think a lot of people wonder, if they continue to spend time after the US supreme court were to rule on this, if that’s really necessary, if they have time to spend on this even after the courts have shut it down,” the governor said.

Chris Taylor, one of the Democratic signatories of the letter, told the Guardian she interpreted the remark as a threat.

“It’s a very thinly veiled threat against the prosecutors,” she said. “It says: ‘If you continue to investigate my potentially criminal misconduct I may cut your funding.’”

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Taylor said the Republican response to the Guardian’s disclosures was “outrageous. Why aren’t Republican legislators concerned about the risk of corruption that the documents appear to highlight?”

The Dane County district attorney is also being encouraged to look into the possible appearance of quid pro quo – or pay-for-play – that the legislators alleged was evident from the John Doe files.

“The documents strongly suggest,” they wrote, “that … corporations that gave significant donations got significant legislative favors in close proximity to their donations, indicating that a pay-for-play system may have been in place.”

Among the John Doe files were payments to Wisconsin Club for Growth amounting to $750,000 from the owner of NL Industries, a major historic producer of lead paint.

Around the same time frame as the checks were drawn, the Republican-controlled legislature made changes to state law that would have made it virtually impossible for victims of lead paint poisoning to sue the company and other producers, had federal courts not intervened and overturned the legislation.