John Doe Prosecutors Appeal Ruling That Ended Investigation

Prosecutors in a John Doe investigation involving conservative groups and Gov. Scott Walker’s recall election campaign have appealed a federal judge’s ruling that shut down the probe last week.

Lawyers for Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, and Government Accountability Board investigator Dean Nickel all filed separate appeals, but they made similar points. All told the court of appeals that prosecutors and investigators were entitled to some degree of immunity from lawsuits like the one filed by the Wisconsin Club for Growth.

They also said U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa was wrong to deem their appeal “frivolous,” especially without first hearing their sides of the story.

Chisholm’s appeal had some of the sharpest words for Randa, saying he issued the order blocking the John Doe “with an unsupported narrative of ‘facts.’” Chisholm’s lawyers wrote that Randa had substantially adopted the “untested allegations” brought by the Wisconsin Club for Growth, including, “substantial reliance on hearsay sources, newspaper articles and internet blogs.”

Schmitz’s attorney wrote that there were no allegations specific to Schmitz that demonstrate why he would retaliate against conservative groups for their political beliefs. Schmitz pointed out in earlier court filings that he voted for Gov. Scott Walker in the recall.

Meanwhile, in an offshoot of this case, Randa is considering whether to release to the public many of the secret documents related to the John Doe. The court of appeals issued a brief order on Thursday that could affect that question, ordering all sealed exhibits related to this appeal to remain sealed.