John Doe Probe Continues To Unfold As Walker Launches Campaign

As Gov. Scott Walker kicks off his campaign for a second term, a second John Doe investigation continues to unfold around him.

There have been several recent developments in the investigation known as “John Doe 2,” which is looking into whether there was illegal coordination between Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and conservative groups during the recall election. Last week, a lawyer for Walker’s campaign asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to get involved in the case.

In addition, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported on Wednesday that the six judges who sit on the state Government Accountability Board authorized their part of the investigation with a unanimous vote.

Walker won’t say much about the case, citing the secrecy orders involved in John Doe investigations.

“People who know anything about the issue are prohibited from talking about it,” said Walker. “People who don’t know anything about it shouldn’t be talking about it. So in either case, I’m not talking about it.”

So far, Walker’s Democratic opponent Mary Burke has largely stayed quiet on the John Doe investigation, though Democratic groups are expected to use it to attack Walker in this year’s campaign. Walker told reporters Democrats tried that in the recall campaign and he’s not worried it makes him vulnerable this year.

“No, you know you saw it in the last campaign,” said Walker. “They tried at the end to talk about, ironically, anything other than the very thing that the recall was based on: Act 10.”

There was also a development in an offshoot of John Doe 2 this week, this one involving a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by one of the conservative groups targeted in the probe. The Wisconsin Club for Growth contends in that suit that it was only targeted because it’s conservative and the investigation is being led by Democratic prosecutors. The Journal Sentinel reported that the lead prosecutor in the case filed a sworn declaration saying that in fact he voted for Walker in the recall.