Last week documents penned by the special prosecutor in the Wisconson John Doe probe (Francis Schmitz) were released to the press. The court documents condemned Governor Scott Walker as being part of an alleged "criminal scheme" to coordinate with outside groups and violate campaign finance laws. Today an attorney for the special prosecutor announced that it was all a mistake, the documents were never to be released and Walker was never under investigation.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal
Randall Crocker, the lawyer for special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, noted the investigation has been halted, saying, "At the time the investigation was halted, Governor Walker was not a target of the investigation. At no time has he been served with a subpoena."
"Contained in these documents is a reference to the request for production of documents that relates to an alleged criminal scheme. Gov. Walker's name was included in this reference," Crocker said. "While these documents outlined the prosecutor's legal theory, they did not establish the existence of a crime; rather, they were arguments in support of further investigation to determine if criminal charges against any person or entity are warranted."
Crocker added, "Mr. Schmitz has made no conclusions as to whether there is sufficient evidence to charge anyone with a crime."
In other words, Governor Walker's reputation and possibly his career was damaged because Mr. Schmitz was brainstorming and the judge released them so they can be read out of context and provide ammo to the liberal media.
Schmitz, in a court filing that was released last week, wrote that Judge Barbara Kluka had issued subpoenas "requiring the production of documents related to the criminal scheme of R.J. Johnson, Deborah Jordahl, Governor Scott Walker and Friends of Scott Walker to utilize and direct 501(c)(4) organizations, as well as other political committees."
In Crocker's statement Thursday, he wrote "it is wrong for any person to point to this sentence in a legal argument as a finding by the special prosecutor that Governor Walker has engaged in a criminal scheme. lt is not such a finding."
Walker campaign communications director Tom Evenson highlighted that line from Crocker's letter.
"After the media's slanderous reporting last week, today’s statement by prosecutors should serve as an opportunity for the media to correct the record and report the real facts of this story," Evenson said.
The John Doe investigation was halted last month by a federal judge. Prosecutors have appealed that ruling. Kluka's replacement on the case, Judge Gregory Peterson, ruled in favor of quashing the subpoenas. He later stayed his ruling, noting an appeals court could disagree with him.
Five groups, including the Walker campaign and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state's largest business lobby, filed the motion to quash the subpoenas.
Almost immediately after the documents were released the mainstream media ran so fast to condemn him they practical tripped over their own underway. Lets see how many talking heads correct their stories. I suspect that if they gave me $20 dollars for every reporter, commentator, or anchor who correct the story, I wouldn't get a dime.
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