John Doe recall probe could focus on free speech, Supreme Court makeup

[hue]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/john-doe-recall-probe-could-focus-on-free-speech-supreme-court-makeup-b99151562z1-233963211.html

The legal and public relations battle over the investigation connected to the recall campaigns of Gov. Scott Walker and others could turn on free-speech issues and the makeup of the state Supreme Court.

Three people or groups have challenged the John Doe investigation and aim to get their case before the high court. That would give them a venue with a conservative majority — but one with its own conflicts, because some justices were elected withhelp from groups reportedly mentioned in subpoenas issued by prosecutors.

Critics of the probe into recall campaign fundraising and spending have spoken in broad terms about the possibility of First Amendment violations, questioning the legal authority of prosecutors to peer into the operations of groups that run political ads.

But legal arguments in a lawsuit brought last month to try to halt the investigation have focused on procedural issues, such as whether there was the authority to hire a special prosecutor in the case.

At issue is a secretive John Doe investigation that has spread to five counties as Walker heads into a re-election year. John Doe probes allow prosecutors to compel people to produce documents and give testimony, as well as bar them from talking publicly about the investigation.

Eric O'Keefe of the Wisconsin Club for Growth told The Wall Street Journal he had received a subpoena in October, and the newspaper reportedin an unsigned editorial that it had seen two subpoenas in the investigation. Stephen Moore, a Wall Street Journal editorial writer, is a founder and former president of the national Club for Growth.

According to the newspaper, the subpoenas asked for communications between the target and a host of groups, including Walker's campaign, the Republican Governors Association, Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

Separately, sources have confirmed for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that prosecutors have sought information from Walker's campaign and the governors association.

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