It's Not Paranoia When They're Really Out to Get You

Wisconsin John Doe investigation was full-blown anti-conservative fishing expedition

"We are in a dangerous place when prosecutors can identify the target first, and then try to find a crime." - William Jacobson

We’ve covered the abusive anti-conservative Wisconsin “John Doe” proceedings many times before.

The short story is that two separate proceedings were commenced under the auspices of Democratic District Attorneys in order to try to take down Scott Walker.

John Doe No. 1 concerned Walker’s time as County Executive and ended without finding any wrongdoing by Walker himself.

John Doe No. 2 concerned Walker’s time as Governor and recall election. Both a state court judge and a federal judge found that even if everything the investigators claimed was true, it was not illegal. This John Doe No. 2 resulted in a federal lawsuit by two of the targets alleging that the investigators violated the targets’ constitutional rights.

Some documents released Friday by the federal Court of Appeals reveal just how abusive this John Doe No. 2 was.

The investigators conducted a widespread fishing expedition through the otherwise private records of numerous conservative activists, as described by M.D. Kittle of Wisconsin Reporter, who has followed the case more closely than anyone (h/t Instapundit). . .

Walker's chief offense, other than being touted as a potential GOP presidential candidate, was to work toward and sign a law allowing Wisconsin civil servants to opt out of union membership, thus denying the Democrat's a major source of taxes support.

Noam Scheiber makes a good case for the importance of the Wisconsin governor’s race at the New Republic. But the most interesting thing comes in what Scheiber, perhaps inadvertently, admits. Referring to the limitations on public employee union bargaining imposed by Governor Scott Walker and the Republican legislature, Scheiber writes, “He’s effectively defunded a key Democratic constituency.”

Let’s unpack that. Where do public employee unions get their money? Directly from dues paid by public employees, who in turn get that money from taxpayers. Where does that money go? Politically, almost entirely to the Democratic Party, as Scheiber admits. Public employee unions, whatever else they do, are (in almost all cases) a mechanism for mandatory taxpayer financing of one political party. Scheiber’s complaint is that Wisconsin Republicans have cut the amount of such public financing.

Combine this with the recent laughable indictment of Gov. Rick Perry of Texas for having the audacity to threaten to zero out the office of a "democratic activist" head of the "Public Accountability Office" convicted of DUI, and clearly, from the videos of her arrest and booking, abusing her authority, and we see the pattern for the midterms taking shape. Democrats will go to any length to abuse the legal system to harass and, if necessary destroy their opponents. You can't win a war with unilateral disarmament. Republicans must respond in kind.