Subject: MSJ: Despite denials, Scott Walker was target of probe in 2011
From: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
To: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2015 02:29:18 +0000

Despite denials, Scott Walker was target of probe in 2011<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/despite-denials-scott-walker-was-target-of-probe-in-2011-b99551687z1-320842161.html>
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL // PATRICK MARLEY AND JASON STEIN

Madison- Gov. Scott Walker was under criminal investigation in 2011 for misconduct in office - even as he insisted he wasn't - over a proposed real estate deal when he was Milwaukee County executive, according to records filed Wednesday in federal court.

The Republican governor - who is running for president - was never charged with a crime and the investigation was closed two years ago.

Wednesday's filing shows the governor was at the center of the probe, contradicting Walker's repeated claims at the time that he was not a target of the investigation.

"I submit that there is probable cause to believe that Scott Walker, John Hiller and Andrew Jensen, in concert together, committed a felony, i.e., Misconduct in Public Office..." investigator Robert Stetler wrote in his 2011 request for a search warrant.

It was after getting the search warrant and the resulting evidence that prosecutors decided not to issue charges.

Hiller was Walker's campaign treasurer at the time. Jensen is a real estate broker who worked on the deal.

Jensen was jailed for a night during the investigation. He ultimately cooperated with authorities<http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/report-scott-walker-probe-closed-with-no-new-charges-qh8vsfb-194194091.html> and Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm's office released an unusual letter of exoneration saying he was not a target of the probe.

Chisholm is a Democrat. Walker and other Republicans have contended he has been out to get conservatives - a charge Chisholm denies.

Stelter, who works in Chisholm's office, sought the search warrant for the home of Walker aide Cindy Archer on on Sept. 13, 2011. Reserve Judge Neal Nettesheim, who oversaw the investigation, granted it the same day.

The wide-ranging inquiry resulted in charges and convictions of six Walker aides and associates for matters that included campaigning using taxpayer resources and stealing from a veterans fund. Prosecutors did not ultimately charge anyone over the real estate deal, and they shut down the probe<http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/report-scott-walker-probe-closed-with-no-new-charges-qh8vsfb-194194091.html> in March 2013.

Before closing it, they opened a second investigation into whether Walker's campaign had violated campaign finance laws by working closely with conservative groups. The state Supreme Court ended that investigation last month, concluding no laws had been broken.

Just before he faced a recall election in June 2012, Walker said the idea that he would become a subject of the probe was "just more of the liberal scare tactics out there, desperately trying to get the campaign off target." Wednesday's filings show that nine months before then prosecutors had determined there was probably cause Walker had committed a crime.

Walker campaign spokeswoman AshLee Strong did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Over the weekend in response to questions about a different court filing, she said by email that "prosecutors have said that Governor Walker was not a target."

Hiller did not respond to requests for comment.

The 2011 document is surfacing now because Archer has sued Chisholm, arguing her constitutional rights were violated when investigators searched her home. Prosecutors submitted the search warrant and affidavit Wednesday to bolster their case they did their work by the book.

Wednesday's court filing concerns a part of the probe that looked into whether bid-rigging occurred<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/corruption-investigation-looks-into-bids-to-house-county-workers-0s3t07c-138020933.html> as officials considered whether to move offices for the county's Department of Aging.

Hiller and Jensen were involved in negotiations to extend the county's lease at the privately owned Reuss Federal Plaza.

Walker told his chief of staff, Tom Nardelli, to seek a six-month extension of the lease in June 2010, Stelter wrote in his affidavit. That was in the county's interest because it would give the county more time to review its options, according to Stelter.

Soon afterward, Walker told Hiller he needed Jensen's firm to deny the lease extension - an action that was against the county's interest, Stelter wrote.