WI GOP Begins Retroactive Decriminalization of Scott Walker Fundraising

[marmar]

(HuffPost) The far-right Wisconsin Supreme Court already handed Governor Scott Walker a "get out of jail free card" when it called a halt to the John Doe criminal probe into campaign finance violations by Walker and his team of advisors during the 2011-2012 recall elections.

Now, the Wisconsin legislature is going the extra mile with three separate bills to retroactively decriminalize the behavior at the heart of the investigation and to defang the nonpartisan elections agency that aided it. Two of the bills are on a fast track being sped through the legislature with an unusual Joint Senate/Assembly hearing on Tuesday.

The first will allow candidates to directly coordinate with big money "issue ad" groups that keep their donors secret -- allowing politicians to form their own shadow campaign committee, and then ask billionaires and corporations from around the country (or even overseas) to contribute million-dollar checks, without any public disclosure. The second will destroy the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, widely regarded as a "model" for the nation, that assisted prosecutors in the Walker investigation. The third will exempt politicians as a category from these types of corruption probes.

Legislative leaders are calling it an overhaul of the state's campaign finance laws, but it really isn't campaign finance at all. Wisconsin should inaugurate new chapters in the statutes including "Facilitating Secret Money in Wisconsin Elections" and "Protecting Politicians from Independent Oversight and Accountability." ..................(more)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/wi-gop-begins-retroactive_b_8270286.html