Assembly Democrats announced Thursday they would urge Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to investigate campaign finance violations by Gov. Scott Walker.
In a letter to Ozanne, the representatives claim Walker may have violated various Wisconsin statutes between the years 2011 and 2013, including a ban on candidates and their committees from accepting corporate money.
The British newspaper, The Guardian, released documents earlier this month which
Additionally, the group alleges that corporations giving money to the WCFG could have broken campaign finance law. Along with accepting corporate dark money, they say Walker may have engaged in a quid pro quo scheme. Critics say the documents displayed strong evidence that corporations which contributed a significant amount of money received substantial legislative favors in return, indicating what was referred to by the representatives as a “pay-for-play” system.
Walker has pushed back on the claims, saying he broke no laws. He criticized Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm for his role in a John Doe investigation into the issue. The governor questioned the need for more district attorneys if the Milwaukee County DA continued an investigation into his alleged corruption.
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State Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, called the comments a chilling threat which could alarm district attorneys statewide.
“In all my time in office, I could never fathom a sitting governor that would threaten a respective district attorney, and threaten the budgets that are so desperately needed in counties across the state, simply for doing their jobs,” Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said.
