The U.S. Supreme Court will consider a request by Wisconsin prosecutors to reopen a John Doe probe that targeted Governor Scott Walker’s recall campaign and conservative groups.
The nation’s high court on Monday agreed to allows both sides to make their arguments about the future direction of the probe in secret, as prosecutors try to get justices to overturn a state Supreme Court decision last summer that ended the investigation.
The probe was looking into claims that there was illegal campaign fundraising and coordination between Republican candidates targeted by recalls, including the governor, and outside conservative groups. Prosecutors have argued that state Supreme Court Justices David Prosser and Michael Gableman should have recused themselves from the case, since their own election campaigns had benefitted from some of the groups that were under investigation.
Governor Scott Walker on Monday pointed to multiple previous court decisions that rejected the secret investigation, and maintained confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court would reach a similar conclusion. “I think the U.S. Supreme Court is ultimately going to do the same thing. They’re going to say it’s a state issue and the highest court in the state’s already ruled.”
Affiliate WSAU contributed to this report