Walker talks to reporters (FILE PHOTO: Jackie Johnson)
The governor continues to defend himself, and this morning (Friday) he does it on the national stage.
Governor Scott Walker appears on ‘Fox and Friends’ to discuss the release of hundreds of documents in the John Doe investigation, in which prosecutors claim Walker was at the center of a “criminal scheme” connected with his 2012 recall election and those of GOP state senators. Walker says the probe is over, and he reiterates, “It’s not new news … just newly-released documents,” and he blames the liberals for trying to “stir things up.”
Walker says, “If you’re just reading this for the first time, you might think there’s something there without knowing that the courts already looked at this — a state judge took care of this some time ago and a federal judge more recently heard the same information. In both cases they said there’s just not an argument there. So, what you see is the left and others out there trying to stir things up.”
State reserve judge Gregory Peterson squashed subpoenas late last year against potential targets, saying he found no probable cause of wrongdoing. Last month, Federal Judge Rudolph Randa at least temporarily halted the probe. No charges have been filed.
On the conservative cable TV program, Walker says this is a prime example of what happens when you take on the “big government special interests,” referring to his Act 10 law that virtually eliminated collective bargaining by most public unions. He also blames the media for being “willing accomplices.”
He says, “So many in the national media and even some here in Wisconsin are looking at this state backward. This is a case that’s been resolved, that not one but two judges have said it’s over,” he says, “there’s no arguement there.”
AUDIO: Walker blames special interests and the media. (:20)
According to court records released Thursday, prosecutors say Walker and two Republican operatives broke election laws by coordinating campaigns and fundraising, using candidates and a dozen outside conservative groups.
The governor tells the talk show host, “Don’t just take my word for it,” saying, “the facts are pretty clear.”
Walker is asking for help from his supporters to counter what he calls yet another attack on him as he runs for reelection in the fall. “Because we’re gonna have to counter this sort of attack all over again.”
The governor is also taking to social media, tweeting to his followers that the prosecutors’ arguments are “categorically false.”
Walker has a national profile as a possible White House candidate in 2016.
Even if the investigation is permanently stopped, Jay Heck of the government watchdog group Common Cause Wisconsin says the governor has some explaining to do.