EXCLUSIVE: Wisconsin Senate majority leader, others also targeted in John Doe

By M.D. Kittle  @ Wisconsin Watchdog / October 29, 2015 / 43 Comments

Part 274 of 274 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War

MADISON, Wisconsin — This week the Wall Street Journal revealed just how expansive Wisconsin’s political John Doe investigation was, targeting not only Badger State conservatives but national political figures such as Jeb Bush and Newt Gingrich.

Now Wisconsin Watchdog has learned the unconstitutional probe also went after state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and other Wisconsin conservative leaders who may not be aware that they, too, were targets of a widespread spying operation.

The information comes from the same sealed court documents referenced in the Wall Street Journal editorial board piece published Tuesday. Sources have shared with Wisconsin Watchdog the names of several individuals not listed in the Wall Street Journal editorial.

RELATED: Wisconsin’s John Doe targeted national conservatives

Sources say Fitzgerald was subpoenaed in the sweeping John Doe investigation pushed by probe partners, the state Government Accountability Board and the Democrat-led Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office.

The Juneau Republican’s name and email address, Scott@votefitzgerald.com, are included on the probe’s spreadsheet of search terms that included prominent national conservatives such as Bush; Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan; Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, also of Wisconsin; Fox News host Sean Hannity; and even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Milwaukee County prosecutors sent the spreadsheet of searchable terms to GAB staff, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Fitzgerald spokeswoman Myranda Tanck said the senator is not able to comment at this time. She said Fitzgerald remains hopeful the Senate will take up a bill next week that would overhaul the rogue GAB, Wisconsin’s political speech regulator, although some Republicans reportedly have concerns about portions of the reform package. Democrats oppose it. The measure passed last week in the Republican-led Assembly along party lines.

And while it is not known for sure, there’s evidence to suggest the John Doe investigators tapped into Fitzgerald’s Internet service provider, as they did to many other individuals in years’-long dragnet.

The investigation was driven on the prosecutor’s widely rejected legal theory that the conservative groups and individuals illegally coordinated with Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign during Wisconsin’s bitter recall election season of 2011 and 2012.

Multiple courts have said the prosecutors failed to show probable cause to support that theory, and in July the state Supreme Court declared the John Doe unconstitutional and ordered it shut down.

Fitzgerald, as he does now, led the Senate when unions and their Democratic Party allies attempted through an unprecedented spate of recalls to oust several Republican senators — including Fitzgerald — who voted for Walker’s public-sector collective bargaining reforms know as Act 10.

Wisconsin Watchdog also has learned that John Doe prosecutors grabbed the emails of Michael Grebe, the outgoing president and CEO of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a Milwaukee-based organization that financially supports “democratic capitalism; limited, competent government” and free markets.

Grebe, a former general counsel to the Republican National Committee, in July was brought in to lead Walker’s short-lived presidential campaign.

Also listed in the spreadsheet are former state Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch and young gun conservative activist Nick Ayers, credited for helping to transform the Republican Governors Association.

While the probe trained in on all things Walker, Wisconsin Watchdog has learned the searchable database included Walker’s personal email address, swalkerwi@gmail.com, and his family email, Walkerfamily4wi@gmail.com.

The spreadsheet also includes the names of key probe targets: Eric O’Keefe of the Wisconsin Club for Growth; political strategists R.J. Johnson and Deb Jordahl; Keith Gilkes, who ran Walker’s 2010 and recall campaigns; and former Walker aide Kelly Rindfleisch, the first — and hopefully last — political prisoner of the John Doe saga.

“This is my 25th month looking into this matter and every month I have learned of new abuses by the prosecution team and the GAB,” O’Keefe said when asked about the spreadsheet Thursday. “I’m confident this trend will continue.”

Part 274 of 274 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War.

1. GAB’s defense of John Doe database raises more question than answers
2. EXCLUSIVE: Wisconsin Senate majority leader, others also targeted in John Doe
3. Kevin Kennedy’s spin to save the GAB and his job contradicts the record
4. Target of political John Doe targets reluctant senators in robocall campaign
5. WSJ: Wisconsin’s political John Doe targeted national conservatives
6. Lawmakers want answers on GAB director Kevin Kennedy’s IRS conversations
7. Newly released John Doe docs reveal much more about rogue GAB
8. Back to the Future: Dems walk out on vote again
9. GAB living on borrowed time?
10. Fireworks coming on GAB and campaign finance reform debate
11. Hyperbole happens as John Doe reform passes on party-line vote
12. Craig blasts newspaper for Dem ‘press release’ coverage of John Doe bill
13. Judge holds off on release of GAB’s ‘very embarrassing’ records
14. Prosecutor plugged into ‘hotspot’ to email sensitive John Doe docs
15. Why did accountability board use Gmail accounts to talk John Doe?
16. Fiery GAB hearing invokes ghost of Joe McCarthy
17. John Doe victims to tell their stories in Fox News special
18. GAB overhaul would eliminate blank checks on taxypayer dime
19. GAB fighting to keep its secrets out of public eye
20. Sources: Bill would overhaul controversial GAB
21. GAB chairman: ‘I wasn’t offended’ by John Doe raids
22. The silence of the left is the Dems’ transparency hypocrisy
23. Judge orders GAB to turn over emails with liberal groups
24. Supreme Court will not hear Kelly Rindfleisch’s Fourth Amendment case
25. Will the voices of the John Doe victims be heard?
26. John Doe political prisoner Kelly Rindfleisch nears end of her sentence
27. ‘Nonpartisan’ GAB staff has partisan past
28. New emails show GAB assisting in John Doe defense after judge said stop
29. Craig says bill to investigate GAB’s John Doe activities coming soon
30. Wall Street Journal: GAB targeted conservative justices in John Doe defense
31. John Doe prosecutors get a win, practice legal gymnastics again
32. Did the GAB ‘illegally coordinate’ with left-leaning groups?
33. Knudson on GAB: ‘We need to take this thing apart’
34. Legislature to take up John Doe reform in October, GOP leadership says
35. Partisan Falk once urged GAB to ‘get around constitutional right to free speech’
36. Updated complaint shines more light on dark day in John Doe
37. Wisconsin GAB reform bill could be ready in a few weeks, sources say
38. An open letter to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Patrick Marley
39. Explosive email exposes GAB attorney’s partisan motives in John Doe probe
40. Legal defense of rogue John Doe agents costs taxpayers nearly $1.2 million
41. John Doe investigators say there are more tapes of raids
42. Conservatives ask Abrahamson to turn over John Doe-related records
43. John Doe reform bill starts to move again
44. John Doe prosecutors’ tape of raid raises questions about missing moments
45. John Doe prosecutors open new assault on conservative targets
46. Attorney: audio confirms traumatic John Doe raid of Cindy Archer’s home
47. Legal expert: Abrahamson and John Doe civil rights cases like day and night
48. Hillary Clinton plays victim card
49. John Doe horror stories: ‘I felt completely helpless in my own home’
50. Legal experts on right and left seek review of Rindfleisch John Doe conviction
51. Kelly Rindfleisch seeks release following death of John Doe probe
52. Wisconsin Supreme Court shuts down John Doe investigation, affirms First Amendment
53. Wisconsin Supreme Court shuts down John Doe investigation
54. The John Doe investigation might finally be over; Supreme Court to rule Thursday
55. Left’s loud transparency defenders silent on secret John Doe
56. Vos: Time to ‘double down’ on GAB reform in wake of reported IRS links
57. GAB’s Kennedy had a friend in IRS’ Lois Lerner
58. National Review: Political John Doe victimized 16-year-old boy
59. Cindy Archer: Chisholm’s John Doe was ‘campaign of intimidation’
60. Former Walker aide to file civil rights lawsuit against John Doe prosecutor
61. Kelly Rindfleisch: ‘I fear I will never get justice’
62. ‘Did they get me?’: Docs reveal long-time John Doe spying operation
63. Justice Gableman: Warrants in Rindfleisch case amount to ‘fishing expedition’
64. Justice asks state Supreme Court to reconsider Rindfleisch Fourth Amendment appeal
65. What happened to Kelly Rindfleisch could happen to you
66. Kelly Rindfleisch takes her Fourth Amendment fight to the U.S. Supreme Court
67. GAB reform stalled, new docs show GAB working closely with John Doe prosecutors
68. John Doe reform bill stuck in legislative waiting game
69. Was John Chisholm John Doe distracted?
70. U.S. Supreme Court denies review of John Doe-related case
71. Warrants command John Doe targets to remain silent
72. Political prisoner Kelly Rindfleisch on home confinement, working for O’Keefe
73. Will discovery reveal more bombshell information about ‘rogue’ GAB?
74. Wisconsin as a New Yorker cartoon of itself
75. U.S. Supreme Court could announce decision on John Doe case later this month
76. Five years later: America just learning ‘tyrannical’ secrets of Wisconsin’s John Doe
77. John Chisholm’s 50 shades of ‘raid’
78. Do Chisholm’s public comments on John Doe cross ethical line?
79. Experts: Chances rise that U.S. Supreme Court will take John Doe case
80. U.S. Supreme Court to consider hearing John Doe-related case
81. Who was the reporter outside Cindy Archer’s house?
82. John Doe reform bill stalls in Legislature
83. Lawmaker: Chief justice’s civil rights complaint is ‘pathetic’
84. New documents expose GAB’s ‘parallel’ probe expenditures
85. Did chief justice show her hand in dissenting John Doe opinion?
86. U.S. Supreme Court could soon decide whether to take John Doe Case
87. Kelly Rindfleisch, Chisholm’s political prize, to begin sentence on Thursday
88. GAB, friend of the John Doe, just wants to be a ‘friend of the court’
89. Kelly Rindfleisch hopes to avoid becoming first John Doe political prisoner
90. Secretive John Doe special prosecutor who fancies a good leak screams secrecy breach
91. Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects Rindfleisch Fourth Amendment appeal
92. On Sunshine Week, GAB still operating in the dark
93. John Doe target says they are the victim of identity theft
94. Reform bill would open up the John Doe books to taxpayers
95. John Doe reform bill aims to break silence of abusive investigations
96. Milwaukee DA to be ‘special guest’ at fundraiser for Supreme Court justice
97. $775,000 and rising — Wisconsin taxpayers’ bill to defend John Doe prosecutors
98. Prosecutor misstatements continue to shape John Doe narrative, Walker’s future
99. Is John Doe special prosecutor still working with partisan DA, GAB?
100. Conservative groups ask U.S. Supreme Court to defend rights of John Doe targets
101. Does chief justice have conflict of interest in John Doe case?
102. First Amendment expert: Wisconsin ought to be ’embarrassed’ by John Doe
103. Following judge’s order killing John Doe, what’s next?
104. Federal judge’s judgment takes John Doe probe off life support
105. How Wisconsin media support DA’s war on conservatives
106. Conservatives: GAB’s meeting minutes show gap in board’s John Doe oversight
107. O’Keefe takes his case against John Doe to U.S. Supreme Court
108. GAB has a sudden change of heart on campaign finance reform
109. Public defender asks Supreme Court to take up John Doe-related Fourth Amendment case
110. GAB plays victim card in ‘complicated’ John Doe, campaign finance farce
111. Doe possessed: ‘They have information about every aspect of our lives’
112. One year ago, judge’s ruling shakes up John Doe probe
113. State lawmakers look to investigate the GAB and its investigators
114. O’Keefe officially asks judge to open probe into John ‘Doe’ Chisholm
115. GAB offers contradictory defense of its John Doe activities
116. Isn’t it ironic: Mainstream silence follows reports of secret GAB Gmail in John Doe
117. Attorney: GAB’s John Doe justifications don’t hold up to law
118. ‘Outside the … law’: Lawmakers call for investigation of GAB
119. Rogue agency defied judges to carry out partisan probe of Wisconsin conservatives
120. GAB won’t say whether it has reauthorized its role in John Doe probe
121. ‘R word’ surfaces in wake of state Supreme Court taking up John Doe challenges
122. Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up John Doe complaints
123. Audit: GAB has failed to follow the law
124. Rindfleisch appeals to Supreme Court in John Doe Fourth Amendment abuse case
125. Wisconsin’s Van Hollen says goodbye to AG post, John Doe
126. Did the GAB doctor documents to cover their tracks in John Doe?
127. Conservatives to court: Open up records on GAB’s role in John Doe
128. John Doe froze conservative speech, targets say
129. Kelly Rindfleisch will fight on in Fourth Amendment case
130. John Doe lawsuit could be headed to U.S. Supreme Court
131. GAB, Milwaukee County DA bail on key provision behind war on conservatives
132. Vos: There will be reforms to John Doe, GAB
133. Voters say ‘yes’ to Walker, ‘no’ to John Doe, law expert says
134. Appeals court denies request to rehear John Doe civil rights case
135. Report: No district attorney will investigate District Attorney John Chisholm
136. Federalism v. individual rights: A conversation with Eric O’Keefe
137. No surprise: Bice buries the lead, Walker follows the law
138. Wisconsin Supreme Court takes another pass on John Doe case
139. Federal judge stops John Doe prosecutors from bothering conservative group
140. Armed and growing: Milwaukee County DA beefs up his ‘police force’
141. Conservatives to appeals court: ‘You don’t know Doe’
142. Conservative group asks court to stop John Doe ‘constitutional injury’
143. Rindfleisch: ‘Rape’ not too strong a word for how violated John Doe targets feel
144. The day John Doe rushed through the door
145. Target of secret John Doe probe is fighting back and speaking out
146. Who’s paying the bill? Report casts questions on GAB and John Doe payments
147. Conservative O’Keefe seeks investigation into John Chisholm and his John Doe
148. A whistleblower’s story: Taking on a ‘hyper-partisan’ district attorney
149. Appeals court reverses John Doe injunction, but Wisconsin’s secret war far from over
150. Source: Wisconsin Supreme Court doesn’t want political heat of John Doe case
151. Rindfleisch attorney: Appeals court can protect the Fourth Amendment in Digital Age
152. Kelly Rindfleisch: Where are the tears for the kids the Milwaukee school system failed?
153. GAB director says agency just following the law in John Doe probe
154. Is John Doe story colored with a bit of ‘Macbeth?’
155. Wisconsin prosecutors appeal for protection from blowback in partisan probe
156. Another blow for Wisconsin’s restrictive campaign finance law
157. $25,000 and counting: WI taxpayers’ bill so far to defend GAB and its ‘monster’
158. Was John Doe judge a rubber stamp?
159. First Amendment big guns back targets of John Doe probe
160. Conservatives say ‘incorrect disclosure’ of John Doe docs no ‘tiny error’
161. Conservatives appeal to common sense in John Doe appeals case
162. Wisconsin prosecutors aim to shut down conservatives
163. Walker ‘smoking gun’ story has tiny glaring flaw
164. John Doe prosecutors take desperate, unethical slap
165. ‘Retaliation’: Docs show state prosecutors launched mini-NSA probe of WI conservatives
166. Overheated media erroneously bring back Walker ‘criminal scheme’ theme
167. Taxpayers on the hook up to $25,000 for GAB’s legal maneuvers
168. Appeals court orders release of some John Doe documents
169. Conservatives in John Doe battle know disclosure comes with a heavy price
170. Kelly Rindfleisch appeal to test validity of John Doe digital searches
171. Senator: Looks like accountability board is hiding something
172. John Doe document blitz must have broken mainstream media’s heart
173. In John Doe Land, the left doesn’t illegally coordinate
174. Oral arguments set in John Doe prosecutors’ appeal
175. Judge denies conservatives’ request to add GAB to civil rights lawsuit
176. John Doe prosecutors engaged in war of words — lots and lots of words
177. Will John Doe prosecutors launch lengthy probe against Trek Bicycle?
178. GAB now playing secrets in state John Doe lawsuit
179. Senator asks attorney general to compel GAB to open up its books
180. AG opinion means accountability board’s John Doe secrets are safe — for now
181. Is John Doe probe a case of a mini NSA in Wisconsin?
182. John Doe prosecutors engaged in premature justification, conservatives say
183. Mainstream media forced to walk back Walker ‘criminal scheme’ narrative
184. Kelly Rindfleisch tells conservatives, ‘Don’t back down’
185. Expert: John Doe raids raise ‘troubling’ Fourth Amendment questions
186. Wall Street Journal points out ‘disgrace’ of mainstream John Doe reporting
187. Right on cue: Document dump fuels anti-Walker donation drive
188. Federal judge blasts John Doe prosecutors – again – as he denies records release
189. Humiliated in court, WI Dems take their anti-conservative John Doe probe to the media
190. What about those prosecutors? Questions surround other John Doe DAs
191. John Doe prosecutors jump back into the dark?
192. Will taxpayers have to pay for frivolity of John Doe prosecutors?
193. John Doe I judge says he’s not responsible for John Doe II
194. O’Keefe keeps collecting big wins in John Doe lawsuit
195. Appeals court upholds judge’s order shutting down John Doe probe
196. ‘Never-ending’ John Doe never ended, WSJ reports
197. John Doe special prosecutor obeys judge’s order
198. ‘Are these kind of armed pre-dawn raids standard operating procedure?’
199. John Doe special prosecutor’s bill still shrouded in secrecy
200. Federal judge says his order halting John Doe probe should be clear to prosecutor
201. John Doe targets sue Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board
202. Attorney to judge: Don’t let John Doe prosecutor ‘moot’ injunction
203. Sources: Attorney General passes on defending GAB in John Doe cases
204. Walker’s John Doe response raises more questions than answers
205. Contempt questions surround reported John Doe deal talks
206. Would Walker settlement with John Doe prosecutors be a deal with the devil?
207. Sources: No urgency in WI Supreme Court on John Doe
208. For the Walker-hating left, John Doe is ‘Mission Accomplished’
209. State Farm still doesn’t want to cover John Doe prosecutor’s legal bills
210. GAB still reviewing court ruling declaring WI campaign finance law unconstitutional
211. John Doe prosecutors voice phony outrage, legal source says
212. Expert: It’s as if GAB decided ‘Citizens United didn’t exist’
213. John Doe prosecutors suddenly support opening sealed court records
214. Appeals Court declares portions of Wisconsin campaign finance law unconstitutional
215. Still their little secret? Questions remain on John Doe gag order
216. Secret’s out: The world is beginning to learn more about WI’s John Doe
217. Lawyers, lawyers everywhere and other dispatches from John Doe Land
218. Lawmakers call for review of GAB’s secret John Doe activities, funds
219. Federal judge orders John Doe probe shut down again
220. Federal judge’s ruling could open up sealed John Doe records
221. Appeals court stalls judge’s order halting John Doe probe
222. What’s next for now-defunct John Doe probe?
223. This is what the Fourth Amendment looks like?
224. John Doe is dead: Judge stops WI prosecutors’ probe into conservatives
225. Are John Doe prosecutors sweating out federal judge’s decision?
226. Media coalition asks judge to open sealed John Doe documents
227. Federal judge denies John Doe prosecutors’ motion to stall civil rights case
228. John Doe prosecutors sound defensive in latest court filings
229. John Doe target says prosecutors latest move another delay tactic
230. John Doe, as it is being used, must go, WI senator says
231. Target: John Doe prosecutors making up campaign law as they go along
232. Civil rights expert: John Doe law is ‘un-American,’ like something from ‘Nazi Germany’
233. Judge denies John Doe prosecutors’ move to dismiss civil rights suit
234. Nobody will say what John Doe’s shadow man did, but taxpayers are paying his legal bill
235. SCOTUS ruling on campaign finance shows abuse of John Doe, targets say
236. ‘Easy target’: Kelly Rindfleisch breaks silence about John Doe probe
237. Poll suggests Dems’ big ‘secret’ weapon against Walker is backfiring
238. Absolute immunity makes it tough to prosecute the prosecutors of John Doe
239. Recusal in John Doe case raises questions of fairness, purpose
240. D’oh! John Doe prosecutors claim secrecy protection – after filing secret documents
241. Secret agent Dean Nickel’s defense: ‘Dean Nickel is not responsible’
242. John Doe prosecutors wanted higher-priced lawyers, source says
243. Shadowy John Doe investigator invokes federalism in civil rights lawsuit
244. Conservatives counterpunch John Doe prosecutors’ move to stall injunction
245. John Doe prosecutor pushed for brain-damaged man’s conviction in ATF debacle
246. John Doe special prosecutor appeals judge’s ruling quashing subpoenas
247. John Doe judge: ‘Results of the John Doe speak for themselves’
248. Liberal group looking to take Wisconsin’s John Doe national
249. Disparate treatment: Civil rights lawsuit claims conservative speech trampled
250. Target files civil rights lawsuit against Wisconsin’s John Doe prosecutors
251. Lawmaker: Wisconsin’s John Doe like Christie’s ‘Bridgegate’
252. John Doe target O’Keefe taking on IRS, too
253. Conservative to Democrat prosecutors: Shut down secret political probe or face civil rights lawsuit
254. Lawsuits looming in Wisconsin’s crumbling John Doe probe?
255. Vos: Wait until John Doe in ‘rearview mirror’ before revisiting law
256. WSJ: John Doe judge deals body blow to secret probe targeting conservatives
257. Biggest secret in John Doe may be just how judges and special prosecutors are selected
258. Republicans speak out about silent John Doe targeting conservatives
259. WI Republican attorney general to represent judges in Democrat-led John Doe probe
260. Wisconsin Dems suddenly support political investigations
261. Center for Media and Democracy: Liberals are morally superior
262. ‘Dangerous’ game: Former FEC official blasts Democrats’ secret investigation of conservative groups
263. Conservative targets bring in big guns to Democrat-led John Doe fight
264. Will Wisconsin’s own ‘Miserable’ inspector jail conservative activist for speaking out about Dem probe?
265. Vendetta justice? Criticism growing about John Doe prosecutor Bruce Landgraf
266. Sources: New judge named in Democrat-led secret probe
267. Clarke: John Doe into conservatives ‘unbridled,’ ‘dangerous’ and ‘tainted’
268. Sheriff Clarke: John Doe case shows Milwaukee DA is ‘weaponized for political purposes’
269. Democrats tap anti-terror expert to head secret probe of Wisconsin conservatives
270. Democrats’ ‘intelligence-gathering’ spreads in Wisconsin
271. EXCLUSIVE: Judge in Democrat-led John Doe probe recuses herself
272. Scary! Phantom prosecutor in Dems’ war on conservatives disappears inside courthouse
273. Sources: Secret probe targeting conservatives is abuse of prosecutorial powers
274. So what are the odds the Wisconsin Supreme Court will stay its John Doe ruling?
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