John Doe lawsuit judge's assistant married to Walker campaign lawyer

[PeaceNikki]

Source: Wisconsin State Journal

An assistant to the judge who called for a halt to the John Doe investigation into possible illegal campaign coordination between Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and conservative groups is married to a lawyer for Walker's campaign.

Steven Biskupic, a former U.S. attorney who is representing a party in the secretive John Doe probe, indicated Thursday in an email to the State Journal that there was no conflict of interest for Judge Rudolph Randa, whose judicial assistant is Cary Biskupic, Steven Biskupic's wife.

"For the time period that my wife has worked for Judge Randa, I have not and would not appear in front of him on any matter," Steven Biskupic said. "I have not been and will not be involved in the (Eric) O’Keefe federal lawsuit. Even before the case was assigned to Judge Randa, I and my partner would not and could not participate in a lawsuit against Fran Schmitz personally."

A state appeals court ruling in the John Doe investigation, which is separate from the lawsuit brought by the Wisconsin Club for Growth against the prosecutors in federal court, established that Biskupic is representing a party in the case.

Walker's campaign paid Biskupic's law firm $86,000 last year, according to a recent campaign finance report. Walker's campaign is also one of the targets in the John Doe probe, according to court filings.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/on-politics/on-politics-john-doe-lawsuit-judge-s-assistant-married-to/article_75ae0b25-1f32-5d07-8a2c-568db205b906.html

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Shocker!

[Plucketeer]

1. PU

Good gracious! The STENCH outta Wisconsin sure ain't from fermenting cheese!

[chillfactor]

2. you just know....

that Walker shopped around for a judge friendly to him.....glad the appeals court shot the judge down.....

[PeaceNikki]

3. that was reversed. it's a mess.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014799668

[hue]

7. This debacle shows a glimpse of the depth & complexity of absolute corruption in WI.

I'd say this is the real reason why Wanker won the recall election.

With all the work/effort and organization in play to execute the recall there was many underlying/deep efforts in play to combat the recall.

[Fred Sanders]

4. The appearance of bias is nothing to be concerned about, where there is blatant bias already.

[hue]

5. WI is ruled by a "family" that would put the Mafia out of business.

They are all connected & are protecting a web of crime & resulting paranoia!!

They make me wish I believed in HELL!

[starroute]

6. Steve Biskupic? -- I remember his name from the Bush US Attorney scandal

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=591137

Biskupic on firing list, source says
U.S. attorney received a reprieve that saved his position, though
McClatchy News Service, Journal Sentinel staff
Posted: April 13, 2007

Steven M. Biskupic, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, was once targeted for firing by the U.S. Justice Department but given a reprieve for reasons that remain unclear, McClatchy News Service reported Friday.

Congressional investigators looking into the firings of eight U.S. attorneys saw Biskupic's name on a list of attorneys targeted for removal when they were inspecting a department document not yet made public, an attorney for a lawmaker involved in the investigation told McClatchy. The attorney asked for anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the investigation.

It wasn't clear when Biskupic was added to a department hit list of prosecutors, or when he was taken off, or whether those developments were connected to a just-overturned corruption case.

Nevertheless, McClatchy reported that the disclosure aroused investigators' suspicion that Biskupic, who is based in Milwaukee, might have been retained in his job because he agreed to prosecute Democrats. Such politicization of the administration of justice is at the heart of congressional Democrats' concerns over the Bush administration's firings of the U.S. attorneys.


http://plaistedwrites.blogspot.com/2007/03/steve-biskupic-no-worries-duh.html

Whether by direction, design or just plain old predisposition, Steve Biskupic has walked the political walk for Junior Bush since he was appointed by the Decider in 2002. Whether it’s going after Democratic alderman for buying themselves groceries, civil servants working for a Democratic governor, contributors to the same Democratic governor and investigating non-existent "voter fraud" (the very definition of an elephant laboring for months and bearing a mouse), Biskupic has been Johnny-on-the-Spot for the Bushies‘ political agenda.

Oh, and never mind those Republicans who happen to find themselves on the knife’s edge of investigation and possible illegality. For instance, Biskupic was supposedly investigating some monkey-business between Scott Walker and indicted former Tommy Thompson cabana-boy Nick Hurtgen. The result? Uh, nothing to see here, everyone move along. He also conveniently bailed from the prosecution of the Republican District Attorney in Winnebago County, Joseph Paulus, who has since convicted of bribery and is now in federal prison. His brother happened to work for Paulus. Maybe the reason Biskupic never goes after Republicans is because, if you swing a stick in his house or his office or his country club, you’ll hit five or six of them. Just guessing here.

In the Journal Sentinel today, Biskupic does an interesting thing; answering a question nobody asked him.

"I received no communication, either negative or positive, from the attorney general's office or the White House regarding the voter fraud cases. The first I learned that there had been criticism was in published reports on Wednesday. During my time as U.S. attorney, the only case that I have been asked to discuss with the attorney general was the civil rights investigation of the beating of Frank Jude, Jr."


http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/29358809.html

April 12, 2007

It's not as if U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic's office didn't file any voter fraud cases. ... In all, federal prosecutors indicted 14 individuals for either being a felon on probation or parole who voted in November 2004 or for voting twice in that contest. All but one of those charged with felonies were African-American, and all were Milwaukee residents. ...

Some of the voter fraud cases were lost at trial. Prosecutors dismissed others because the defendant apparently didn't intend to break the law, had mental problems or completed a deferred prosecution deal.

In January 2005, the Republican Biskupic and then-District Attorney E. Michael McCann grabbed front-page headlines by joining forces to look into voter fraud in Milwaukee. But the outcome of the federal cases clearly was underwhelming.

[starroute]

8. And oh, lookie -- here are Biskupic and Judge Randa's names coupled

I love going through old notes -- you never know what you're going to find. And my files on the US Attorney scandal are particularly ripe. There's this, for example, about the Georgia Thompson prosecution:

http://milwaukeerising.blogspot.com/2007/04/georgia-thompson-steve-biskupic-and.html

Friday, April 06, 2007
Georgia Thompson, Steve Biskupic and Rudolph Randa

Georgia Thompson's long personal -- and very public -- nightmare is over.

Xoff is right -- the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision freeing her is a total humiliation for US Attorney Steven Biskupic. The decision also raises a number of interesting questions about US District Judge Rudolph Randa, a really, really conservative guy who has served on the advisory board of the local chapter of the ultra conservative Federalist Society. Randa usually handles white collar criminals rather gently, but he packed Thompson off to prison immediately and refused to let her remain free pending her appeal. In his decision denying her post-conviction bail, Randa said Thompson had no real reason to expect her conviction to be reversed.

What were Randa's motivation on that one? Biskupic overreached and will be beaten up good for this one, but nobody should forget about the guy in the robes.

[PeaceNikki]

9. wow, stellar work!

Jaw dropping when you put it all together.

[starroute]

10. I just checked Google, and the Wisconsin bloggers are all over this

So I have every expectation that all the dirty laundry will soon be public.

[hue]

12. From Wiki re Georgia Thompson:

According to her attorney, the prosecution and conviction cost Thompson over $300,000, including lost pay, her savings, her condo, and her pension, which she cashed in to pay for her legal defense. Democrats asked whether U.S. Attorney Biskupic was pressured by the White House or the Justice Department to prosecute Democrats, as other U.S. Attorneys allegedly were in the Bush administration Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy. Jurors defended their verdict, and some Democrats, including former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, who conducted a parallel investigation, said that Biskupic was not politically motivated. Thompson made no statement to the media.[9]

On April 10, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Madison called on her colleagues to investigate the Thompson case as part of the overall U.S. Attorneys dismissal controversy.[10] The Senate Judiciary Committee delivered a letter to United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking for documents in the case.[11][12]

The Court of Appeals issued its written opinion in United States v. Thompson on April 20, 2007. The Wisconsin Department of Administration also announced that Thompson had been reinstated at her old salary but in a different job, and she would receive back pay dating from her resignation. She would also be eligible for reimbursement for legal expenses, but she would have to file a claim.[13] By March 5, 2008, both houses of the state legislature voted without dissent to reimburse Thompson $228,792 in legal expenses.[14]

[hue]

11. Thanks starroute!! This is a clear demonstration as to how HEARTLESS these goons are!!

More exposure!!!

[starroute]

14. There's more here at this DU thread from two years ago

There's a lot of dirt being kicked around here. Too many unfamiliar names for me to sort out on the fly, so I'm just posting the link for anyone who wants to dig into it. But one point that struck me is that Biskupic has a brother who had ambitions to be Wisconsin Attorney General but got done in by his own shady dealing.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002133007

[McCamy Taylor]

13. Biskupic and Georgia Thompson, It rang a bell with me, too. I did a TOON on them.