Attorneys request stay of secret Wisconsin probe

[hue]

http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_24547783/new-details-criminal-probe-emerge

MADISON, Wis.—Two attorneys have filed motions seeking to stay a secret investigation that reportedly involves Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and conservative groups.

Online court records don't explicitly say what the investigation involves. But the filings name Eau Claire County reserve Judge Gregory Peterson and Francis Schmitz as respondents.

Peterson is overseeing an investigation that is reportedly focused on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and conservative groups. Schmitz, a Waukesha attorney and a former federal prosecutor, is working on that probe as a special prosecutor.

Attorneys Dean Strang and Matthew O'Neill filed motions with the state appeals court on Thursday on behalf of three unnamed petitioners seeking to suspend a so-called John Doe probe in Milwaukee, Iowa, Dodge, Dane and Columbia counties. They also filed a motion suggesting the requests be sent directly to the state Supreme Court, where conservative justices hold four of the seven seats.

The attorneys also filed a motion to seal documents supporting their motions. Strang declined to comment. O'Neill didn't immediately return a message. Schmitz and Peterson both declined comment.

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This news came out of Minn., not circulated in WI.

[rlegro]

1. Actually....

Thanks for getting word out on this, but when the post says, near the end, "This news came out of Minn., not circulated in WI," look again. This story ran all over the print, radio and TV news media in Wisconsin on the 19th, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a page one story on it again this morning.