A chilling Wisconsin law allows prosecutors to charge into private homes and seize property — and nobody is allowed to say a word about it, says David French, a writer for National Review.
"It's called a 'John Doe' law, and this is something that's unique to Wisconsin," French said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
"It essentially allows a prosecutor with permission of a court to launch an investigation that's secret on his end, which is normal.
"But they can require the targets of the investigation, the people who are being investigated, ordinary citizens, to maintain absolute silence about the existence of this investigation."
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French — who bares the practice in his National Review piece
"Wisconsin's Shame: 'I Thought It Was a Home Invasion'" — says lawmakers insist it protects potentially innocent people by maintaining total secrecy.
But the law allows prosecutors to stage paramilitary-style raids on citizens' homes that cannot be spoken about by anybody, according to French, who added that even supporters of Gov. Scott Walker have been harassed during a secret probe.
"[It has] created this incredible cloud of suspicion around innocent Wisconsin citizens," said French, coauthor with Jay Sekulow, Jordan Sekulow and Robert Ash of
"Rise of ISIS: A Threat We Can't Ignore," published by Howard Books.
In the case of Walker's supporters, "all of the credit goes to three women who are brave enough, one on the record, two off the record, anonymously, to tell the story of what happened to them and their families when they were targeted for a secret investigation by a partisan Democratic district attorney," French said.
"[It was] essentially a witch hunt against anyone associated with him, against conservatives who are trying to advocate for conservative causes in the state of Wisconsin."
French said the law is so secretive, it's hard to say exactly how many people have been victims of it.
"As many as eight to 10 homes were raided like this, maybe give or take a few. Multiple families [were] impacted," he said.
"Investigators who went into people's homes, taunting them, screaming at them, yelling at them, and then you had the police who chose to engage in these incredibly heavy-handed tactics.
"You don't need a dozen police officers swarming through a home to serve a simple search warrant to get a hard drive."
French said authorities are now under fire in "the court of public opinion" as stories about the raids leak out.
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