A federal appeals court has lifted the block on an investigation into possibly illegal campaign coordination between Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker and conservative groups, sending the case back to state courts.
The appeals court's decision Wednesday comes as Walker battles for re-election in a tight race with Democrat Mary Burke, a former Trek Bicycle Corp. executive – and the state executive said he expects the case will wind up before the state Supreme Court.
"It's still something that a respected judge in the state of Wisconsin at the state level who has no political ties to me or anyone I'm affiliated with said should not go forward," Walker said, the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The case has spotlighted how big money flows through politically active groups – and is a boost to prosecutors,
the Washington Post notes.
Beginning in August 2012, the probe looked at the relationship between top Walker strategists and a network of conservative groups such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth, which spent millions to help Walker and other Republicans fend off recall efforts.
In May, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa halted the investigation, saying any coordination did not violate election laws because the outside groups were engaged in issue advocacy, not explicit political activity. Walker
wasn't a target of the investigation at the time it was stayed.
David Rivkin Jr., a lawyer for the Club and a Walker strategist, said his clients would ask the 7th Circuit to "correct today's mistaken decision," calling the probe an "abuse of government power," the Journal Sentinel reported.
But lawyer Douglas Knott, speaking on behalf of Milwaukee County prosecutors, said the federal ruling "confirms that the rich and powerful are not above the law and that the district court should not have entertained" the "attempt to undermine the work of state prosecutors investigating whether a crime has occurred," the Journal Sentinel reported.