The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a federal district court judge’s injunction on Wisconsin’s John Doe investigation into illegal campaign financing Wednesday.
The district court judge originally issued the injunction blocking the state of Wisconsin from investigating whether “certain persons” have violated the state’s campaign finance laws, according to court documents.
The documents indicate the injunction goes against the Anti-Injunction Act, which says a U.S. court may not grant an injunction to stay state court proceedings unless it is authorized by an Act of Congress, aiding in jurisdictional issues or necessary to protecting or enforcing judgements.
“We hold that this case does not present a situation in which state proceedings may be displaced,” 7th Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm originally requested this probe after concluding a political campaign committee may have been coordinating fundraising and expenditures with an independent group.
Eric O’Keefe, a Wisconsin Club for Growth manager, received a subpoena requiring him to produce documents for the investigation. A January ruling found the evidence was not necessary to the investigation.
Francis Schmitz, a special prosecutor in the case, then asked the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to reverse the lower court’s ruling.
O’Keefe then filed the federal lawsuit, asking for an injunction to halt the investigation permanently, whether or not the prosecutor could establish a violation of Wisconsin law.
U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Randa ordered the injunction in May, saying the First Amendment forbids penalties for political coordination and any attempt by the state to learn what kind of coordination occurred.
Wednesday’s ruling found the injunction was an abuse of discretion and the defendants were not liable.
