As head of Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board ( GAB), Kevin Kennedy helped lead one of the more sinister, secret investigations of the century. Through a light room, Kennedy and his dishonest” good government” agency conducted a decade-long investigation into then-Republican governor alongside very partisan Democrat prosecution in Milwaukee and Dane counties. Scott Walker and his moderate friends. Lawyers and federal agencies spied on their subjects, terrorized them with pre-dawn, armed attacks, and threatened them with hefty fines and jail time if they dared to address the examinations in public, including defending themselves from false accusations from anonymous” options” in the reports GAB-friendly corporate press outlets pumped out.  ,
So it’s interesting that the State Bar of Wisconsin would sponsor a continuing legal education occasion for attorneys to learn about the law, rule of law, and election integrity. Kennedy, a government official veteran who violated the constitution, violated the rule of law, and played a key function in Wisconsin’s illegal John Doe analysis, was the featured speaker.  ,
Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., told The Federalist in a phone interview that having Kevin Kennedy teach a law school about the rule of law was like having Alejandro Mayorkas lead a group on securing the southern border.  ,
Tiffany was a state legislator in 2015 when he introduced a bill that eventually reformed Wisconsin’s John Doe laws, checking the use of key social studies.  ,
A left-leaning legal group accused of violating its users ‘ First Amendment rights should probably not surprise the State Bar program, which features election integrity guidance from a close friend of IRS former top liberal monster warrior, Lois Lerner.  ,
‘ Democracy is Calling ‘ ,
Wisconsin Election Law and the Member Lawyer are scheduled for Wednesday evening at the State Bar Center in Madison, according to the state table. The treatment is for 3 CLE certificates and is complimentary to those who attend in-person,$ 59 for the live broadcast.  ,
” With the 2024 general election rapidly approaching, Wisconsin may likely see higher voter turnout in a highly charged political culture. However, doctors are uniquely qualified to play a crucial role in upholding the rule of law and also maintaining the integrity of primaries and increasing public trust in the results, according to an event announcement.
” Republic is calling. Did you response”? In an internet obtained by The Federalist, the news asks in the subject line.  ,
The training program is being produced in partnership with the progressive Carter Center, founded more than 40 years ago by former U. S. President Jimmy Carter to encourage “democratic institutions, international growth” and to observe elections around the world, according to nonprofit monitor InfluenceWatch. The center is the beneficiary of generous grants from left-leaning foundations, including leftist sugar daddy George Soros ‘ Open Society Foundations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and , Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
Former state senator and former RINO state clerk Kathy Bernier will join Kennedy in welcoming her as she loses the trust of her constituents by failing to comprehend the left’s tendency to manipulate the electoral process.  ,
” Whether you volunteer at the polls, educate the public, or engage in election-related litigation, Wisconsin Election Law and the Citizen Lawyer , will empower you to defend the right to vote, the rule of law, and the Constitution”, the State Bar proclaims in the ad.
Kennedy, according to the flyer, has worked in elections for more than 45 years, serving as” Wisconsin’s Chief Elections official for more than 30 years”.
” No other individual has served longer in that role”, the announcement states. ” Wisconsin has been consistently recognized as a leader and innovator in the administration of elections, lobbying, and campaign finance”.
Joe Forward, communications director for the State Bar of Wisconsin, said the continuing legal education program includes a” subject matter expert on election law”, aka Kennedy.  ,
In an email response to The Federalist’s questions, Forward wrote that” these panelists were chosen because of their experience with and knowledge of election law and the electoral process.”  ,
The Carter Center and the State Bar of Wisconsin fail to mention that Kennedy was effectively kicked out of his position in charge of elections in 2016 after his Government Accountability Board was disbanded for repeated errors in the GAB’s interpretation of election law.  ,
” Kevin Kennedy should not be taking a course on democracy, so he should be on a list of democracy offender registry.” He should n’t be allowed within fifty feet of democracy”, said , Adam Gibbs, longtime Wisconsin politico and communications director at the Foundation for Government Accountability. He should be required to inform his neighbors of the offenses he committed while abusing his position of authority, according to  .
I felt utterly helpless,” I Felt Completely Helpless.”
Deborah Jordahl and her family will undoubtedly never forget Kevin Kennedy and his allies as prosecutors. The sun had yet to rise when deputies carrying warrants searched on Mrs. Jordahl’s front door in a quiet Madison suburb, as I wrote in a 2016 piece for the Washington Times.
Armed officers led by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s investigators searched for other private items, including paper records, smartphones, and other electronic devices, in addition to the items sought in the multi-agency John Doe political probe spearheaded by Kennedy and his henchmen, through the possessions of Jordahl and her family.  ,
As I originally reported for Wisconsin Watchdog at the time, Jordahl, her husband, and their teenage children were confined to the home’s family room for several hours, guarded by a Dane County deputy. As a deputy advised the girl not to tell her friends at school about the raid, her daughter, 15, was sitting on the couch in pajamas and crying.  ,
” At one point early on, I started to get up from the sofa”, Jordahl said. I informed the guard guard that I wanted to call my attorney. She told me I could n’t call anyone and she backed me down on the sofa.
” I felt completely helpless in my own home”, Jordahl said of the coordinated raids of Oct. 3, 2013.  ,
Wisconsin’s John Doe investigations operate much like a grand jury. A John Doe is overseen by a judge who collaborates more closely with the prosecution than a grand jury. Additionally, investigators are prohibited from discussing the investigation outside the judge’s or courtroom’s chamber by confidentiality orders. The probes could have been used to cover up whether an alleged political crime had been committed at the time.
Difficulty right-of-center groups and scores of conservatives like Jordahl were the targets of the abusive investigations ten years ago. The activist had long used her voice to advocate for conservative candidates and principles. Then Kennedy and crew under the pretense of a” campaign finance” investigation silenced her speech — on penalty of incarceration.  ,
Armed police stormed the conservative activist’s home in a comprehensive raid that morning, whose 16-year-old son was traveling alone.  ,
” To his horror, he saw uniformed officers, their guns drawn.’ Police,’ they yelled.’ We have a warrant.’ An officer shined a flashlight on a document ( he ) could n’t read. Unsure what to do, but unwilling to defy the authorities, he let them in”, National Review reported. The officers sat him down, read the entire search warrant to him, and told him not to reveal the raid to anyone, not even school officials. He asked if he could call his parents. They said no. He inquired if he could make a legal consultation. They said no”.
Kevin Kennedy: You Must Go
Eric O’Keefe, conservative activist and target of the John Doe probe, received what he has described as a “kitchen sink subpoena”. O’Keefe fought back, robbing of being imprisoned for telling the public about the abuses he and other conservatives were going through, all in the name of politics and power.  ,
In an interview with The Federalist, O’Keefe said he finds it “really obnoxious” that Kennedy is being put up on a pedestal as a beacon of integrity and the “rule of law” . ,
He said,” This is a guy whose department supported and encouraged a process that included armed raids on family homes of people who had committed no crimes.” ” That’s the guy who is’ defending democracy’? Why does n’t he give that talk in Tehran” ? ,
Although none of the responsible parties to the unconstitutional investigations was ever held accountable, legal battles did expose damning emails and other government agents ‘ communications. Nearly 140 pages of emails between Kennedy and Lois Lerner, the disgraced former director of the Internal Revenue Service’s Exempt Organizations division were retrieved through an open records request from Dave Craig, a state representative from southeast Wisconsin at the time. Lerner’s weaponized division was caught targeting conservatives and right-of-center nonprofits based on their ideology.  ,
A 2015 piece by the Wall Street Journal editorial board headlined,” Wisconsin’s Friend at the IRS: Emails show a common cause in restricting political speech”, included some of the more alarming communications between Lerner, whom Kennedy described as a longtime friend.  ,
The IRS’s scrutiny of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status has always seemed to echo the IRS’s concern for conservative groups. It turns out that may be more than a coincidence”, the Journal column began.  ,
Republicans claimed that Lerner’s emails “exposed a coordinated effort” by Kennedy and Obama.  ,
According to state Senator Alberta Darling and state representative John Nygren, it is obvious that Lerner’s harassment of conservative groups at the federal level directly coincided with the harassment of conservative groups in our state. With Kennedy in charge,” we have lost all faith that the GAB can be relied on to operate in a non-partisan manner for the citizens of the state of Wisconsin.”
And go Kennedy did, along with the corrupt GAB. The state Senate would never confirm the long-time leader of the GAB for a position in its successor agency, but he had already left the agency. Fed up, the Republican-led legislature shut down the corrupt elections regulatory board. Republicans, however, replaced the GAB with the Wisconsin Elections Commission ( WEC ), which brought over many of the same agents from the old regulator. Conservatives have accused WEC of being just as partisan as its predecessor.  ,
The State Bar of Wisconsin invited Kevin Kennedy to teach a free continuing education course on “protecting democracy” which demonstrates how co-opted they have become and how committed to turning lawyers into activists, Craig, who currently serves as the Foundation for Government Accountability, told The Federalist in an email.  ,
In August, a federal judge ruled that a free speech lawsuit brought against the Wisconsin State Bar may proceed, Reuters reported. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a lawyer from Wisconsin, claims that the bar association’s mandatory dues for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are violating his First Amendment rights. Compelling membership dues pay for such programs, Suhr argues, is unconstitutional.
For more election news and updates, visit , electionbriefing.com.
Matt Kittle covers The Federalist’s senior elections coverage. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.