Wisconsin

Sourcewatch “In 2013, Franklin Center’s “Wisconsin Reporter” website published over a dozen articles aggressively attacking Wisconsin’s “John Doe” probe into possible campaign finance violations during Wisconsin’s 2011 and 2012 recall elections, and broke stories about the investigation. The Center for Media and Democracy (publishers of Sourcewatch.org) uncovered in December 2013 that the news outlet may have a conflict of interest, as “Franklin Center has close ties to individuals and groups that may be caught up in the John Doe.”

Franklin Center/Wisconsin Reporter called its series on the John Doe “Wisconsin’s Secret War,” and cited “unnamed sources to reveal that Wisconsin Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity, and Republican Governors Association had received subpoenas, and describing details about “after-hours visits to homes and offices” and prosecutors’ “demands for phone, email and other records.” [16]”