David Budde, Recall Walker sign

Look at this.

Is it unusual to see an image like this in Milwaukee County?

No.

A "Recall Walker" sign is planted in a front yard, along with a Peace sign garden stake.

What makes this particular display noteworthy is whose house this is.

It belongs to the CHIEF INVESTIGATOR IN THE JOHN DOE INVESTIGATION BY MILWAUKEE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOHN CHISHOLM'S OFFICE.

Once again, Media Trackers has the story.

The chief investigator in the high-profile John Doe investigation into former Milwaukee County employees who worked for now-Governor Scott Walker has a Walker recall yard sign in his front lawn, and a pro-labor “Blue Fist” icon poster on the front door of his home. The news could call into question the present impartiality of the probe at a time when Democrat gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett and his allies have begun to use the issue as a top talking point.

David Budde is the Chief Investigator in Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s office, press accounts have repeatedly noted his central role in the John Doe investigation. His name appears throughout various documents relating to the probe.

Democrats and liberal groups have repeatedly charged that the John Doe will bring Walker down during the recall election. The details of the secretive investigation are not supposed to be leaked according to state law. However, strategically timed leaks arguably benefiting the narrative Democrats are trying to build have repeatedly taken place. Yet, none of the leaks or publicly available facts has yet substantiated the assertion that Walker is in any way connected to the crimes that caused him to call for the investigation in the first place.

District Attorney John Chisholm has failed to clarify what he intends to do to stop the leaks.

The sign that appears in chief investigator Budde’s yard carries a Democratic Party of Wisconsin disclosure statement at the bottom.

...Budde’s anti-Walker sentiments are quite strong. He has given small campaign contributions to John Chisholm in the past, and his wife, also a county employee (as of February) but not employed in the District Attorney’s office, signed the Walker recall petition.

This makes me wonder about the integrity of Chisholm and the objectivity of his office.

It makes me wonder if Budde has Dan Bice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter and dutiful disseminator of all things anti-Walker and sharer of the leaks from the DA's office, on speed dial.

Clearly, Budde isn't concerned about the appearance of bias. He doesn't care that it could appear improper for the CHIEF INVESTIGATOR in the so-called John Doe investigation to have anti-Walker signs at his home on public display.

This is a real problem.

I have serious doubts about John Chisholm and his office. There is a stunning lack of judgment in terms of maintaining professional standards.

It's reasonable to wonder whether Chisholm is in the business of upholding justice or carrying out witch hunts and going on fishing expeditions.
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Chisholm defends investigator with anti-Walker sign

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm is standing by an investigator working on the two-year John Doe investigation of former and current aides to Gov. Scott Walker even though the staffer has a sign in his front yard that advocates recalling the first-term governor.

The Wauwatosa home of David Budde, chief investigator for Chisholm, also has a pro-union Blue Fist sign in the front door.

Chisholm said in a Monday statement that Budde's wife had placed the sign in their yard about a week ago. The Democratic district attorney said he cannot regulate "the constitutional freedoms of my employees' families in their private lives."

"David Budde did not sign the recall petition and has conducted himself professionally and independently in this investigation, as he has done in numerous criminal investigations throughout his 26-year career as a law enforcement officer," Chisholm said in the statement.