In a brief filed today in the Seventh Circiut Court of Appeals, prosecutors directly say that the John Doe investigation is into "a candidate" that illegally coordinated to "circumvent state contribution limits and reporting requirements":
Specifically, the John Doe Proceedings were commenced to focus on coordinated expenditures—in the form of coordinated issue advocacy—that were secretly coordinated between a candidate, the candidate’s campaign committee and the candidate’s agents and various outside groups, including 501(c)(4) organizations, in order to circumvent state contribution limits and reporting requirements.
Later the brief says "five different district attorneys and the John Doe Judge found a reasonable belief that a crime (i.e., secret coordinated issue advocacy) occurred."
Stay tuned: more is on the way!
