By: Jason Easley and Sarah JonesJun. 4th, 2012more from Jason Easley and Sarah Jones

In case anyone required more evidence that the real source of doom for Scott Walker isn’t the recall but the John Doe investigation, consider that a day before the recall Walker’s former top aide has flipped and is now working with the investigation.

According to the Wisconsin Democratic Party,

Scott Walker’s closest political aide has just been named in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Monday as the source of damaging revelations that undermine Walker’s claim that he has cooperated with the John Doe criminal corruption probe into his current and former administrations.

Tim Russell, who was hired or promoted by Scott Walker even after he was fired for stealing from a state agency, was said in court Monday to have given Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Dan Bice information that showed that, contrary to Walker’s claims, Walker was stonewalling investigators all along.
The shocking revelation that Scott Walker’s closest aide sought to damage Walker on the eve of Tuesday’s historic recall election indicated that Russell was cooperating with a prosecution against Walker himself.

The worm turns on election eve.

I’ve been telling you for a year that Walker was in hot water (back when no one knew about the John Doe but the signs were there) and as we watched those closest to him being raided by the FBI, I told you this was heading right for Walker’s doorstep. Well, the USS Lie, Cheat, Steal and Grift has tossed its final rope in the form of his one of his closest aids and confidantes, Tim Russell, turning on Scott Walker.

On January 9th of this year, I reported on Tim Russell:

“Facing criminal charges of embezzlement from a veterans charity and theft from two conservative campaigns, Tim Russell wasn’t just the person Walker appointed to be in charge of the money for a veteran’s charity, but it turns out he was one of “Walker’s top lieutenants as he moved in and out of campaign jobs, posts in Walker’s county office, other county jobs and his own real estate business.” He is described as part of Walker’s close inner circle and one of his most trusted confidants.

Russell was charged with criminal embezzlement charges for stealing money from a charity for veterans’ families that Walker put him in charge of, in addition to charges that he stole money from two conservative campaigns.”

Russell apparently saw his only way out from an epic mess as cooperating with the investigation, and he is the leak that has so harmed Scott Walker in recent days. Remember Scott Walker claiming to have been working with authorities? Well, he wasn’t. Walker’s been obstructing them for the two years they’ve been investigating him.

Yes, you read that right. Two years. He was being investigated during his gubernatorial run for activities as County Executive, and then for campaign activities. One wonders what they might turn up on him for his time as governor.

Did you see that mention of real estate business? That’s where things get really bad for Walker, but I digress.

Russell is the source for Dan Bice’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story May 31, in which it was revealed that Walker was not cooperating and had indeed been under investigation for two years:

Milwaukee County prosecutors opened the secret John Doe criminal investigation more than two years ago after being stonewalled by Gov. Scott Walker’s office when he was county executive, according to a newly released record.

The document appears to cast doubt on some of Walker’s claims about his role in launching and cooperating with the investigation.

Thirteen people have been granted immunity in the John Doe surrounding Walker’s time as both an elected official and his Gubernatorial campaign. Thirteen.

You don’t get immunity unless you have a lot to give, and you don’t need immunity unless there is a lot against you.

See where this is going? No matter how June 5th turns out, Scott Walker will not be governing freely as the dictator of Wisconsin for much longer. He faces at the very least an all consuming legal battle and a Republican Party looking to save its own hide. When your closest political allies turn on you this close to a recall, the con is all but over.

Et tu, Brute? You betcha.

Note: Wisconsinites who don’t wish to be governed by a Republican from the Walker administration still need to get out the vote; sooner is better than later, Lt. Governors run on a separate ticket, and there are those Senate races to consider.