By of the

A venture fund manager consulted with then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker about state and federal voting laws in 2010, just weeks before the businessman began posting controversial ads on billboards in Milwaukee that warned "Voter Fraud is a Felony."

"Scott, I need to know the rules for illegal voting in Wisconsin," Stephen Einhorn wrote in an email on July 22, 2010. "Please check into the rules, including federal statutes. I need to know what the law is, if you violate it."

Einhorn continued, "I need this for some work that I am doing, and would appreciate your prompt response."

Walker forwarded the email to Cheryl Berdan, an assistant administrator in his office with the instructions, "Please help him out."

The exchange was made available Thursday in thousands of pages of documents that were released by Milwaukee County. The records had been collected by prosecutors during a John Doe investigation and are now becoming public as the result of legal action by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Einhorn, who came under fire for the billboard campaign in the 2012 recall race, said in an email Thursday that he had the right to make an inquiry of a public official about a public policy issue.

"At no time did I ever tell him what use I was going to make of the information or that I was going to put up billboards reminding the public that voter fraud was against the law or, for that matter, any billboards at all," Einhorn wrote.

"Because neither he nor his office ever knew I was going to put up billboards, they obviously provided no advice about them and we did not consult with him or his office on placement or content of the billboards."

Einhorn and his wife, Nancy, have given Walker $50,350 over the past decade, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Michael Grebe, head of the Bradley Foundation and Walker's campaign chairman, has acknowledged that the foundation helped underwrite the cost of the billboards in Walker's 2010 race through a $10,000 grant to the Einhorn Foundation.

Einhorn said his foundation received the money from the Bradley Foundation after the billboards had already been posted. Previously, Einhorn said he footed the bill for the 2012 race.

"I was just a citizen — acting on my own — to speak on an issue that I thought was important," Einhorn wrote in his email. "I did not consult with Mike Grebe about the billboards, either."

Tom Evenson, a spokesman for Walker's campaign, said in a statement, "It appears that a question from a constituent was forwarded to the county executive's constituent services office."

The emails show contact between Einhorn and Walker's office on a variety of county issues.

The billboards came under attack in both races. Community groups said the billboards were used to try to intimidate and suppress minority voting.

Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, said the email exchange pulls Walker into the center of the billboard controversy.

"As we've seen throughout the criminal investigation of Scott Walker's administration and campaign, he is front and center and directing the operations," Ross said. "The email shows Scott Walker was involved from the start in the voter intimidation billboard effort financed by his campaign co-chair."

The records released by the county are related to the first of two John Doe investigations. The first probe led to led to convictions of six Walker aides, associates or appointees on charges ranging from theft from a veteran's group to misconduct in office.

Walker was never charged.

The second John Doe investigation has been stopped by a federal judge. That probe focused on links between Walker's campaign and outside groups in the 2012 recall. A special prosecutor in that probe has said Walker is not a target.