COLUMBUS, Ohio—Ohio Republicans appear to be behind the effort to disqualify Libertarian Charlie Earl from the May primary ballot, a federal judge stated in a court ruling Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson's comments came just days after Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges denied under oath that the state GOP was behind a challenge to Earl's candidate petition signatures.

Gregory A. Felsoci of Rocky River, a registered Libertarian, filed the challenge on the grounds that petition signature collectors for Earl didn't properly disclose that they were employed by the Libertarian Party of Ohio.

Watson upheld the decision to keep Earl off the primary ballot, but he called Felsoci a "guileless dupe" who showed in testimony that he "lacks even a basic understanding" of the challenge he made.

Felsoci made the challenge after a Republican friend, John Musica, showed him an unidentified document at a coffee shop, Watson stated. Soon afterward, the Columbus law firm Zeiger, Tigges & Little contacted Felsoci to launch the protest.

The judge noted that Felsoci isn't paying the law firm to represent him in the case and doesn't know who is.

“To state the obvious, Felsoci’s testimony, as well as the other evidence in the record, supports an inference that operatives or supporters of the Ohio Republican Party orchestrated the protest that Felsoci signed,” Watson wrote in his 28-page ruling.

Watson, who was appointed to the bench in 2004 by then-President George W. Bush, said it was "fair to acknowledge the inference" because Ohio Democrats had helped Earl gather petition signatures.

If Earl is kept off the primary ballot, he and other Libertarians say it would likely prevent him from running in the general election this fall against Republican Gov. John Kasich and Democrat Ed FitzGerald. Many believe Earl would siphon votes from Kasich, though the GOP argues that FitzGerald could lose support as well.

Borges testified on Monday that the Ohio Republican Party did not seek out challengers to Earl’s petition. The party chairman also said that the state GOP did not pay any money to fund the challenge.

The chairman said he had talked with party staffers about the Ohio GOP filing a challenge, but such discussion stopped once the party’s attorney told him the Republicans didn’t have standing to contest the case.

Borges also testified that he misspoke when he told reporters late last month that the Ohio GOP did have a role in the challenges. He told the court that he had a number of other things on his mind that day, including a family medical issue and moving a party meeting because of an electrical explosion in downtown Columbus.

“Anyone who’s looking for the conspiracy behind it – it’s just not there,” Borges testified.

Asked about Watson's comments, Ohio Republican Party spokesman Chris Schrimpf said Wednesday he had "no idea" if state party supporters or operatives were involved in the challenge to Earl's campaign.

"We weren't involved," Schimpf said, referring to the Ohio Republican Party. "We don't know who was involved, except for what's in the court case."