Wood supplied The Daily Caller with photographs of him after the alleged attack, purportedly showing injuries to his neck, head and face.

On Monday, Media Trackers published on its website threatening text messages allegedly sent by Philip Frank, Pocan's husband, to Wood. Balles said there is "no validity" to the messages, and Media Trackers removed the story from its website.

Wood did not respond to numerous phone and email messages from the State Journal over the past several days, and no one answered at Wood's Madison apartment Monday.

Lee’s campaign issued a news release Monday saying that Wood had been dismissed and the campaign staff was cooperating with the police. The release said the campaign learned Monday that “a deeply troubled volunteer misled police, news outlets and our own team in regards to events that he alleged.”

Pocan's campaign had no immediate statement about the Wood case.

Balles said he did not want to disclose details about why Wood had made the alleged false report and why he recanted but said those details will come out in time.

He said it was important for police to fully investigate the allegations because of the political backdrop to the case. In the meantime, he said, police will finish reports over the next few days and then take it to the Dane County District Attorney's Office to discuss possible charges. In 2008, Wood was arrested for threatening his former boyfriend with a butcher knife. After he pleaded no contest, the charge was lowered to a non-criminal forfeiture for disorderly conduct, and Wood paid a $275 fine.