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Madison — Prosecutors allege Gov. Scott Walker was at the center of an effort to illegally coordinate fundraising among conservative groups to help his campaign and those of Republican state senators facing recall elections during 2011 and 2012, according to documents unsealed Thursday.

In the documents, prosecutors laid out what they call an extensive "criminal scheme" to bypass state election laws by Walker, his campaign and two top Republican political operatives — R.J. Johnson and Deborah Jordahl. No one has been charged, but this marks the prosecutors' most detailed account of the investigation yet.

The governor and his close confidants helped raise money and control spending through 12 conservative groups during the recall election campaigns, according to the prosecutors' filings.

Update: Walker, on Fox News, says John Doe probe has 'been resolved'

Live at noon: Daniel Bice chats about the allegations against Walker

The documents include an excerpt from an email in which Walker tells Karl Rove, former top adviser to President George W. Bush, that Johnson would lead the coordination campaign. Johnson also is Walker's longtime campaign strategist and the chief adviser to Wisconsin Club for Growth, a prominent conservative group.

"Bottom-line: R.J. helps keep in place a team that is wildly successful in Wisconsin. We are running 9 recall elections and it will be like 9 congressional markets in every market in the state (and Twin Cities)," Walker wrote to Rove on May 4, 2011. Rove runs American Crossroads, which backs Republican congressional and presidential candidates.

Beginning in March 2011, there were "open and express discussions" of the need to coordinate the activities of entities like Americans for Prosperity, Wisconsin Club for Growth, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, the Republican State Leadership Committee and the Republican Governors Association, special prosecutor Francis Schmitz wrote. Conference calls were held between the Walker campaign, the governors association and the business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, he wrote.

The scope of the criminal scheme under investigation "is expansive," Schmitz wrote. "It includes criminal violations of multiple elections laws, including violations of Filing a False Campaign Report or Statement and Conspiracy to File a False Campaign Report or Statement."

Walker, who is running for re-election and is considered a possible 2016 presidential candidate, responded Thursday by criticizing the case that prosecutors were trying to build.

"You've got two judges, both a state judge and a federal judge, who said that they didn't buy into the argument that has been presented at this point," Walker said, speaking to reporters after presenting awards at the Water Council's summit in Milwaukee. "I think their words speak pretty strongly both at the federal and state level."

Walker said he hadn't seen the material and couldn't comment directly on his email to Rove. Walker indicated Johnson, his chief strategist, will remain with the campaign for the fall election.

"We've used him in the past," Walker said. "I don't see that changing in the future."

Later Thursday, Walker released a statement attacking Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. "The accusation of any wrongdoing written in the complaint by the office of a partisan Democrat district attorney by me or by my campaign is categorically false," he said in the statement.

The statement continued: "This is nothing more than a partisan investigation with no basis in state law. It's time for the prosecutors to acknowledge both judges' orders to end this investigation. Now my Democratic opponents will use these false accusations to distract from the issues important to the voters of Wisconsin."

'Witch hunt'

Federal Appeals Judge Frank Easterbrook unsealed the court documents Thursday as he reviews a lawsuit attempting to end the John Doe probe. Two unnamed individuals this week tried to intervene in the case to prevent the release of the records, but Easterbrook rebuffed their request.

Also Thursday, another federal judge ruled a host of other documents would mostly remain secret, though he allowed some could become public later.

The lawsuit was brought by Wisconsin Club for Growth and one of its directors, Eric O'Keefe. They allege the probe has violated their First Amendment rights to free expression. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa ruled last month to halt the investigation for now.

Wisconsin Club for Growth has alleged Chisholm and other prosecutors are on a "witch hunt" against conservatives, and a lawyer for the organization contended other documents released Thursday provided evidence of that.

"The materials released today are all ones that we asked the district court to unseal because the public has a right to know about the John Doe prosecutors' abuse of government power," club attorney Andrew Grossman said in a written statement.

Among the documents made public in their entirety is O'Keefe's original complaint asking Randa to halt the investigation.

The complaint says former Kenosha County Circuit Judge Barbara Kluka, the judge who originally presided over the investigation, authorized as many as 100 subpoenas "of breathtaking scope" and ordered raids "related to at least 29 organizations."

O'Keefe's complaint also describes the early-morning raids at the homes of several targets on Oct. 3, 2013.

"School-age children were home in at least two residences and school buses passed their houses during the course of the raids, which lasted over two and a half hours," O'Keefe's complaint said. "The searches were conducted by six armed sheriff's deputies with flak vests, bright lights were aimed at the houses, and multiple vehicles were parked on the lots, police lights ablaze."

The complaint says investigators took all family members' computers and cellphones, and that no one was permitted to call their attorneys.

In the suit, O'Keefe claimed prosecutors, either directly or indirectly, supplied information to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice for two articles — a 2010 story that broke for the first time an earlier John Doe probe; and an Oct. 21, 2013, article that revealed a second John Doe investigation had been launched.

O'Keefe charged "information from the article was leaked directly or indirectly from the DA's Office with the purpose of influencing the 2014 campaign cycle and legislative session and chilling conservative activism."

Leaks by John Doe prosecutors would violate the secrecy order imposed in such cases.

The Journal Sentinel has denied the accusation.

"Neither the tips nor the information in Dan's columns came from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office or from any prosecutor in the case," Martin Kaiser, editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said Thursday.

Coordination alleged

Prosecutors allege Johnson and Jordahl acted as a "hub" to coordinate activities among Walker's campaign and a host of conservative groups to help Walker and other Republicans in the recall elections. Those recalls were sparked by the GOP move in 2011 to sharply limit collective bargaining for most public employees.

Outside groups are allowed to work together on campaign activity, but there are limits on their ability to work with candidates. Generally, they are supposed to remain independent and not allowed to strategize with candidates.

Wisconsin Club for Growth maintains that prohibition does not apply to them and other conservative groups because they did not run ads explicitly telling people how to vote. Their efforts praised Walker and criticized his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, but did not use the phrases "vote for" or "vote against," they argue.

Randa and the second state judge overseeing the probe, state Reserve Judge Gregory Peterson, have sided with conservatives on that point. Prosecutors are seeking to overturn those rulings in state and federal court.

The prosecutors say the work amounts to illegal campaign contributions. They contend Wisconsin Club for Growth doled out money to other groups, who then used it to help Walker or other Republicans.

For example, the organization gave $2.5 million to Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, which in turn placed ads supporting Walker and Republicans, and criticizing their foes.

The club gave $4.6 million to Citizens for a Strong America — a sum that represented 99.9% of its revenue. The group then passed on some of the money to other groups — $1.2 million to Wisconsin Family Action, nearly $350,000 to Wisconsin Right to Life, and $245,000 to United Sportsmen of Wisconsin. In addition, Schmitz alleged, Citizens for a Strong America was the creation of Jordahl and Johnson. Johnson's wife, Valerie, was the treasurer and a signatory on the bank account, the brief alleges.

Johnson directly controlled Wisconsin Club for Growth, and Jordahl was a signatory on the club's bank account, the brief states.

"We own CFG," Johnson has stated, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors say Walker raised money for both his campaign and the club. Keith Gilkes — Walker's chief of staff in 2011 and campaign manager in 2010 and 2012 — also raised money for both Walker's campaign and the club, the documents allege. Similarly, GOP fundraisers Mary Stitt, Kelly Rindfleisch and Kate Doner also raised money for both Walker's campaign and the club, according to prosecutors.

As part of the earlier John Doe probe, Rindfleisch was convicted in 2012 for doing campaign work on government time while she served as Walker's deputy chief of staff when he was county executive. She is now caught up in the investigation into campaign coordination.

Based on the prosecutors' arguments, Kluka authorized sweeping subpoenas for a number of individuals, including O'Keefe. O'Keefe was ordered to turn over scores of documents dating back to 2009, the new documents show.

But Peterson, who replaced Kluka on the second John Doe case, quashed the subpoenas in January and ordered the return of any property seized because he found there was no probable cause shown that they violated campaign finance laws.

"I am persuaded the statutes only prohibit coordination by candidates and independent organizations for a political purpose, and political purpose, with one minor exception not relevant here ... requires express advocacy," Peterson wrote in an order included in documents released Thursday. "There is no evidence of express advocacy."

Unlike typical cases, large sections of documents in the club's lawsuit have been blacked out because the underlying investigation was supposed to be secret. Media groups have intervened to try to unseal the entire case file, but unnamed targets have asked to keep it closed.

In an order Thursday, Randa declined to make public any records, saying secrecy was important to protect people and entities who have not been charged.

He gave prosecutors, the club and the unnamed people two weeks to recommend what records they each believed could be made public.

Dave Umhoefer, Meg Kissinger and Ellen Gabler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.