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The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has declined to halt a secret five-county investigation targeting potential illegal coordination by Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and Republican and conservative groups during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections.

The court also made public hundreds of pages of previously sealed filings Thursday evening that reveal new details about the politically charged probe, including the fact that the investigation is targeting five individuals. The unsealed records do not outline specific allegations, nor do they identify any targets of the so-called John Doe investigation, some of whose identities have previously been leaked to selected news outlets.

Among the revelations is the refusal by Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to conduct the multi-jurisdictional investigation. Van Hollen cited potential conflicts of interest, details of which are blacked out in the documents, and “the perception that my office can not act impartially.”

According to the documents, the investigation began in Milwaukee County on Sept. 5, 2012, less than three months after the June 2012 election in which Walker beat back an attempt to recall him from office.