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Madison — Gov. Scott Walker went on the attack Friday, lashing out at prosecutors and the media on conservative outlets, writing an opinion piece, blasting out edgy tweets on Twitter and going on the air with his harshest attack yet on his Democratic rival.

Walker took the steps in the wake of Thursday's disclosure that John Doe prosecutors were alleging he was at the center of a "criminal scheme" to circumvent state campaign laws to raise and spend money in the 2011 and 2012 recall elections.

The Republican governor repeatedly said he and his allies had done nothing wrong, pointing out that a state and federal judge had blocked the investigation.

He indicated on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" that he believes the John Doe probe has "been resolved" by the two judges' rulings. Those decisions are being appealed.

"Watching the media frenzy, it is clear that this is what happens when someone takes on the big government special interests," Walker wrote in a column distributed to the media on Friday morning. "They push back. No wonder so many politicians are afraid to make tough decisions."

On "Midday With Charlie Sykes" on WTMJ-AM (620), Walker said the "incredible abuse of power by a partisan prosecutor" in the John Doe probe of his campaign should frighten everyone in Wisconsin, regardless of their political affiliation.

"There is nothing wrong with what we did," Walker said.

Then the governor also tweeted: "This is nothing more than a partisan investigation with no basis in state law."

Walker's campaign dropped $245,000 to air a new TV commercial attacking his opponent, Democrat Mary Burke, and tying her to former Gov. Jim Doyle. The TV spot will run from Friday to July 1 in Madison and Milwaukee as well as in Green Bay, La Crosse and Wausau.

"When Jim Doyle was governor and Mary Burke was commerce secretary, they gambled taxpayer money on dreadful policies," says the commercial, dubbed "Bad Hand." It concludes: "Wisconsin can't afford to be dealt another bad hand by Mary Burke."

Burke's campaign immediately pushed back against the ad, highlighting new figures that show Wisconsin was 37th in the nation in job growth in 2013. Walker campaign spokesman Tom Evenson countered the ranking was worse when Burke was state commerce secretary.

Asked about the John Doe disclosures this week, Burke was muted in her response. She did say she was "disappointed because it's not serving the people of Wisconsin and what they want in a governor."

"When I'm governor, people will be able to trust what I say, what I do, and I'm going to be working every day for them. I think that's how we're going to restore the confidence in politics and in politicians," Burke said in an interview that will air Sunday on WISN-TV's "UpFront with Mike Gousha," according to a transcript released by her campaign.

She said that the John Doe investigation should run its course, but that she would not focus on it in her campaign.

Other Democrats disputed Walker's claims the investigation has been nothing but a partisan attack. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) noted the probe was launched by district attorneys from both parties and with the unanimous approval of the retired judges who make up the state Government Accountability Board. The special prosecutor leading the probe, Francis Schmitz, has said he is a Republican who voted for Walker.

"The Republican spin that this investigation is a partisan witch hunt is categorically untrue and the fact that Governor Walker is continuing to assert that point is highly misleading," Barca said in a statement.

Long appeals process

On Thursday, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals unsealed more than 260 pages of court records that provided the most detailed account of prosecutors' theories. Prosecutors say they are looking into whether Walker, his aides and an array of conservative groups violated campaign finance laws by having Walker's campaign work so closely with groups that are supposed to be independent.

No one has been charged. A federal judge in Milwaukee halted the investigation last month because he determined the activity in question didn't break the law. Walker and his allies highlighted those points Friday and noted a state judge reached similar conclusions in January. Even though the investigation now is effectively frozen, those state and federal cases could drag on for months through the appeal process, forcing Walker to deal with it throughout his campaign this summer and fall.

A Marquette University Law School poll recently indicated that the race between Walker and Burke was a dead heat, with the pair tied at 46% each among registered voters.

Political observers said Friday they believed the new details could have little effect on his re-election bid because Wisconsin's electorate is so polarized.

"Republicans see this as a witch hunt of Walker. Democrats see a Republican prosecutor and say it's not a witch hunt. You can take what you want," said Joe Heim, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. "And the public just shakes their heads and rolls their eyes."

Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said that as long as prosecutors do not charge Walker and as long as he wins his re-election bid Nov. 4, Walker will have a strong shot at competing for the Republican presidential nomination.

"It's about what happens this November, not what happens three Novembers from now," Sabato said. "Scott Walker has to get through this gubernatorial election and do reasonably well."

Sabato said campaign finance coordination is a widespread concern, but most people do not leave a written record of the communication involved. The records unsealed Thursday included an excerpt of an email from Walker to Karl Rove, the GOP strategist and former aide to President George W. Bush.

"Don't let a governor write notes to a national political operative," Sabato said. "You have phone calls where you can have those conversations and not be traced back; don't use emails."

More documents to come

The release of court records Thursday was not the first one creating headaches for Walker, and it may not be the last. In February, more than 27,000 pages of emails became public as part of the appeal of Kelly Rindfleisch, who was Walker's deputy chief of staff when he was Milwaukee County executive. After an earlier probe, Rindfleisch was convicted in 2012 of doing campaign work on government time.

Those emails showed Walker urged his county and campaign staff to post comments promoting him on news websites during his 2010 campaign for governor. They also included ones where his aides shared racist jokes.

More documents are to come. Two weeks ago, the state judge who oversaw the investigation into Rindfleisch and others ordered prosecutors to turn over a cache of documents to Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele. Those documents include emails from Walker and his top aides, and many of them will now be available under the state's open records law.

And in the federal lawsuit challenging the ongoing investigation into Walker's fundraising, journalism groups have intervened to try to get hundreds of other documents unsealed.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa in Milwaukee on Thursday declined to release any of the documents before him, but he said he may release some if prosecutors and various targets agree on what the public can see. But the journalism groups will have a chance to go to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which released the records about Walker on Thursday.

In declining to release the other documents, Randa took a shot at prosecutors for their willingness to make investigative records public. He wrote they appeared to "seek refuge in the Court of Public Opinion, having lost in this Court on the law."

Cost to taxpayers rising

Also this week, new figures that were released show the cost of defending against lawsuits stemming from the secret investigation have cost taxpayers nearly $350,000. Those expenses could climb to well above that amount.

The state has entered contracts with six law firms to defend prosecutors and other officials in five legal actions stemming from the probe. Those contracts are capped at a total of $534,500, but it is likely some caps will be raised because one contract is already less than $60 away from its limit — with much legal work yet to be done.

Targets of the probe have filed one lawsuit in federal court and three in state courts. Prosecutors have filed their own legal action in state court to reverse a January decision by the judge overseeing the probe that quashed subpoenas to Walker's campaign and conservative groups.

Normally, public officials are represented by the state Department of Justice in civil lawsuits. In these cases, Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's office is defending Reserve Judge Gregory Peterson, who is overseeing the John Doe probe, and Van Hollen has said that creates a conflict preventing him from representing the others.

That has meant the state has had to hire private lawyers at taxpayer expense.

Here's a breakdown of the costs so far:

■ $149,744 has been billed by Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker to represent Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. That means that contract is about to bump up against its $150,000 cap.

■ $79,959.40 has been paid to Von Briesen & Roper to represent special prosecutor Schmitz. Another $50,730 has been billed by that firm.

■ $60,058 has been paid to Axley Brynelson to represent investigator Dean Nickel.

■ $7,181 has been paid to Peterson, Johnson & Murray to represent Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlway and Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg.

Additionally, Hinshaw & Culbertson has been retained to represent Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and Iowa County District Attorney Larry Nelson, but the firm has not yet billed the state.

Similarly, Lee, Kilkelly, Paulson & Younger is representing the Government Accountability Board, which oversees state election laws. That firm also has not billed the state yet, and its contract is capped at $100,000.

Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.