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Prosecutors in the John Doe investigation into spending and fundraising during the raucous Wisconsin recall elections were dealt a major procedural blow Friday, according to sources.

The five-county investigation remains open, but subpoenas issued in the probe to conservative political groups supporting Gov. Scott Walker were quashed, sources familiar with the development said. The ruling — which is sealed — raises First Amendment concerns about the subpoenas.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has not turned up any Democratic candidates or liberal interest groups involved in the recall elections that have been contacted by John Doe prosecutors.

"The John Doe is still open," said one individual familiar with the case.

But other sources said Friday's ruling seriously undercuts the well-publicized probe, launched in summer 2012. Those familiar with the case said the decision was handed down by retired Appeals Judge Gregory A. Peterson,the presiding judge in the investigation who took over the case in November.

Peterson said late Friday that he could not comment on any aspect of the case because the proceedings are still covered by a secrecy order. John Doe investigations allow prosecutors to work in secret while compelling witnesses to turn over documents and give testimony.

The Wall Street Journal's opinion page reported Friday night that it had obtained a copy of Peterson's ruling. The paper said the judge wrote that the quashed subpoenas "do not show probable cause that the moving parties committed any violations of the campaign finance laws."

The paper said the "quashed subpoenas were sent to Friends of Scott Walker, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Inc., the Wisconsin Club for Growth, and Citizens for a Strong America, as well as their officers and directors." Friends of Scott Walker is the governor's campaign group.

Stephen Moore, a Wall Street Journal editorial writer, was a founder and former president of Club for Growth.

The paper reported that Peterson rejected the prosecution's theory of illegal coordination between the groups and Walker's campaign. Prosecutors did not show that the groups expressly advocated for Walker's election, the story quotes Peterson as ruling.

Prosecutors and others involved in the case declined to discuss the major development. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and his top deputy, Kent Lovern, did not return calls.

Sources have said the investigation — first disclosed by the Journal Sentinel — is looking at whether such conservative groups as the Wisconsin Club for Growth coordinated illegally with GOP candidates or others during the 2011 and 2012 recall races. In the most prominent contest, Walker beat back an attempt by Democrats to remove him.

On Friday, a top adviser to Wisconsin Club for Growth, R.J. Johnson, posted this on his Facebook page:

"To those who know the hell we have gone through over the last three months — we have been completely and utterly vindicated. Thank you Lord!"

Johnson, who declined to comment, is also a top campaign strategist to Walker.

Conservatives have raised First Amendment and other objections to the subpoenas, calling them a politically motivated attempt by prosecutors to block political speech. Chisholm, whose office initiated the investigation, is a Democrat.

"This is really good news," a source involved in the case said Friday. "They've been doing nothing but chasing after ghosts."

The appeals court filings stem from John Doe investigations in Milwaukee, Dane, Dodge, Columbia and Iowa counties.

This is the second secret probe involving Walker launched by Milwaukee County prosecutors. The first John Doe investigation, which closed in 2013 after nearly three years, led to criminal convictions of six individuals, including three former Walker aides, an appointee and a major campaign contributor.

In November, three unnamed people asked the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to temporarily halt the latest secret investigation. The motion was unsuccessful, with the appeals court refusing to disqualify the judge in the case.

But the court granted the anonymous plaintiffs' request to file a sealed petition and asked for more information before it decides on several more claims by the people caught up in the probe.

The appeals court decision on those claims is pending. Sources emphasized that the appeals court case is separate from Peterson's sweeping decision on Friday.

Lawyers for the anonymous plaintiffs filed their litigation just before Eric O'Keefe of Wisconsin Club for Growth was quoted in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece saying he received a subpoena in October in the John Doe probe.

The Wall Street Journal named an array of conservative organizations as being involved in some way, including Walker's campaign, business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the Republican Governors Association. The newspaper said it had seen two subpoenas in the investigation.

Walker has declined to say whether anyone on his staff or campaign has been contacted by investigators. He has suggested that the timing of the Journal Sentinel's October disclosure of the investigation was political because the story ran about the same time Democrat Mary Burke announced her gubernatorial bid.

In a Dec. 17 interview at the governor's mansion, Walker said he did not see much overlap between Johnson's role with Walker's campaign and the Wisconsin Club for Growth.

Walker said the Club for Growth was focused on state Senate recall elections in 2011 and that his 2012 campaign to survive the recall was unlike normal elections. That's because during much of the campaign, the usual campaign finance limits did not apply.

The period of unlimited fundraising ran from the time recall petitions were circulated until election officials certified there were enough signatures to hold an election. Walker was able to raise unlimited sums after that to cover expenses incurred during that window.

"For all practical purposes, it wasn't until the campaign was over" that the fundraising limits for Walker's campaign went back in place, he said.

In the first John Doe investigation, Walker and his allies deferred to Chisholm and his staff — at least until the first round of charges were filed.

This time, however, the response from the right was swift and aggressive.

Those targeted by this probe brought in heavyweight lawyers from around the country, including Michael Bresnick, a Washington, D.C., attorney who worked alongside U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on the federal government's $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Bresnick declined to comment when reached Friday about the latest development.

Patrick Marley, Jason Stein and Tom Kertscher of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.