Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign may be negotiating with prosecutors as part of a secret investigation into the 2012 recall campaigns involving him and other candidates, according to an anonymously sourced opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.

Until now, the conservative editorial page of the national newspaper has defended Walker against what it says is an unconstitutional violation of his campaign’s free speech rights and those of other right-wing groups by prosecutors. But in the editorial published Tuesday, the newspaper attacked Walker, alleging that his attorney was negotiating with authorities at a time when the prosecutors have had their investigation halted by a federal judge.

The sources for the editorial were not named and its details are so far unconfirmed.

“We’ve learned that Steven Biskupic, who represents Friends of Scott Walker, has been negotiating with Wisconsin special prosecutor Francis Schmitz to settle the state’s investigation. The understandable concern among the direct targets of the John Doe is that Mr. Biskupic will cut a deal that would exonerate Mr. Walker while wresting concessions from some of Mr. Walker’s allies,” the editorial reads. “… Sounds like Mr. Walker has to decide whose side he’s on — his own, or the larger principles he claims to represent.”

At an appearance early Wednesday in New Berlin, Walker had no comment on the anonymous allegations, citing the judge’s order of secrecy in the case.

“As I pointed out before, the bottom line is, per the law, people who know anything about it are prohibited from talking about it, and people who don’t know anything about it shouldn’t be talking about it. So either way I don’t talk about it,” Walker said.

Shortly after Walker, a Republican, won his June 2012 recall election, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm launched a secret probe to look into whether the Wisconsin Club for Growth and other conservative groups illegally coordinated with the campaigns for Walker and candidates for state Senate. Chisholm is a Democrat, and Schmitz, the special prosecutor overseeing the investigation, describes himself as a Republican who voted for Walker.

John Doe investigations are overseen by judges and allow prosecutors to compel people to produce documents and give testimony. The inquiry is being conducted under secrecy, though details have spilled out through leaks and a wave of litigation surrounding the investigation.

In January, the Wisconsin Club for Growth and one of its directors, Eric O’Keefe, filed a federal lawsuit contending the investigation violated their rights to free speech. This month, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa in Milwaukee halted the probe as he considers the group’s claims.

A three-judge panel of the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago is considering aspects of the case, including requests from prosecutors to overturn Randa’s order blocking the probe and to dismiss the lawsuit outright.

Unnamed parties have also filed two lawsuits in state court challenging the investigation, and Schmitz has asked the state Court of Appeals to review a decision by the judge overseeing the probe to quash subpoenas issued to targets of the probe.

Meanwhile, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and four other groups representing journalists have intervened in the case and are asking to make public hundreds of pages of documents that have been blacked out in the federal lawsuit. Randa has not yet ruled on whether to do that.

Schmitz declined to comment on the Wall Street Journal piece, as did Steve Biskupic, a former U.S. attorney who represents the Walker campaign.

David Rivkin, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing O’Keefe in his federal lawsuit, did not return a phone message seeking comment.