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Madison — A conservative group and one of its directors sued a judge and prosecutors Monday in federal court in an attempt to shut down a secret investigation of campaign fundraising and spending in Wisconsin's recent recall elections.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Club for Growth and the group's treasurer, Eric O'Keefe, argue the probe violates their rights to free speech, free assembly and equal protection under the law.

The civil rights lawsuit asks the court to block prosecutors from continuing the John Doe probe, relieve O'Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth from having to cooperate with it, and order prosecutors to pay them compensatory damages for violating their constitutional rights.

Some of what they are seeking has been blacked out, as have other long sections of the 76-page complaint they filed because of secrecy orders issued in the probe.

"This secret investigation and gag order on conservative activists is intended to stop their political successes in Wisconsin," O'Keefe said in a statement. "The state cannot be allowed to silence political speech it does not like."

The suit before U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa came the same day a state appeals court ordered the unsealing of thousands of documents in a related, earlier investigation of aides to Gov. Scott Walker. Those records are to become available next week.

Named as defendants in Monday's suit are Reserve Judge Gregory A. Peterson, who is overseeing the investigation; special prosecutor Francis Schmitz; Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm; Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf; Assistant District Attorney David Robles; and investigator Dean Nickel.

Chisholm did not return a phone call and Peterson declined comment Monday. Schmitz also declined comment, in part because he said he had not yet seen an uncensored copy of the lawsuit.

The suit portrays the ongoing investigation, as well as the years-long probe that preceded it, as out of control and fueled by political bias. It accuses the prosecutors of engaging in "intimidating behavior and harassment."

It is the second attempt to ask a court to halt the probe. Three unnamed petitioners asked the state Court of Appeals in November to stop the investigationon technical grounds, but the three-judge panel last month unanimously declined to do so.

Allegations of leaking

Sources have said prosecutors are looking at whether groups such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth coordinated illegally with GOP candidates during the 2011 and 2012 recall races. In the most prominent contest, Walker in June 2012 became the first governor in the nation's history to win a recall election.

John Doe probes allow prosecutors to compel people to produce documents and give testimony, as well as bar them from talking publicly about the investigation. They are overseen by judges — in this case primarily by Peterson. Before him, another reserve judge was in charge of the case, and judges in five counties also have had small roles in the probe.

This is the second probe started by Chisholm that focuses on conservatives. 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.

O'Keefe's lawsuit contends the initial probe was "begun on pretextual grounds" and "grew into an ongoing audit of the Walker campaigns, allowing prosecutors an inside track to scrutinize actions of Walker staffers as they were taken, despite that they were unrelated to the original purported purpose of the investigation."

It alleges Chisholm has leaked information to embarrass Walker and shape public opinion and says he launched the initial investigation to influence the 2010 election.

"Within three years it had become the basis for a statewide probe into virtually every conservative independent organization involved in Wisconsin politics," writes O'Keefe's attorney, David Rivkin of Washington, D.C.

The Wisconsin Club for Growth "has been sidelined entirely and has ceased all First Amendment protected activity" because of the investigation, according to the lawsuit.

The club nonetheless continues to maintain a website and publish a weekly newsletter critical of President Barack Obama.

The suit notes the club is focused on issue advocacy and does not specifically urge the public to vote for or against particular candidates. That distinction is important in matters of campaign finance law because groups that make such pleas are subject to greater regulation.

But the lawsuit also contends "conservative independent social welfare organizations" like the club contributed to the success of Republicans who took over state government with the November 2010 elections.

Active in five counties

The latest probe, started in September 2012, ran largely quietly until recently, when the unnamed petitioners asked the Court of Appeals to halt the probe. That resulted in filings and the unsealing of investigative documents that showed Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen last year declined a request to lead the probe. They also revealed the probe arose at least in part out of the earlier secret investigation in Milwaukee County; includes five targets; centers on campaign finance laws; and has proceeded with the help of prosecutors from both political parties.

The latest probe has been active in Milwaukee, Dane, Dodge, Iowa and Columbia counties.

While the state Court of Appeals has allowed the investigation to continue, prosecutors face significant challenges. Last month Peterson — the judge overseeing the probe — issued a secret order quashing subpoenas against conservative groups supporting Walker, dealing investigators a setback, sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Wall Street Journal's opinion page reported last month it had obtained a copy of the ruling and that the judge wrote he was quashing the subpoenas because they "do not show probable cause that the moving parties committed any violations of the campaign finance laws."

The quashed subpoenas were sent to Walker's campaign, business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the Wisconsin Club for Growth and Citizens for a Strong America, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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.

Funds running out?

Last week, a lead prosecutor in the case filed paperwork in state court indicating someone with the initials E.S.O. was at the heart of the investigation. Sources confirmed Monday that's a reference to O'Keefe.

In a declaration accompanying Monday's lawsuit, O'Keefe describes his evolution from a libertarian political operative to a conservative activist who has served on the boards of a score of groups.

In addition, O'Keefe described the role of Republican strategist R.J. Johnson as a longtime adviser to the Wisconsin Club for Growth. Johnson is a consultant for both Walker and the club and has hinted he is a focus of the investigation.

Johnson, O'Keefe writes in his declaration, serves "as a vendor who oversaw the creation of (the group's) advertisements and as an adviser as to which organizations (the group) should fund."

O'Keefe writes that Wisconsin Club for Growth has spent down most of its funds and had to cancel fundraising and issue ad campaigns because of the investigation.

"My communication with my national network has dramatically changed, and many people I previously dealt with apparently do not want to email, phone, or meet personally with me about political issues," he writes.

O'Keefe and the group, however, have been able to obtain prominent, high-priced legal counsel to defend against the probe and go on the offensive against investigators. O'Keefe's lead attorney is assisting with the liquidation of Bernie Madoff's investment company, has represented former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and helped former President George H.W. Bush develop his deregulation plans, according to a biography of Rivkin on his firm's website.

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

Twitter: twitter.com/patrickdmarley