Prosecutors in Wisconsin Say Gov. Scott Walker Had Central Role in Fund ...

CHICAGO - Prosecutors in Wisconsin assert that Gov. Scott Walker placed himself in the middle of an elaborate effort to illegally coordinate fund-raising between his campaign and numerous conservative groups during efforts to recall him two years ago, according to records of their investigation unsealed on Thursday.

The allegations by five county district attorneys, released as part of a federal lawsuit over the investigation into Mr. Walker, his aides and the conservative groups, suggest that Mr. Walker's campaign expressly coordinated with the outside groups, including Wisconsin Club for Growth, to the point that campaign advisers also controlled some of the groups.

Legal filings by the prosecutors provided a rare view of the inner workings of a far-flung network of conservative nonprofit groups that have come to play a decisive role in national and state elections, moving hundreds of millions of dollars into campaigns by avoiding traditional political action committees that face tougher disclosure requirements.

Some of the groups, in Wisconsin and elsewhere, appear to serve as little more than conduits for funneling money from donors around the country to an array of allied organizations with ties to specific constituencies, such as gun owners or abortion opponents. Prosecutors allege that the groups in Wisconsin coordinated closely with allies of Mr. Walker both in the state and in Washington, with Mr. Walker's campaign consultants simultaneously advising him on political strategy and television advertising while also raising money and directing the activities of an array of outside groups.

'That coordination included a nationwide effort to raise undisclosed funds for an organization which then funded the activities of other organizations supporting or opposing candidates subject to recall,' the prosecutors wrote.

Mr. Walker's campaign issued a statement on Thursday. 'The Friends of Scott Walker campaign are not party to the federal suit and have no control over any documents in that suit,' said Alleigh Marré, a campaign official. 'Two judges have rejected the characterizations disclosed in those documents.'

Mr. Walker, a Republican seeking election to a second term, is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate for 2016. Prosecutors described an email Governor Walker sent to Karl Rove, the Republican strategist, extolling the importance of R. J. Johnson, a campaign consultant, in leading the coordination efforts. Mr. Walker wrote: 'Bottom-line: R. J. helps keep in place a team that is wildly successful in Wisconsin. We are running 9 recall elections and it will be like running 9 Congressional markets in every market in the state ...'

While the newly released documents describe 'a wide-ranging scheme to coordinate activities of several organizations with various candidate committees to thwart attempts to recall Wisconsin Senate and gubernatorial candidates,' no criminal charges have been brought.

In the federal lawsuit, the Wisconsin Club for Growth sought an end to the investigation. In May, a federal judge, Rudolph Randa, halted the investigation, and that decision is now under review by an appellate court.