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Gov. Walker Fights Back, Says "I Will Not Back Down"

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Gov. Walker's campaign has released a flurry of responses and an attack ad, a day after a court released documents from a stalled John Doe probe.

In the documents made public on Thursday, prosecutors allege that Walker was part of an illegal scheme mixing campaigns and third party funders, during Wisconsin's recall elections of 2012. State election law prohibits the co-mingling of certain campaign and outside interest activities.

Friday morning, the governor appeared on Fox TV and emphasized that two judges, one from state court, the other federal, called on prosecutors to end their investigation. The two stated that they saw no evidence that anyone broke the law.

Prosecutors are appealing those rulings, and in the meantime, federal Judge Rudolph Randa has halted the John Doe. Walker insists it is politically motivated, as it was spearheaded by Milwaukee DA John Chisholm, a Democrat.  One of the other prosecutors involved says he is a Republican.

In another release Friday, candidate Walker slammed media outlets for providing extensive coverage of the released documents, insisting the information is old news and is irrelevant because of the two judges' opinions and the fact prosecutors have not filed charges. "Watching the media frenzy, it is clear that this is what happens when someone takes on the big government special interests. They push back. No wonder so many politicians are afraid to make tough decisions. I will not back down," Walker stated.

Walker's campaign also launched an ad attack on Friday against his likely Democratic opponent in this fall's elections, Mary Burke. The 30-second TV ad criticizes Burke's record while she served as state commerce secretary under former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle.

Burke's campaign responded that it is not surprised by the statewide ads because Walker's campaign is "under siege."