Prosecutors want more time on John Doe filings (UPDATE)

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors, a conservative group and two unnamed parties have asked a federal judge for more time to review documents that could be made public in a secret investigation into whether Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and right-leaning organizations violated campaign finance law.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa put the investigation on hold in May as part of a lawsuit the conservative group Wisconsin Club for Growth filed challenging investigators’ basis for the probe. The judge agreed with the group’s argument that the investigation violated its free speech rights.

A federal appellate judge on June 19 released 266 pages of previously redacted documents filed in the investigation. The documents indicate that prosecutors believe that Walker’s campaign and conservative groups illegally coordinated fundraising and advertising.

The same day the documents were released, Randa ordered all the parties in the lawsuit to review the rest of the case filings and report back to him by July 3 on what more should be unsealed.

The parties filed a joint motion with Randa on Tuesday asking to push the report back to July 17. They say the sealed record contains more than 3,000 documents and the parties will need to compare notes, which will mean circulating a draft report among all the attorneys and conference calls all wrapped around the Fourth of July weekend.

It’s unclear when Randa might rule on the motion.

No one has been charged in the probe. Walker, who is running for re-election in November and is widely considered a possible presidential contender in 2016, has insisted he did nothing wrong.