New Documents Show Top Walker Aide Distrusted John Doe From Start

New documents released on Friday that were part of a now-closed John Doe investigation into former employees of then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker show an early distrust of the probe, by one top Walker aide even while another was campaigning on county time.

The documents come from the hard drives of Walker’s staff from when he was county executive. They were reviewed before being released by current County Executive Chris Abele.

One of the documents, from Walker’s then-Chief of Staff Tom Nardelli, was named “Chisholm Notes,” a reference to Millwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who led the first John Doe investigation. Nardelli had previously contacted Chisholm about the disappearance of money from a veterans’ charity. It was from that contact that Chisholm began the John Doe.

Nardelli was none too happy about the development based on the note, writing, “John, why is this a secret John Doe? Why are you going this route? What is the motive?”

Nardelli also blasted Chisholm for trying to confiscate the computer of another Walker advisor, Tim Russell, saying the move raised suspicions.

Meanwhile, documents released from Russell’s county hard drive include more than a thousand pages of records from a Scott Walker campaign website. The now-defunct website ScottForGov.com spent considerable time attacking Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett and Walker’s Republican primary challenger, Mark Neumann.

Walker was not charged in the John Doe; neither was Nardelli. Tim Russell was sentenced to two years in prison for stealing money from a veterans group.

The first John Doe dealt with different issues than the probe known as “John Doe 2,” which remains open but was put on hold by a federal judge.