Changes

Johnson, described by Scott Walker as "my Karl Rove" in an email to Karl Rove asking for a million dollars for his recall campaign, was at the center of the 2012 (see [http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/timeline-john-doe-ii-investigation/html_1fac3180-e698-11e3-8653-001a4bcf887a.html timeline]) bipartisan John Doe criminal investigation into potentially illegal campaign coordination between Walker's recall campaign committee and ostensibly independent groups including Johnson's [[Wisconsin Club for Growth]] (WCFG), [[Citizens for a Strong America]], [[Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce]], [[American Federation for Children]], [[Americans for Prosperity]], [[Republican Governors Association]], [[Republican State Leadership Committee]], and others.<ref name="criminal scheme"/> The investigation was shut down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in July 2015 after two of the justices, Justice Gableman and Justice Prosser -- who were elected with huge expenditures by many of the Wisconsin groups under investigation -- refused to recuse by state prosecutors. It was later learned that Scott Walker and others credited Justice Gableman's 2008 electoral victory to the independent expenditures controlled by R.J. Johnson.<ref name="SupremeCoverUp">Mary Bottari, [http://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/09/13142/gableman-wi-supreme-court Supreme Cover-Up: How the Wisconsin Justice System Failed in the Walker John Doe], ''PRWatch.org'', September 18, 2016.</ref>

During the 2011-2012 Wisconsin recall elections, Johnson was a paid consultant to both the Friends of Scott Walker campaign (FOSW) and [[Wisconsin Club for Growth]], which spent an estimated $9.1 million on ads during the recalls<ref>Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, "[http://www.wisdc.org/pr072512.php Recall Race for Governor Cost $81 Million]," January 31, 2013.</ref> and funneled some $10 million more to other groups such as [[Citizens for a Strong America]] that ran ads, sent out mailers, and oversaw get-out-the-vote efforts.<ref>Brendan Fischer, "[http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12309/new-john-doe-investigation-probes-dark-money-wisconsin-recall-elections-club WI Club for Growth, Target of Walker Recall Probe, at Center of Dark Money Web]," Center for Media and Democracy, ''PR Watch'', November 18, 2013.</ref>