Walker Taking State, National Media Hit Today

Though Charlie Sykes is pushing back mightily against the "smear," [Sic], and Walker is hurrying to Sykes' program at 11:15 a.m. with talking points memorized, Walker finds himself near the top of Mike Allen's POLITICO.COM "Playbook" insider's email today, following fellow scandal-plagued GOP Gov. Chris Christie's troubles:

--"Prosecutor is Closing In on Gov. Christie," by Esquire's Scott Raab and Lisa Brennan: "Two sources with intimate knowledge of the case say [U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul] Fishman's pace is quickening -- he has empaneled a second grand jury, and the U.S. Justice Department has sent assistant prosecutors and FBI agents to work the case. 'What's taking the most time,' according to one source, 'is separating what's viable from all the bad stuff they're finding that may not be viable.'"http://goo.gl/pkl2wA

SCOTT WALKER -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "[P]rosecutors allege Scott Walker at center of 'criminal scheme,'" by Patrick Marley, Daniel Bice and Bill Glauber, in Madison: "Prosecutors allege Gov. Scott Walker was at the center of an effort to illegally coordinate fundraising among conservative groups to help his campaign and those of Republican state senators facing recall elections during 2011 and 2012 ... [P]rosecutors laid out what they call an extensive 'criminal scheme' to bypass state election laws by Walker, his campaign and two top Republican political operatives ... No one has been charged." http://goo.gl/9zg67z

--"Walker reserves TV time after bad news," by Maggie Haberman: "Walker abruptly reserved $250,000 worth of TV air time on Thursday, hours after [the] court documents were made public ... [T]he ad flight will last 12 days. The air time was booked after the documents were made public, prompting widespread speculation about what it could mean for the reelection effort this year of a politician widely seen as a 2016 presidential hopeful. ... In a tweet from Walker's Twitter account, ... he said, 'The accusation of any wrongdoing written in the complaint by the office of a partisan Dem DA by me or by my campaign is categorically false.'"

Also:

*  On the top of front of the Washington Post web page:

Wis. Gov. Walker
is suspected in
‘criminal scheme’

Matea Gold and Tom Hamburger

Prosecutors have alleged that the Republican helped coordinate the activities of outside groups to fend off recall efforts. He denied the allegations.

• How big could this scandal be?
• The Fix: The allegations in 1 chart

And:

The New York Daily News has this echo:

Wis. Gov. Scott Walker accused of violating campaign laws through illegal fund-raising

Prosecutors say Walker, his chief of staff and others who worked for him were discussing illegal coordination with a number of national groups and prominent figures, including GOP strategist Karl Rove.

And these headlines (The NY Times, below the fold, right) speak for themselves: