Hey, I know those guys.

The latest release this week of tens of thousands of documents gathered during the first John Doe investigation demonstrated employees in then-County Executive Scott Walker’s office doing mostly routine business. And one thing that seemed routine was Walker emailing thoughts on key policy matters to his friends in conservative media.

For example, in February 2007, Walker sent unsolicited emails in rapid succession to radio hosts Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling and Jay Weber and conservative blogger Owen Robinson giving them a heads up about a Milwaukee County Board and City Council press conference about the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee rail line.

It should go without saying, but what Walker did was not illegal. It wasn’t even uncommon. People who share political beliefs and values swap stories all the time. In fact, I seem to remember something in the constitution about freedom of association, but I could be wrong.