If there is one true legacy left by former Governor Eric Greitens – despite the depravity of events that allegedly occurred in his basement, where his hairdresser testified under oath that he blocked the door and coerced her into unwanted sexual activity as she was crying uncontrollably “like a wounded little animal on the ground” – it will not be wanton brutality with women. It will be the secrecy that pervaded his campaign and every aspect of his governance.
“The most important thing is that there is transparency around the money,” Greitens told St. Louis Public Radio in an interview during his 2016 campaign. “We’ve already seen other candidates set up these secretive super PACs where they don’t take any responsibility for what they’re funding … because that’s how the game has always been played. [But] I’ve been very proud to tell people, ‘I’m stepping forward, and you can see every single one of our donors.’”
That, of course, was a bald-faced lie. As we now know, from the very beginning of his campaign, Greitens mocked the entire notion of transparency. One of his earliest campaign staffers, Michael Hafner, repeatedly testified under oath that Greitens planned schemes to obscure the identities of donors – even allegedly courting foreign donors, a violation of federal law – to give to shell companies through which donations to his campaign were funneled. As one political scientist noted, “When drug dealers do this, we call it money laundering.”
But that wasn’t all. It was only the beginning.
Next, Greitens came up with the deviously named LG PAC, an allegedly “independent” committee that spent millions of secret money to eviscerate one of his primary opponents. Greitens denied any knowledge of LG PAC’s activities even though a year later the world would learn that it shared a top strategist with Greitens’ own campaign. He pulled similar stunts with SEALs for Truth, another purportedly independent committee that ended up giving nearly $2 million to Greitens – money that it received from a nebulous, Ohio-based non-profit that – you guessed it! – was not required to disclose its donors.
Should anyone, then, have been surprised when Greitens refused to release his tax returns? Refused to disclose how much donors gave to his inaugural celebration? Refused to say who was donating millions to the dark money committee he started while governor, A New Missouri? Refused to disclose communications he had with top aides about public business, thanks to a new text-messaging app (Confide) that causes messages to instantly disappear once they are read? Even refused to say who was donating to the legal fund that paid for ten of the state’s highest-priced lawyers?
And this is where State Auditor Nicole Galloway comes in.
The Missouri House of Representatives’ Special Investigative Committee on Oversight has spent most of 2018 trying to lift the veil on Greitens’ secrecy, with varying degrees of success. It’s likely that the committee’s effort to force Greitens to produce all communications between Greitens’ traditional campaign committee and A New Missouri, his so-called dark money committee which hides the identities of all of its donors, was the straw that broke Greitens’ back and led him to resign. Apparently, after five months of stonewalling, obfuscation, and attempts at diversion and the seemingly bottomless pit of family humiliation, Greitens showed that he is more dedicated to protecting his dark money mega-donors than protecting his family.
And unlike Mayor Lyda Krewson, who obsequiously thanked the governor “for his service” in a tone-deaf tweet, Galloway responded appropriately to his resignation by offering the political equivalent of “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
“I encourage the legislature to move forward with its investigation into coordination between dark-money organizations and state entities,” Galloway wrote in an open letter last week. She also exhorted the Legislature to combat the influence of dark money on state government by passing legislation to eliminate secret donations to and from 501(c)(4) political nonprofits.
She also added yet another investigation of Greitens’ finances in announcing an audit of both Greitens’ office and the lieutenant governor’s office of now-Governor Mike Parson. Given the tenacity of Galloway and staff, Greitens’ likely mismanagement of the governor’s office will soon be laid bare.
While some in both parties bow to the pressure of some mega-donors who would rather not be exposed – perhaps because those donors received policy or other benefits during Greitens’ 17-month tenure – the intrepid Galloway continues her battle to shine a light on those who have been attempting to influence our government in the dark of the night. It is ironic that one of the men who may end up as her general election opponent, state Rep. Paul Curtman, was one of the Greitens dead-enders, staunchly opposing impeachment and fighting to the bitter end.
As renowned U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” Missouri is already the nation’s only state that allows both unlimited lobbying gifts and unlimited campaign contributions; the very least we can do is shine a light on the source of that money.
Jeffrey Boyd as grand inquisitor
Alderman Jeffrey Boyd – and his allies in the fight to loot the St. Louis treasurer’s office for the city’s General Revenue Fund, Mayor Lyda Krewson and her new chief of staff Stephen Conway – has resorted to everything except armed robbery to get Tishaura O. Jones to cough up her parking revenues. The latest was a Streets, Traffic and Refuse Committee hearing held on Tuesday, June 5, chaired by Boyd in the guise of a grand inquisitor. Boyd moved his attack on Jones – which was so useful to Krewson in her narrow defeat of Jones – to trying to publicly shame her staff.
“Boyd says level of executive staff under the city treasurer is a waste of taxpayer dollars. He wants to eliminate the chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, communications director and pr assistant in Jones’ office,” a Post-Dispatch reporter tweeted. (To that list, add director of Administrative Services.)
Chelsea Merta, an attorney and former candidate for alderwoman, retorted, “I’m just going to go ahead & say that, with all the time & energy that Jeff Boyd puts into hating on @Tishaura and not into serving his constituents through the Board of Aldermen, maybe he’s the waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Meanwhile, Krewson still has not responded to an offer Jones made earlier this year to transfer $6 million in her office’s funds to the city’s Reserve Fund, which would bolster the city’s long-term financial health and help stop the bleeding from its credit rating. Instead, we have Boyd trying to claw $5.8 million, one city employee’s salary at a time, to dump into the hole in the city that is the General Revenue Fund.
Boyd and Jones were scheduled to meet again on Wednesday, June 6 to negotiate a grand bargain. Stay tuned.
Blue tsunami in MO State Senate 17
Who expected a Democrat to win a state Senate seat by a 20-point margin in Missouri’s 17th Senate District? In his wildest dreams, state party Chair Stephen Webber could not have expected for Lauren Arthur to beat Republican Kevin Corlew 59.6 percent to 40.3 percent to become the first Democrat to hold the seat in more than a decade. Also, she is pro-choice – a plank of the party platform that Webber has said he is willing to sacrifice to elect more Democrats.
This election was to fill the seat vacated when former state Sen. Ryan Silvey joined the state’s Public Service Commission in mid-term. Silvey won his re-election in 2016 by a 22-point margin, making Arthur’s victory a 42-point Democratic uptick in just two years. Greitens may have brought Missouri, not a blue wave, but a blue tsunami.
That’s the good news. The bad news is this brings the Democratic total in the state Senate to 10 of 34. It would take a tsunami.
