Koster targeted by ethics complaint
Two lawmakers and a former assistant attorney general have filed an ethics complaint accusing state Sen. Chris Koster, a fellow Democrat, of illegally funneling money to his attorney general’s campaign.
The complaint was filed Tuesday by state Sen. Scott Rupp, R-St. Charles, state Sen. Maida Coleman, D-St. Louis, former assistant attorney general Marion Eisen.
The trio said they brought the complaint in response to an Associated Press article last week that described how Koster’s paid campaign staff shuttled money among various committees to get around the state’s campaign contribution limits.
Koster has defended his fundraising tactics as legal. He told Jo Mannies today that the money-raising process followed state campaign law and that he has regularly conferred with the state Ethics Commission to make sure.
The Post-Dispatch detailed earlier this month how Koster and a number of other statewide candidates are collecting contributions in excess of state donation limits, via a legal system of using two different types of campaign committees. Donors can give unlimited amounts of money to the committees, some of whom can then donate ten times the contribution limit to individual candidates.
Koster noted today that those using the same system include one of his rivals, state Rep. Margaret Donnelly, D-Richmond Heights.
Donnelly replied in a telephone interview this afternoon that Koster “is trying to divert attention” from his illegal coordination activities to raise campaign money.
“There’s a fundamental difference,” she said, between candidates who simply receive money from the campaign committees and Koster, who is accused of being involved in setting up at least one of the committees — the Economic Growth Council. The council has donated money to the legislative committees, which then gave to Koster.
She contended that Koster had to be coordinating the money-raising — which is not allowed under state law — because he raised so much of his money that way. The Post-Dispatch reported that he collected 80 percent of his campaign money through the committee setup.
The Missouri Ethics Commission does not comment on complaints. It has until Aug. 6 — the day after the primary election — to rule on the complaint.
Political editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 
Let’s see, what could the motivation be for waiting to file something like this today, knowing the Ethics Commission can’t say anything about it and won’t rule on it until the day after the primary? Could it possibly be so that an opponent or two can now run commercials using the headlines generated by the complaint itself making it appear these bogus charges have some validity? This way, the cowardly accusers can try to smear Koster all they wish until the election is over without having to deal with the reality that when the Commission does rule, it will rule that Koster has done absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, let alone anything illegal. Kind of sad… and desperate, if you ask me.
This is such boilerplate attack politics it isn’t even funny.
Koster’s opponents, unable to gain any traction for themselves now construct this means of attacking Koster by innuendo. Anyone can file an ethics complaint about anything. It doesn’t mean a thing. But they will use the accusation they have orchestrated to infer that something illegal has occured when that’s just incorrect. It’s rank, cowardly and thankfully it will be all for naught since Koster will be the Democratic nominee.
It’s a shame they have stooped this low, but for many months now neither Donnelly nor Harris would have had a campaign at all if they weren’t having one hissy fit after another about the fact that Koster hasn’t been a Democrat long enough and that he was/is blowing them away on fundraising.
It’s going to be fun seeing Koster grind them up on August 5th!
Follow the pattern here. Koster never denies that he set up the Economic Growth Council for the sole purpose of getting back his over the limit contributions. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE PEOPLE! Wake up! Its illegal. Finally a complaint.
Interesting report Koster just filed too. $20,000 for polling to Daryl Piggee at Entelecky. I’d sure like to see that poll and the subsequent analysis.
Seen it all before- I guess you really haven’t “seen it all,” because if you have, you would have seen the P-D poll that put Harris above Koster by a whopping 10%.
Oh, and the MEC has until the 6th to rule on the complaint. They can rule on the complaint at any time until then. Let’s face it Mark Koster, you know your brother is in big trouble here and your friend at the MEC can’t help him. I guess he can always write a book about his campaign, sort of like he helped Bill Webster write his own book (or steal it from another source), as reported about here:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Jul/20080715News008.asp
Jo, any indication that P-D will pick up this story as well? I think it will help people realize that this guy has had a pattern of skirting the outer limits of ethics.
This has been a rough couple of weeks for Koster: illegal fundraising, ethics complaints, down in the polls, news of plagiarism and political work on state time in 92 for Webber. All of this goes to show the character of Koster. I don’t think his commercial explaining his convenient switch is going to save him.
By the way seenitallbefore, how exactly do you figure the other campaigns haven’t been able to gain traction? Harris is up 10% and Donnelly is only back 3%. Also, I think one major motivation for the ethics complaint is the fact Koster has broken the law. When the law is broken, especially by a candidate for AG, someone should file a complaint. The only thing that is kind of sad and desperate is running a campaign in a Democratic primary funded by money funneled from Republicans while refusing to take part in any Democratic events/debates and depending on your campaign staff to take the blame for all of the mistakes in the campaign.
News to Koster: Economic Growth Council does not equal Missouri Democratic Party.
Will someone just ask the ethics commission thsi question? IS it legal to set up a continuing committee for teh sole purpose of funnelling over the limit contributions to leg committees and into Kosters or anyones campaign for that matter? Koster says he conferred with Ethics…and therfore it ought to be a quick answer.
You might ask the Ethics Commission anything but receiving an answer which does not favor a dem or repub is unlikely. But then what can one expect from a system which is composed of members of the two major political parties? What we need is not only strong campaign finance laws but an Ethics Commission with teeth and nonpartisan.
It’s amazing to see so much money raised for a (I believe) $35K job……and then expect any of them to be ethical.
It is written that the eyes are the windows of the soul. What do you see when you look into those eyes? Or anyone;s eyes for that matter?
The AG makes around $112,000. Assistant AG’s are the ones who start around $33K.
Koster certainly is trying to buy his way in to the party just like his old boss Mr. Webster. With Harris’ lead in the polls I don’t think he can buy that much, unless it’s time and time is not on his side. Oh and, Margaret has no where to go.