A spokesman for state Sen. Chris Koster, D-Harrisonville, minced no words Tuesday night as he responded to a formal complaint filed earlier in the day against Koster with the state Ethics Commission.

The complaint was filed Tuesday by state Sen. Scott Rupp, R-St. Charles, state Sen. Maida Coleman, D-St. Louis and former assistant attorney general Marion Eisen. The complaint describes how Koster’s paid campaign staff shuttled money among various campaign committees to get around the state’s campaign contribution limits.

Koster has defended his fundraising tactics as legal, and says he has regularly conferred with the state Ethics Commission to make sure.

Said Koster spokesman Danny Kanner tonight:

“This is yet another political gimmick drummed up by Republicans afraid of running against Koster in the fall and desperate Democratic politicians who know their law enforcement credentials just don’t stack up.

Maida Coleman is a public Harris supporter, Marion Eisen is a public Donnelly supporter, and in one of the great acts of hypocrisy in Missouri Senate history, Scott Rupp raised nearly $200,000 through 40 separate legislative committees in the final days of his 2006 special election campaign. To consider this anything more than a political stunt is laughable.”