Blunt accuses Missouri media of “deliberately” misleading
Boxes of e-mails from the administration of Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt
On Saturday, the Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star and Associated Press reported that e-mails from the Blunt administration showed that a former deputy counsel had offered advice on the subject of public records retention shortly before he was fired.
The governor’s office has consistently denied that fired deputy counsel Scott Eckersley ever offered the advice on e-mail retention.
The three news organizations had intervened in a lawsuit filed by special assistant attorneys general appointed by a Cole County Circuit Court judge in an attempt to protect records that had been sought in Sunshine Law requests. The Blunt administration had stymied attempts to obtain the records by trying to charge tens of thousands of dollars for them.
On Tuesday, the governor’s office for the third straight day issued a news release calling Eckersley a liar and suggesting that there were errors in the reporting of the e-mail flap. In a news release titled “Truth check” the Blunt administration offers its interpretation of several statements in Post-Dispatch stories that ran in Sunday’s newspaper. None of the statements in the news release actually suggest any factual errors in the Post-Dispatch’s reporting.
For instance, the governor’s office labels as “false” this sentence from Sunday’s story: “The administration contended that a fired staff lawyer never offered advice about the governor’s polity requiring public records, including e-mails, to be retained.”
The news release then labeled this statement, from a governor’s staffer, as true: “TRUE: Rich Aubuchon stated last year, ‘Mr. Eckersley never once voiced a concern, never once wrote an e-mail, never once talked to other employees in the office evidencing any concern that the governor’s office was not complying with the Sunshine Law or any record-retention policies.’”
The Post-Dispatch actually relied on that identical Aubuchon quote in its reporting about the administration’s contention. The governor’s office has now termed the e-mails that show Eckersley did voice such concerns as “communications advice.”
The governor’s news release also labels this sentence from a Post-Dispatch story as false: “And the governor’s then-chief of staff denied the existence of e-mails showing he had engaged in political activities on state time.”
The governor’s news release denies that the then-chief of staff, Ed Martin, was engaging in political activity. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with communicating with coalition groups on issues of public policy,” says the release.
For its reporting, the Post-Dispatch relied on a variety of e-mails from Martin that had a decidedly political tone to them, such as: “We need to beat the living heck out of him,” in an e-mail from Martin referencing Blunt political rival Attorney General Jay Nixon.
The governor’s office also labeled this sentence as false: “Whistleblowers in the Office of Administration had told Nixon’s office that Blunt staffers tried to order that backup tapes be scheduled for destruction.”
According to the governor’s office, “This assertion has been proven untrue in depositions in this case.”
Court documents show that whistleblowers in the Office of Administration have testified in depositions under oath that they believe they were told to schedule backup tapes for destruction.
Blunt administration official Rich AuBuchon has testified in another deposition that he believes those Office of Administration employees misunderstood the directions. The statement in the Post-Dispatch story made no determination as to which position was true, only that the allegation has been made.
Finally, the governor’s office labels this sentence as false: “The e-mail records portray Eckersley as a loyal but sometimes tardy Republican foot soldier.”
In the news release, under the heading “True,” the governor’s office doesn’t dispute any fact in the sentence from the Post-Dispatch story, but says that the story should have said that “the former employee was not only tardy, he was reprimanded for his tardiness.”
The governor’s office has not responded to requests for an interview with Gov. Blunt.
Boxes of emails from an outgoing Gov tracked down and examined like they may contain the secret to the fountain of youth! Indeed, a sad day in politics. William Ayers, Tony Rezko, Rev Wright, the list is too long to name. Not one bit of media interest on these folks and their association with BHO during the medias campaign to get Hussein Obama into office. A sham and a shame.
This issue deals with many people, not just the immediate Blunt staff (most of whom have been fired over this ordeal). It extends to his office of administration, his computer department (ITSD), in addition to other state agencies who continue to be under investigation because of bad behavior by Blunt staffers, many of whom need to begin stepping down from their posts. The principle of this particular situation is that Blunt’s chief of staff openly lied about why he fired Eckersley, just like other staffers lied about firing other people. Nobody believes any of the weak and ridiculous excuses given regarding this investigation or any other Blunt witchhunt, for that matter. Sadly, Blunt has learned the hard way (through blogs, elections, gossip, etc.) that you reap what you sow. Handling situations using diplomacy, maturity, and intellect are some of the reasons Nixon just got elected to replace Blunt. Nixon is smart, while Blunt was very unwise. Life sure teaches painful lessons when one refuses to do what is right.
Ed Martin hasn’t a shred of credibility left.
He lied.
He got caught lying.
He squealed and fumed and stomped in protest.
He posted many hollow protestations under many pseudonyms.
He lied. He got caught lying.
He is a disgrace and he disgraced the Governor’s Office, where once ethical occupants including John Ashcroft and Mel Carnahan would have sacked his sorry lying ass and had the Highway Patrol toss him down the front steps to land in a heap at the feet of a disdainful Thomas Jefferson.
The circle of justice is closing on Ed Martin.
It cannot happen soon enough.
John C, surely you are kidding. Tony Messenger investigated every little detail of Obama’s life — including his country of birth. They have a copy of the actual original certificate in the PD vaults. The only problem is that PD reporters are Democrats, so they are not going to release any information that hurts their candidates. They benefit financially from an Obama Presidency. It’s all about power and greed — not about finding out the truth.
Think, Obama’s birth certificate in the PD vault? Sounds like you spent too many oxygen-deprived days in that vault.
Mark, Tina, and Karen, you are not understanding that comments made regarding the Post Dispatch’s failure to do their homework on Obama ties directly in to this story, as it leads many of us to believe the story may not be truthful. The Post Dispatch proved to be a campaigner for Obama with it constant gloss-over of Obama’s past, Biden’s gaffes, and continous drill-down on McCain and Palin. I did an informal study of the Post for six months and found that most of the stories it had in the POLITICS section showed McCain/Palin in a negative light and generally showed Obama in a positive light. As some of the bloggers have mentioned here, the Post gave scant information on Ayers, Rezko, and Wright. Their omission in itself proved a bias and, frankly, a lack of fair reporting.
This lack of fair reporting lends those of us to believe that the Post will do what it can to discredit Republican candidates. While the story on Blunt is in-depth, most of us take it with a grain of salt since it’s just more partisan politics.
Obama won, we get it. However, in this era of “change” and “hope”, I would think that you and other Obama supporters would want the divisiveness that both parties have been responsible for to go away. In order for the “healing” to begin, it should start with fair and balanced reporting. We should see in-depth stories written on Nixon, McCaskill, and other Democratic representatives, showing the various skeletons in their closets.
As far as the email ’story’ there is no ‘there’ there. If there were… a Grand Jury would have it as we speak. The Post knows this… and is doing everything they can… to make people think there is. This is politcs pure and simple.
As to Karen and ‘just get over it’
Sorry, no can do. As I have said in these pages before, I’m giving Obama and Nixon the ’same’ honeymoon Bush and Blunt got… which is to say none. No Rodney King going to happen here.
We Republicans are too nice… what did we learn these last four years in Missouri politics? Pound our opponents, early, often, and keep at it… no quarter asked or given… keep it up, vilify them every step of the way. Both Nixon and Obama get only the back of my hand these next four years.
NO PRISONERS!
This whole story is a waste of time, money, and exasperation. Where was this kind of “investigation” when the ACORN mess hit our state? What about the “truth squads?” So, in the eyes of the PD, democracy is under attack over some emails, but it wasn’t under attack when ACORN turned in 38,412 voter cards for Donald Duck, the Artist Known as Prince, and Millard Fillmore? And again, where’s the outrage over McCaskill and Nixon not releasing their emails? Seems pretty hysterical and one-sided to me.
what did the Governor know and when did he know it?
sqarehead, (don’t)thinkj and the other neocons…
deny…
deflect…
delay…
delete…
rush and sean are so proud of you…
keep up the good work…
i’m sure you’re helping the repuplikan cause…
just look how sucessful you’ve been the last 2 elections.