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04.13.2009 4:17 pm

Lobbyist uses Twitter to bring attention to campaign finance

By Tony Messenger
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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JEFFERSON CITY — St. Louis-based lobbyist Travis Brown is using the social networking software Twitter to help track over-sized campaign contributions.

Brown, who Tweets at www.twitter.com/pelopidas, today kicked off a feature that ought to make The Turner Report quite happy: Brown will be Tweeting every time a donation to a Missouri politician or political action committee is filed with the Missouri Ethics Committee that is $5,000 or more.

Said Brown in response to an inquiry from the Political Fix:

“Now, thanks to the integration of proprietary technologies, we can help make public information a lot more friendly to use. This application shows just one small way how public disclosure can be improved with intelligent design.”

Interestingly, one of Brown’s first Tweets of an oversized contribution gives a hint that somebody out in the political world is working to try to change Missouri law related to campaign finance rules.

A group called the Missouri Accountability Project received a $7,800 donation from Kansas City bonding firm Gilmore & Bell on April 8. According to MEC filings, the PAC was set up in connection with an expected November 2010 campaign related to campaign finance.

Treasurer Louise Tonkovich said she didn’t know anything else about the PAC at this point.

(Speaking of Twitter, follow me at www.twitter.com/tonymess)

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6 comments

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Blog Comments: Rules of the Road

I’m confused (what’s new, huh?). Is he sending the tweets from http://www.twitter.com/pelopidas and using the #CFtweet hashtag?

Or, is he sending tweets from http://www.twitter.com/cftweet?

— suzyjax
4:34 pm April 13th, 2009

suzyjax,

I think he’ll be sending tweets from his pelopidas account and including the hashtag #cftweet, but I’m not sure yet. First few he sent came from pelopidas and included cftweet without the #.

Tony

— Tony Messenger
6:06 pm April 13th, 2009

Pelopidas is a Republican-linked firm (and Travis Brown co-owns a plane with Steven Tilley), so it should be interesting to see if he keeps this up and stays even-handed. So far, he’s reporting the donations for both sides. It’ll be real hard to keep up reporting large donations next fall.

But there is one issue on his twitter feed: “Flew over Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison is prettier than the Missouri General Assembly.”

Obviously this man is a socialist for backing Madison thaaat much.

— BH
7:06 pm April 13th, 2009

Tony, thanks for the info.

BH, you crack me up!

— suzyjax
5:37 am April 14th, 2009

I wonder if good old Travis will report every time he or his big education client makes a donation of $5,000 or more. What about 5 donations of $1000 by the same person will he report those? Maybe while he flies his private plane or drives his $100,000 Mercedes he can figure out if he is doing to do the right thing or not. Who the hell cares about Travis Brown, he is a sleazy lobbyist, I know!

— woodenleg
8:10 am April 14th, 2009

This is stupid. Travis Brown and Carl Bearden are two of the sleaziest con-men in Missouri. It will be a mircale if Bearden doesn’t go to prison with Jetton once the FBI indictments come through.

— Twisted Sand
3:45 pm April 14th, 2009