Republicans’ affidavit: Nixon official tried to bribe us
Some Republican representatives have displayed this sign in or near their office
JEFFERSON CITY — The two House Republicans who said Gov. Jay Nixon’s deputy chief of staff tried to solicit votes for jobs have signed affidavits to that effect.
As reported by Chad Livengood of the Springfield News-Leader, the affidavits from Republican Reps. Anne Zerr of St. Charles and Chis Molendorp of Belton echo what they told reporters that day.
They said Dustin Allison implied a job offer in exchange for votes on HB11, the social services budget, which then contained Nixon’s plan to tax hospitals and expand Medicaid. Nixon spokesman Jack Cardetti said Allison and other staff members lobbied for the bill, but didn’t make any job offers.
Says Zerr’s affidavit:
Mr. Allison said — and I quote — ‘The Governor likes to reward people who share his views on issues.’ When I refused to vote for the bill for a fourth time, Mr. Allison said, ‘I’m prepared to make a deal right now.’
And Molendorp said Allison said this:
If you are interested in a future career change, I am sure the Governor would look favorably upon your application if you share his vision for House Bill 11.
Also, a Post-Dispatch open records request of e-mails of Allison or Chief of Staff John Watson on that day regarding the bill or its votes showed no indication of job offers.
Only two e-mails dealt directly with individual members’ votes — one from Allison that said Democrat Jason Kander was a yes. The other, from Democrat Rep. Rebecca McClanahan, said: “FYI: I’m THERE 100%! :-)”
None of the other e-mails referenced particular legislators by name, except what seemed to be group e-mails to Nixon’s lobbying staff.
One final note that didn’t make its way into the paper:
Four Republicans ended up voting for the bill. None said they would receive a job.
- Rep. Jay Wasson and Rep. Scott Largent both said they talked to the governor about the bill personally, but they said he didn’t say anything remotely inappropriate.
- Rep. Denny Hoskins said a lobbyist for the executive branch tried to speak to him, but Hoskins wouldn’t speak to the lobbyist.
- Rep. Ryan Silvey joked that he had made his support for the bill clear too early to get a job offer.
What’s a Demcorat? Do you guys use “Sean Hannity Spell Check” here?
These are very serious allegations and should be throughly investigated. People on both sides should be cautious, including the Governor’s spokesman. Unless he was there how does he know what was said.
The public is owed a full accounting of everything from the Nixon administration, including their view and what was said and who said it.
Thanks, Nick. Fixed!
Obviously, writing blog posts after 12 hours of working is not my forte.
And the public is owed a full accounting of everything from the former Blund administration, including a view of all the mysteriously deleted emails.
I doubt seriously that Watson would’ve put his instructions to Allison in an email. I have no doubt, however, that Watson probably told Allison to make some veiled promises. The problem here is that Allison isn’t very savvy and likely communicated these offers in a more direct way than a sneaky guy like Watson would do it.
Allison is weak, so watch out if a criminal investigation starts; he’ll be singing like a canary, I’m sure.
How come Mr. “Where’s my Pulizer” Messenger didn’t cover this important story. Is it not big enough or smart enough for him? Or, perhaps, since a Democrat may be involved in wrongdoing Tony’s instinct is to let someone else cover it, lest his reputation for being biased be tarnished.