Brown

UPDATE: Steve Brown’s campaign Web site, www.brownforMissouri.com, is no longer up. It was active at least through Saturday, but is now not able to be found.

JEFFERSON CITY – Federal officials investigating possible criminal wrongdoing related to the failed 2004 Congressional run of state Sen. Jeff Smith have also questioned state Rep. Steve Brown, D-Clayton, over his role in the campaign, according to three highly placed state government sources.

Brown, 42, worked for then attorney general Jay Nixon at the time. Brown worked for Nixon, now the governor, for 10 years. He was a volunteer on the Smith campaign that has caught the attention of federal authorities.

The Post-Dispatch reported Saturday on www.stltoday.com that Smith is considering resigning his Senate seat because of the probe. Numerous phone messages that were left for Brown at two numbers were not returned.

In 2004, the campaign of Russ Carnahan, who would win that race for Congress, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over the distribution of an anonymous flier that the Carnahan campaign said contained “false and malicious” information. During that investigation, Smith signed an affidavit denying his campaign played any role in connection to the production or distribution of the flier.

But Milton “Skip” Ohlsen III, a Democratic operative from St. Louis at the time of the 2004 election, told investigators that he had numerous contacts with the Smith campaign related to the flier.

Investigators said their ability to get at the truth was made more difficult because Ohlsen used “throwaway” cell phones that made his actions difficult to trace. Also, investigators wrote, Ohlsen used fraudulent Social Security numbers to set up his bank account for the committee that produced the flier.

The fund-raiser for that committee, called Voters for Truth, was Steve Brown, Ohlsen told investigators. According to documents, the FEC investigators couldn’t find Brown.

Two state government sources say that the Brown from the FEC reports and state Rep. Steve Brown are the same person. Brown was later the treasurer for Smith’s successful run to the state Senate in 2006.

In May, Ohlsen pleaded guilty to federal gun charges and mortgage fraud. He was to be sentenced last week, but that sentencing was delayed.
The state government sources say that both Smith and Brown have talked to the FBI since Ohlsen pleaded guilty.

An FBI spokeswoman said she could “neither confirm nor deny” an investigation related to Smith’s 2004 campaign for Congress. Smith used identical language when asked about being questioned by the FBI.

Brown has several appearances in the documentary about Smith’s Congressional bid, “Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?”

The film describes Brown as a “friend” but he can be seen alongside Smith during a campaign lunch. Brown also pokes fun at the campaign’s spartan office space and Smith’s disheveled appearance

“This scruffy kid. He says he’s 30. I don’t believe him,” Brown says in the film. “He’s got a suit that looks like he got it from Garanimals.”

The video also shows Smith in a conference call with a campaign aide to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean — who endorsed Smith — talking about Carnahan’s potential liabilities. Among them: Carnahan’s missed votes in Jefferson City, the topic of anonymous fliers that sparked the FEC complaint.

Brown, a lawyer, is a first-term representative of the 73rd District, which covers Clayton, Richmond Heights and Maplewood. Like Smith, he is a graduate of Horton Watkins High School in Ladue. He is married and has two children.

Jake Wagman of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this story.