Blunt statements on e-mail scandal unsettling
Laurie Skrivan | Post-Dispatch
Six weeks ago, we offered Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt some advice for burnishing his reputation before he leaves office Jan. 12. Among our suggestions: Turn over all of his office’s disputed e-mails, fire his lawyers and save the taxpayers some money.
We’re gratified that on Tuesday, the governor took our advice. His lawyers agreed with lawyers appointed by the Cole County Circuit to accept a “comprehensive settlement of all issues pertaining to the governor and his office.”
His part of the agreement calls for the governor to hand over to investigators tens of thousands of e-mails that he originally said weren’t covered by the state’s Sunshine Law. Special investigators appointed by state Attorney General Jay Nixon will have until Jan. 26 to file a report on document retention practices by Mr. Blunt’s office. By agreeing to the deal, Mr. Blunt avoids having to admit any wrongdoing and also gets four current and former members of his staff off the lawsuit hook.
Shortly after the settlement was announced, Jessica Robinson, Mr. Blunt’s press secretary, issued a remarkably specious statement calling the deal a “dismissal” and a “vindication” for the governor and his staff. “After falsely accusing many, the only real outcome is that the governor’s office was telling the truth,” Ms. Robinson averred.
The settlement says no such thing. It calls for the governor to disclaim any right or interest he had in the e-mails. His office must attest to the court that the record has been “fully preserved without alteration or deletion.” And according to the terms of the settlement, mere statements are inadequate; the governor’s counsel must confirm the governor’s assertions by sworn affidavit.
The agreement gives little regard to the governor’s decision to withhold e-mails. It requires him to prepare a log describing messages to which he claims an exemption to the Sunshine Law. And it empowers a special master appointed by the court — not the governor — to decide what must be produced and what may be withheld.
This whole matter never should have gone to court, nor should taxpayers have been forced to pay nearly $1 million in legal fees. The case wound up in court and the fees were incurred because the governor stonewalled investigators and the press for more than a year. Ms. Robinson’s press statement noted that Mr. Blunt never “has been questioned” during the case; in fact, he refused to be questioned, asserting a claim of executive privilege.
Finally, with a Jan. 5 trial date staring him in the face, Mr. Blunt did what he should have done long ago: turn over public documents. Unfortunately, even with the settlement, the sleaziest part of the whole saga remains unsettled.
It began in August 2007, when a reporter filed a Sunshine Law request for e-mails written by Ed Martin, then the governor’s chief of staff. Third-party copies of the e-mail suggested Mr. Martin might have been using state resources for political purposes.
Rather than comply with the request, the governor’s office first said that the e-mails no longer existed.
Then it said that e-mails weren’t necessarily covered by the open records law.
In mid-September, Scott Eckersley, a young lawyer working as the governor’s deputy counsel, learned that he’d been fired. He told reporters he’d been fired because he insisted that e-mails, in fact, were public documents.
The governor’s office concocted a cover story for the firing that alleged personal failings on Mr. Eckersley’s part. He responded by filing a defamation of character and wrongful discharge suit in Jackson County Circuit Court, where Judge Michael Manners wrote, “Defendants [Mr. Blunt and his aides] must admit that two months before [Eckersley] filed suit, they falsely accused plaintiff of being a pervert, a drug abuser, as well as a lazy and incompetent lawyer.”
Mr. Eckersley’s suit remains unsettled. His reputation was trashed for political reasons. That speaks volumes about someone’s personal failings, but not Mr. Eckersley’s. He is owed a public apology — and quite a bit more.
Any day now, the Post Disgrace “editorial board” will create an editorial explaining how Obama’s report on Obama’s involvement with Blago clears Obama of any wrong doing is simply a farce. Right?
This E-Mail horse that you keep beating is laying dead in the street in front of the St. Louis Post Dispatch office, yet you keep flailing away at it. Get over it, the only scandal that I see is that it is being constantly dredged up by the P.D. and the Dems.
The Sunshine laws are very clear. Has either one of you commenting, ever read the Sunshine Laws/Rules? I have, they are very specific. I served in public office and one of the first things we were taught at the Missouri Municipal League was a detailed explanation of the Sunshine Laws. I was told by our city clerk that any e-mails that I received or sent were subject to the Sunshine Laws. If everything is on the up and up, why wouldn’t an elected official volunteer any correspondence. Some information is held for a period of time, dealing with hiring and or firing of public employees and or land purchases. If we want a transparent government, we must insist that all our elected officials follow these rules.
I know what??? Gov. Blunt should announce his staff is preparing a report and in a short time will release this report. then we all wait for several days and the report says there is no problem with the email! See, HOPE and CHANGE is a wonderful thing, we just didn’t know how wonderful.
The Chicago Tribune investigated, and toppled, the governor of Illinois. The Detroit Free Press investigated, and toppled, the mayor of Detroit. The New York Times reported that Governor Spitzer had patronized a prostitute, ultimately leading to his resignation in shame. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has conducted a meaningless and exhaustive investigation of a lame duck governor, which has revealed nothing aside from the Post’s hostility to Governor Blunt. Beautiful work, guys.
I know the Post has been dying to read all those Forwards, cartoon, and blessing emails that employees send to each other that have been deleted. i hope you are looking at the deleted emails in the Attorney General’s office with the same vigor you’ve gone after the Governor’s office. But be sure to forward them to 10 people so you can receive the pot of gold after reading.
THIS IS IMPORTANT! I’ve really had enough of the incessant whining by those who have NO clear understanding of the case at hand, and whose blinding party arrogance guards any independent thinking that may, heaven forbid, lead to the obvious acceptance that a republican governor has disgraced himself, his office, and his state in this email scandal!
It’s about freaking time the papers stopped trying to represent both sides of this issue with equal credit when, for some time, Blunt and his team of crack head misfits has been caught in lie after lie, discrediting ANY assertions of their own innocence. To any logical thinking person, their bullying, backpedalling, and unwillingness to answer for their disgraceful behavior has only strengthened Eckersley’s story from the beginning! And yet some of you still have the audacity to claim this entire debacle to be politically driven or blown up by a biased media! Give me a freaking break! Keep it up if you want a dirty government, incapable of a straight answer—politicians like Blunt are counting on people like you!
This is the dirtiest excuse for a settlement and every party involved in agreement should be ashamed of themselves for letting Blunt and his crooked staff off the hook! It’s disgusting—unbelievable that the lawyers, judges, and government we trust in for justice—FOR ALL–would allow this to take place without making every effort to establish truth! One can only assume some pretty serious dirt must have gone down for Nixon’s team to back off when they had Blunt cornered. To settle for NO admission of guilt and trust this PROVEN liar to turn over his emails in order to call it square is a slap in the face to the taxpaying citizens of Missouri–and most of all, Eckersley. He, more than anyone, has a right to watch this investigation play out fully with a deposition of the governor and trusted specialists to gather a complete record of what really occurred a year ago and why! What a shameful disgrace for a government we have when the only person we can trust to hold our leaders to the standard and bring justice upon these arrogant, dirty politicians is the young, honest lawyer they didn’t dare to keep around. Scott Eckersley–the ONLY person who hasn’t backed down to these dogs while they brought on their abuse, and has NEVER had to change his story to fit the changing circumstance! He’s been laden with the truth from the beginning and deserves the highest respect, thanks, and support from the citizens of Missouri–no matter what party. Hopefully some clarity and logic will bring this settlement to a halt until some REAL results can be established and Blunt finally faces the consequences he deserves. Sadly, this seems unlikely, and Eckersley will probably end this fight the way it started–alone, but with the unexpected strength and confidence that comes with having the truth on your side.
Nick Kasoff and Si,
Doesn’t it bother you guys even just a itsy bit that your Governor and his aides attempted to ruin and dirty another man’s reputation with lies?
Does it not bother you that a man lost his lively hood because of their lies?
You do know that such liars have murderous hearts, don’t you? Well, its true, professed Christian Ed Martin should be able to verify that fact for you all. Lol).
TRIP,
In the end, the lawyers, judges, and those in government that you speak about that we trust in for justice truly protect one another’s extremely dirty evil deeds that they feel can remain safely covered before the interests of any outsiders, (the people). And, that goes across the board concerning all party affiliations. You will find Democrats protecting Republicans and Republicans protecting Democrats when it comes to things such as corrupt and criminal behavior towards others who have no political clout. They will protect each other at all costs with a sick perverted minds that have caused themselves to believe the lie that it is in the best interests of the State and the people to protect corrupt officials so that the people will not lose faith in government and authority, they prefer that all believe lies, that these monsters are upstanding human beings in the interest and moral of the people ignoring truth about people and that these types must be death with just as they believe that the typical street hoodlum must be death with, they are no better even though these narcissist types think that they are.
But there are never any guarantees that anything will remain covered, in fact, nothing remains covered. Hopefully, sooner than later some consequences will come to all for dropping the ball here. No doubt there are other things that are buried in those e-mails that need to be exposed and brought to light with legal attention.
Just look how brazenly foolish and corrupted that these ones were concerning this situation with Mr. Eckersley, you have better believe that there’s much more brazen unethical behavior here because there always are with ones who are so arrogant and who believe that they are above the law, untouchable and protected from any consequences for their bad behaviors. Don’t worry about such evil people because they will most certainly suffer consequences for all their dirty little deeds and so will those who choose to turn their heads to any unethical behavior buried in those e-mails.
So if Governor Blunt is a victim of slander and a witch hunt by the Post, Star, AP, the courts and the AG why did he decide not to run for re-election? Did he not believe in the truth of his arguments? Did he not believe in his ability to overcome adversity?