“The Pelican Brief” Missouri Style…
It all started in the spring with news of the FBI investigating “pay for play” in Jefferson City, and slowly but surely a disturbing pattern is emerging.
In the November 3rd editorial published in the Lees Summit Journal Rep. Yates clearly outlined his frustration with the status quo in Jefferson City, by calling out his own colleagues.
He wrote “Jetton’s clients, including some from our area, have collected huge campaign donations, interestingly after supporting controversial legislation.
For example, after a vote that tried to alter Missouri’s Non-Partisan Court Plan, Jetton’s clients saw an extreme influx of donations to their campaign committees.
This is somewhat alarming, noting that many of Jetton’s clients are in leadership positions and oversee the prerogatives and goals of the entire House.
This bill in particular caught the eye of many in the Missouri General Assembly. Proposals to change Missouri’s selection of judges have come and gone for years, never usually making it out of committee. However, this last session, a bill to change the process came out of committee and ended up passing the Missouri House 85-72. I voted against this legislation.
Ironically, $250,000 in campaign contributions, all stemming from one Joplin family interested in changing the plan, were deposited in the next several weeks to House Leaders, including Jetton clients. “
Irony, thy name is Brian Yates. I am sure the former Representative meant well when he wrote about ethics in Jefferson City on November 3rd, I am sure he fully intended to file the ethics legislation he promised in January. So what made Rep. Yates resign suddenly 3 weeks later?
The GOP in Jackson County is right in the middle of this hot mess, with 3 key Jackson County Representatives fighting it out in a primary for the 8th senate district. Pratt, Deusenberg and Will Krause are all battling it out in what could be a very entertaining primary for the nomination next year. However, beneath the political smokescreen lies a bigger problem for the people of Missouri.
What Representative Yates was writing about in his piece is an effort that has been underway to undermine the process in which Justices for the Missouri Supreme Court are chosen. The group leading this fight is “Better Courts for Missouri” , a secretly funded organization. The sole purpose of this group is to turn the way we select justices in Missouri from one of Merit selection to an electoral process opening up the Supreme Court to the highest bidder.
What is wrong with that you say? Nothing if you happen to own a large manufacturing company that is facing the possibility of lawsuits stemming from asbestos. From the Kansas City Star:
“Within days of a controversial vote last April in the Missouri House, rumors flew that a reward was coming for the Republican leaders who pushed it through. And those rumors proved true. $25,000 poured in a week after the vote. Then $5,000. Then $50,000. Then $100,000, followed days later by another $25,000. And another $50,000. The campaign contributions - more than $250,000 in all - came from an influential family, the Humphreys family of Joplin. The family held strong feelings about the issue at hand: changing the state’s judicial selection process. Campaign cash flowed freely following legislative action this spring on how the state’s judges are picked, The Star’s investigation found.
Judicial nominees for the state supreme and appeals courts, along with some larger circuit courts, are vetted by commissions made up of lawyers, gubernatorial appointees and a sitting judge. But conservatives have assailed the process, arguing that it gives too much influence to trial attorneys.
At the forefront of the fight has been the Humphreys family, owners of Joplin-based Tamko Building Products Inc. Tamko makes roofing products and other building materials. The company has been named in numerous asbestos lawsuits and boasts of a “very aggressive” litigation strategy.
Some companies believe that, through the political process, they can put judges on the bench who are more conservative and sympathetic to corporations.
Jetton and other House leaders have courted the Humphreys family for years. According to a Jetton confidant, who asked not to be identified, Jetton set a goal at the start of his reign as speaker to cultivate the Humphreys family first as $50,000 donors and then elevate the family to $100,000.”
Allowing political donations from either side of the partisan divide to determine how our Supreme Court justices are chosen is bad for the law and for Missourians, but it seems to be great for the Missouri Republican Party.
There is a lot of money at stake here folks, not just in the political sphere that is Jefferson City, if the opponents of the Missouri Court plan get their way, look out. It will become harder and harder to advocate on behalf of the average Missourian. I don’t know about you but I can’t compete with $50,000 donations. I can’t buy my way into a meeting with my Representative or Senator. I depend on a non partial judiciary to do what is best for Missouri. This is not a John Grisham novel. This is real life.
It has happened in other states, don’t be fooled Missouri. Don’t be fooled in Ohio “In the weeks before the election, Justice O’Donnell’s campaign accepted thousands of dollars from the political action committees of three companies that were defendants in the suits. Two of the cases dealt with defective cars, and one involved a toxic substance. Weeks after winning his race, Justice O’Donnell joined majorities that handed the three companies significant victories.”
Is this what the Humphreys are hoping for in Missouri?
The Missouri GOP has a problem on their hands and they know it. A letter is circulating from an anonymous GOP Representative, Here’s the letter:
“To My Colleagues, (I am withholding my name today so you read what I say and not focus on who I am)
Our Missouri Republican House is full of hard-working, industrious legislators who are doing their best for Missouri.
But our attempts to build a better and stronger party are being held back by the waste and greed of select individuals who have directed the party’s resources to advance their own agendas. It began with Rod Jetton, and continues today with Steve Tilley.
Speaker Jetton’s exploits are well known to many of us. By “sharing” resources between his campaign committee and the HRCC, and later between his campaign committee and consulting practice, he has abused the trust of the party by directing funds from their intended purposes.
Seven out of ten dollars that Speaker Jetton’s leadership committee raised in 2007-2008 went to non-fundraising overhead: to paying for things such as his consulting firm’s staff, meals and lodging. Such a number is impossibly high if the real purpose of the committee is to get Republicans elected, but it’s much more believable if your objective is self-enrichment.
Speaker Jetton has blurred the lines between lobbying and consulting, deservedly attracting negative attention that unfortunately has fallen on our party as a whole. We owe each other loyalty but we should not allow our trust to be abused. It is our responsibility to disavow these actions, as well as the manner in which they continue today through the HRCC.
It seems that in the past unless you raised a certain amount of money or hired a particular consultant that you could not advance in our body. I completely support ethical efforts to raise money to elect ethical, conservative Republicans to fill our ranks to keep a pro-business, anti-tax majority. But it seems more and more that the money we are raising is not to elect ethical conservatives— but to support lavish lifestyles and to pay for appointments, committee assignments and leadership positions.
As we work hard to raise money in this economic climate, we must question how that money is spent.
Through their multiple political connections, Tilley and Jetton are inexorably connected. After Jetton left the HRCC, his leadership committee was given a jump-start of $15,922.00 by a PAC connected to Tilley. Tilley has directly employed Jetton’s consulting services, and their indirect relationships are too numerous to count here. Through them, Tilley has been linked to many of the same controversies that have embroiled Jetton.
I am unable to sympathize with them. They took an institution designed to help Republican candidates and used it to promote themselves. The Missouri Republican Party does not need and cannot afford the type of leadership that hides from the public view and operates in the shadows.
We need new leadership in the House.
For a member of the Missouri House to stand up and demand this change is unusual, but given the circumstances I see no other choice. I certainly never imagined myself doing this, but now I find myself disappointed for not doing it sooner.
We need to demand new leadership to retain our majority. Speaker Jetton was obviously corrupted by power. We are entrusted by the people to do what is right. As painful as it may be for some, we need to disavow Speaker Jetton and his associates. We are the party of values, not this disgusting behavior. We need to clean up our House before the Democrats attack us and take the majority.
Signed,
Anonymous”
Meanwhile Brian Yates is telling everyone he can that “Rome is burning while Nero played the fiddle”.
Congrats to Steve Kraske and the Political team over at the KC Star, unfortunately I think this is just the beginning. We will continue to hold the GOP responsible in Jackson County and hope that you do the same.
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