Eric Greitens fending off ethics allegations in final days of Missouri governor race
No one in Missouri politics has talked more about ethics reform during the 2016 campaign than Eric Greitens.
The Republican candidate for governor has made cleaning up Jefferson City politics the centerpiece of his campaign, railing against “corrupt career politicians,” “well-paid lobbyists” and “special interest insiders” who he says are pulling the strings in the Missouri Capitol.
And in running against Democrat Chris Koster, he seemed to have found the perfect foil.
Koster has had regular brushes with scandal throughout his 22 years in Missouri politics, from rumors of an FBI investigation into whether his 2008 campaign illegally skirted contribution limits to allegations that as attorney general he gave preferential treatment to companies his office was investigating after donations were made to his political campaigns.
But in the final days of the hotly contested campaign, it’s actually Greitens fending off allegations.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that the Missouri Ethics Commission issued a subpoena to a former Greitens campaign consultant as part of its investigation into whether Greitens illegally used a donor list from a charity he founded to solicit contributions to his campaign.
Greitens’ campaign manager told the AP that no one currently involved in the Greitens campaign has been subpoenaed, but the ethics commission did send several pages of questions to the campaign as part of its investigation.
Greitens denies using the charity’s donor database for his campaign and told the AP he fired the campaign consultant at the center of the investigation because of his ties to people working for the campaign of John Brunner, another Republican who sought the party’s gubernatorial nomination.
The consultant, Michael Hafner, said while working for Greitens he had never spoken with or met with Brunner about the governor’s race.
News of the ethics commission’s investigation came as Greitens continued to draw scrutiny over more than $6 million in dark money from two federal political action committees that bolstered his campaign prior to the Aug. 2 Republican primary.
One of the PACs, SEALs for Truth, donated $1.9 million directly to Greitens’ campaign. Last month the group revealed all of its money came from a Kentucky-based nonprofit called the America Policy Coalition.
The other PAC, LG PAC, spent more than $4 million on attack ads against Greitens’ opponents in the GOP primary. All of its money came from a Texas-based nonprofit call Freedom Frontier.
Because the contributions came from nonprofits, which aren’t required to disclose their donors, where the money actually came from may never be known. But the Washington, D.C.,-based watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government found several connections between the nonprofits that funded both pro-Greitens PACs.
Greitens has denied he has any connection or communication with LG PAC, and says he’s only he’s only ever spoken with the treasurer of SEALs for Truth, Nick Britt. Greitens says he went through Navy SEAL training with Britt but that he has no idea who donated money to the PAC.
Democrats filed complaints with the Missouri Ethics Commission against Greitens regarding the SEALs for Truth and LG PAC spending, but both were dismissed with commission ruling that the campaign didn’t violate any state laws. Recently they’ve called for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to look into whether the PACs violated federal law.
All the while, Democrats continue to hammer Greitens for refusing to release his tax returns, claiming it is the only way to avoid possible conflicts of interest while in office. Koster released four years of tax returns in September, but Greitens says he has no intention of following suit.
“All anyone is talking about is how Eric Greitens has run the least transparent, and one of the least ethical, gubernatorial campaigns in Missouri history,” said David Turner, Koster’s campaign spokesman.
Republicans have repeatedly attacked Koster’s ethics, setting up a website to hammer him on contributions from payday lenders and trial attorneys, among others.
Austin Chambers, Greitens’ campaign manager, said the campaign hasn’t broken any laws and accused Koster of being a hypocrite due to his “long history of corruption.”
“Unfortunately the Koster campaign is losing and playing desperation politics with meritless complaints,” Chambers said.
It’s clear Greitens’ campaign is brimming with confidence, thanks to recent polling that shows he’s erased Koster’s once formidable lead and the race is now a dead heat. Just days before voters cast their ballots, it’s unclear how the spate of last minute allegations will impact the final outcome of the campaign.
This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Eric Greitens fending off ethics allegations in final days of Missouri governor race."