Democrat complaint alleges Parson private flights to Super Bowl, D.C. broke state law
A Democratic official filed a complaint Wednesday with the Missouri Ethics Commission alleging Gov. Mike Parson’s use of private planes, paid for by a political action committee, violated state law.
The complaint, from St. Charles County Democratic Party Executive Director Kyle Garner, focuses on flights paid for by Uniting Missouri, a political action committee established by Parson’s supporters to boost his 2020 campaign for governor.
State law bars most coordination between candidates and independent PACs such as Uniting Missouri. Organizing plane travel clearly requires some level of coordination, the complaint alleges, and under state law Parson should be prohibited from coordinating expenses with any independent PAC.
Additionally, the complaint says the “coordinated expenditures” should have been reported as in-kind contributions from Uniting Missouri to Parson.
Garner’s complaint points out that former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens was fined $178,000 last week by the ethics commission over undisclosed in-kind contributions to his campaign by a PAC and a nonprofit.
Just as Greitens’ campaign violated Missouri law by coordinating expenditures with a PAC without properly disclosing them, the complaint says, Parson’s campaign also failed report flight expenses paid for by Uniting Missouri as in-kind donations.
“Parson is violating Missouri law by coordinating the expenditures of a PAC, which is supposed to be independent of candidate influence and coordination,” Garner’s complaint says. “By using private air travel donated to the Uniting Missouri PAC, Parson is engaged in impermissible coordination and failing to report contributions to his campaign.”
While PACs can accept donations of any size, contributions to gubernatorial candidates are capped at $2,600. That means the cost of the flights would exceed the maximum allowable donation.
“Intentionally evading those limits is a misdemeanor,” the complaint says.
John Hancock, chairman of Uniting Missouri, said Thursday morning that coordination on fundraising between a candidate and a PAC is legally permissible. Each flight, he said, was tied to fundraising.
The arrangement is legal, Hancock said, and the way the PAC covered the cost of flights was done under the guidance of the PAC’s attorneys.
“This complaint is completely frivolous,” he said.
White House and Super Bowl
In December, Parson and his chief of staff flew to Washington, D.C., on the private plane of a nursing home executive who has donated to the governor and Uniting Missouri.
The executive, Rick DeStefane, accompanied Parson on the trip and to a White House meeting with Vice President Mike Pence. The governor’s office said the DC trip was official state business.
Hancock told The Star at the time that the cost of the flight would be covered by Uniting Missouri — either with the PAC paying for the flight or the plane’s owner donating the cost as an in-kind contribution to Uniting Missouri.
The trip followed a St. Louis fundraiser for the governor, and Hancock said that means Uniting Missouri was legally allowed to pick up the tab for the flight.
Garner’s complaint questions why “travel out of state away from a fundraiser would be related to fundraising.”
More recently, on Feb. 2, Parson flew to Miami for the Super Bowl on the plane of Independence businessman Tom Duvall — a trip that was reported as a more than $15,000 in-kind donation to Uniting Missouri.
Hancock told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Parson raised money while in Florida for the game.
Moreover, Uniting Missouri PAC has paid more than $37,000 to Branson Aircraft LLC for expenses listed as “travel for fundraisers.” According to its filings with the secretary of state’s office, Branson Aircraft LLC is connected to Kevin Knasel, who donated $2,600 to Parson and $20,000 to Uniting Missouri in 2018.
None of these flights are reported as in-kind contributions to Parson’s candidate committee.
The complaint argues that it is impossible not to engage in impermissible coordination with a PAC when arranging for private air travel.
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 8:00 AM.
