Watkins’ attorney moves to disqualify prosecutor, citing ‘remarkable’ timing of charges
Kansas Congressman Steve Watkins’ attorney filed a motion Wednesday night seeking to disqualify Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay’s office from prosecuting the felony case against Watkins, asserting that the timing and nature of the case are politically motivated.
Watkins, a first-term Republican from Topeka, faces three felony charges and one misdemeanor charge related to an investigation into whether he voted illegally in the 2019 municipal election. Kagay, a Republican, announced the charges shortly before Watkins was set to appear in a televised primary debate.
The motion from Watkins’ team points to the timing of the charges and to connections between Kagay and Watkins’ primary opponent, Jake LaTurner, through a shared direct mail vendor to argue Kagay has a conflict of interest.
“The timing and nature of this prosecution are remarkable. In an unprecedented interference in the electoral politics of a Kansas Congressional race, the District Attorney waited five months after an investigation to file a three-count felony complaint against a sitting member of Congress on the eve of absentee voting and 20 days away from his contested primary election,” Watkins’ attorney Todd Graves, former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, argues in the motion.
Kagay said in an email Thursday morning that his office would respond with its own court motion. He did not react to Graves’ arguments in the email.
His office said Tuesday that the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the investigation into Watkins, which was conducted by the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office at Kagay’s request.
Kagay, who was elected as prosecutor in 2016, will stand for re-election this year.
The charges against Watkins stem from his use of the address of a Topeka UPS Store on his voter registration for the 2019 municipal election and allegedly voting in the wrong city council district. Graves refers to “admitted mistakes related to voter-address discrepancies” in his motion.
Watkins faces felony charges for allegedly lying to a Shawnee County detective, voting without being qualified and unlawful advance voting. He was also charged with a misdemeanor for failing to notify the DMV of his change of address.
The motion from Watkins’ legal team notes that Kagay’s office mailed a summons for a court appearance in December, which would ensure the case remains unresolved through the primary and general elections. The motion asserts that Watkins requested a meeting with Kagay in February, but that the request was denied.
“It was not until four months later—in the final weeks of a contested primary—that the District Attorney’s Office launched an inquisition in this case. Almost immediately, social media posts by allies of Congressman Watkins’ opponent hinted that ‘more was coming,’” writes Graves, a former chair of the Missouri Republican Party and the brother of Rep. Sam Graves, R-Missouri.
Graves met June 30 with Kagay’s first assistant prosecutor to express concerns about possible political motivations in the case, based on Kagay’s and LaTurner’s use of the same direct mail vendor, Singularis of Overland Park.
LaTurner, the Kansas treasurer, called the assertion absurd in a Wednesday afternoon interview, noting that hundreds of Republicans use the firm.
“Everyone uses Singularis to send out mail. This is more of the same. Nothing is ever Steve Watkins’ fault,” LaTurner said.
“Let me say explicitly: I don’t know Mike Kagay. I have not, nor has anyone in my orbit talked to Mike Kagay about this. It’s an absurd attempt by them to muddy the waters.”
In the motion, Graves points to a March Facebook post by Kris Van Meteren, owner and principal of Signularis, in which Van Meteren posted an article about an FEC inquiry involving Watkins father and predicted “there’s more coming.”
Watkins’ represents Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District and could face a tough re-election campaign even he survives the August 4 primary.
In a phone call Wednesday night, Van Meteren said he was perplexed by the decision by Watkins’ legal team to focus on him.
“It’s kind of interesting that they would go down this path. We are a graphic design and print firm and we have worked for Jake LaTurner and we have worked for Mike Kagay as well three-fourths of the other Republicans in the state,” Van Meteren said.
Van Meteren said Kagay’s account is handled by one of his associates and he’s never met the district attorney. He said his firm does not advise Kagay on his official duties and does not advise either candidate on any strategy beyond their mailers.
“To insinuate I’m in cahoots with Michael Kagay or Jake LaTurner to cook up this conspiracy is wackadoo,” Van Meteren said.
“He’s trying to shift blame to other people. He’s just grasping anything at this point... I don’t hide the fact that I think he’s a terrible congressman,” he said
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 9:58 PM.
