Did Missouri Young Republicans smear KC-area developer? Inside new lawsuit
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- They sued seeking more than $10 million and alleging defamation, tortious interference.
- The suit alleges the organization sent inflammatory emails smearing Barth and his firm.
- Attorney Marc Ellinger denied involvement and said he will file a full response ahead of.
A prominent Parkville developer is suing the Missouri Young Republicans organization, alleging the group attempted to sabotage a housing project in Platte County through a bizarre smear campaign.
An attorney for the political organization, however, flatly rejected the allegations as “entirely false” in an interview.
Developer David Barth and his firm, Forest Park Development of Kansas City, filed the lawsuit in Platte County Circuit Court late last month. Barth and his firm are seeking more than $10 million in damages from the Missouri Young Republicans.
The suit includes a slew of salacious emails allegedly sent by the organization, which promotes conservative causes across the state. It alleges that the organization published incendiary statements against Barth’s firm in a trio of public comments, including calling Barth a “sick, greedy man,” a claim that “71% of developers are pedophiles,” and extraordinary calls to arrest and “chemically castrate” developers.
Marc Ellinger, a well-known Republican attorney representing the Missouri Young Republicans, said he had no idea who sent the emails included in the lawsuit, but made clear that the organization did not authorize them. The comments came from email accounts that the organization does not have access to, he said.
“They’ve picked the wrong people to go after,” Ellinger said in an interview. “We didn’t do it.”
While the lawsuit alleges that the Missouri Young Republicans organization sent the emails, The Star could not independently confirm that the emails came from the organization or were connected to its members. The lawsuit suggests that Barth’s attorney, Jennifer Snider, conducted an investigation into the source of the emails.
Barth declined to comment on the lawsuit in a phone call on Monday. Snider also declined to comment in an email.
At the core of the lawsuit is a controversial housing project called “Hidden Oaks” from Barth’s firm that has roiled neighbors in unincorporated Platte County near Parkville. In the wake of the company’s January application, the suit alleges that the political organization sent various emails to the county’s Planning & Zoning Commission about Barth and his firm.
The emails included in the lawsuit came from various email accounts, including one called MissouriYoungRepublicans@proton.me. The suit includes a copy of a letter showing that Snider attempted to contact the organization to confirm whether it controlled the account, but did not hear back.
The first email included in the lawsuit was sent to a county staff member on Jan. 30. The email links to a petition opposing the housing project from Barth’s firm.
“During Covid, many developers who were previously decent people basically turned evil,” the email said in part. “They realized the market changed and decided to just start promoting cheap DEI crap to make a fast buck.”
The email went on to attack Barth’s project, saying he was “now willing to trash the entire area to make a fast buck. He is a sick, greedy man.”
The lawsuit includes a second email sent from the same account on Feb. 5 that asks the county to remove the email from all public documents.
“The communication below was intended to be private, not to be part of public documents, and was only meant to display the growing online disgust of developers by younger Republicans,” the email said.
Snider, Barth’s attorney, sent a letter on Feb. 26 asking the Missouri Young Republicans organization if it was responsible for the two emails. The lawsuit said that the organization did not respond and “did not deny” sending the initial email.
The lawsuit claims that Barth’s firm revised its housing project and reduced its proposed number of home lots from 86 to 50 after receiving “significant public comments, and in direct response” to the initial Jan. 30 email. That decision “directly impacted” the company’s profits, the suit said.
The housing project is planned on about 20 acres of land at the northwest corner of NW Brink Meyer Road and NW Union Chapel Road. The lawsuit comes as the project has sparked significant opposition — including accusations of conflicts of interest — amid a housing and population boom in Platte County.
Months later, during the county’s review process for the revised project, another public comment rolled in to the same county staff member on June 13. This email came from an account called MidwestYoungRepublicans@proton.me with a signature “Logan Young Republicans,” according to the suit.
That comment included a barrage of extraordinary claims, according to the lawsuit, including:
- “Developers do not care. They are like prostitutes.”
- “76% of developers are criminals”
- A call to “arrest developers and seize all of their assets.”
- A call to “Chemically castrate developers (71% of developers are pedophiles.)”
The lawsuit alleges that these emails came from the Missouri Young Republicans organization and were intended to damage the reputation of Barth and his firm and kill the development project.
The suit makes three claims against the organization (defamation, tortious interference and injurious falsehood) and asks a judge to award Barth and his firm more than $10 million in damages.
Ellinger, the organization’s attorney, however, said the Missouri Young Republicans “were not involved in any of the activities that are alleged to have supposedly caused harm” to Barth and his firm.
“We think that we have the evidence to demonstrate that,” he said. “They don’t have the evidence to show that any Missouri Young Republicans have done anything.”
Ellinger said he planned to file a “full and complete” response to the lawsuit in the coming weeks. The case is set for a hearing in October.
“The Missouri (Young) Republicans have been sued over something they didn’t do,” he said.
Previous controversy
While the Missouri Young Republicans group rejects the core of the allegations, the lawsuit isn’t the first time a young Republican organization has courted controversy.
The Kansas Young Republicans organization disbanded last fall after POLITICO released a trove of racist and derogatory messages exchanged in a group chat between young GOP members in four states.
The Missouri Young Republicans group quickly condemned the comments detailed in the POLITICO article, calling it “offensive and indefensible language.” The group called for the immediate resignation of all individuals involved in the group chat.
The lawsuit from Barth and his firm references the POLITICO controversy, saying the Missouri Young Republicans organization “failed to supervise their officers, agents, members and affiliates and their statements, after being put on notice” in the wake of the article.
