MOScout Daily Update: Team Parson Knew It Wasn't a Hack - MOFC Punches Greitens - Barky Gets Probation - Kinky ABNB and more...

Two stories yesterday of Governor Mike Parson having trouble dealing with the truth. They remind me of a quip from a lobbyist a few months ago: Parson is basically Greitens without the affair.

Everyone Knew It Wasn’t a Hack Yet Still…

Post-Dispatch reports that emails show the “Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was preparing to thank the newspaper for discovering a significant data vulnerability” before Parson’s team decided to spin it as “a hack.” 

And an FBI agent dismissed the notion that it was “hack” BEFORE Governor Mike Parson stood behind the podium and ranted that the “hack” that would cost the state $50 million.

·         Meanwhile, at 3:24 p.m. on Oct. 13, Angie Robinson, cybersecurity specialist for the state, emailed Department of Public Safety Director Sandra Karsten to inform her that she had forwarded emails from the Post-Dispatch to Kyle Storm with the FBI in St. Louis.  “Kyle informed me that after reading the emails from the reporter that this incident is not an actual network intrusion,” she said.

·         Instead, she wrote, the FBI agent said the state’s database was “misconfigured.”

·         “This misconfiguration allowed open source tools to be used to query data that should not be public,” she wrote.

·         “Kyle said the FBI would speak to Gwen Carroll, the AUSA (Assistant U.S. Attorney), with the updated information from the emails to see if this still fit the crime and if she was interested in prosecuting,” Robinson said.  Karsten forwarded the email to Aaron Willard, who is Parson’s chief of staff, as well as Vandeven, Jones and other administration officials.

·         And on Oct. 14, Parson held a news conference to rail against the Post-Dispatch and announce a criminal investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.  “We will not let this crime against Missouri teachers go unpunished,” Parson said at the news conference.

NYTimes on Buried Study

The New York Times picked up Missouri Independent’s reporting on the buried mask study, with Governor Parson taking to Twitter to vent: “Although Rudi Keller is entitled to his political speech, it is an embarrassment that he pretends to be a journalist.”  Worth noting that the Parson Administration was called for a comment before the story published, but refused. 

From the Times article…

·         Mask mandates were effective as the Delta variant of the coronavirus was driving a surge in Covid-19 cases across Missouri, according to an analysis that the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services conducted in early November.  But the state did not immediately share that data with the public. Instead, the information was released on Wednesday, a month later, because of a public records request by The Missouri Independent, a nonprofit news organization that reported the findings, and the Documenting Covid-19 project at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation.

·         The records include an email dated Nov. 3 from the director of Missouri’s Health Department to a staff member in the governor’s office. The email included two graphs that compared the rates of reported Covid-19 cases and deaths in parts of Missouri with and without mask mandates.

·         The director, Donald Kauerauf, said in the email that there were many variables to account for when assessing the effects of mask requirements in Missouri this year, but that the analysis ultimately showed that such requirements were effective.

·         “I think we can say with great confidence reviewing the public health literature and then looking at the results in your study that communities where masks were required had a lower positivity rate per 100,000 and experienced lower death rates,” Mr. Kauerauf wrote.

Barklage Sentencing Day

From a MOScouter: David Barklage was sentenced to three years’ probation and 120 hours of community service - and his lawyer presented a check for $151,843 in restitution – during Thursday’s hearing before U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp in St. Louis.

Barklage, who as a campaign consultant led the mid-2000’s Missouri GOP takeover of both legislative chambers, had pleaded guilty in August to a charge of filing a false tax return. The 60-year-old Barklage had deposited $442,633 in business earnings into his personal checking account and failed to declare it on his taxes.

Barklage’s attorney, Joe Passanise, told Schelp the case qualified for a “downward departure” from the potential sentence of 12 months to 18 months under federal sentencing guidelines. He cited Barklage’s lack of any prior criminal record, the payment of full restitution, and the case dating back nearly a decade.

Passanise also noted about 20 letters to the judge vouching for Barklage’s character, from notable figures including former gubernatorial and Senate candidate John Brunner, and current County Executives Steve Ehlmann of St. Charles County, Dennis Gannon of Jefferson County and Tim Brinker of Franklin County. They were among about 30 friends and supporters of Barklage who attended the hearing.

Most notable was Barklage’s emotional statement to the judge, which also brought several in the audience to tears: “I offer no excuses. I have accepted full responsibility for my actions and continue to do so today. For eight generations, my family was respected, and its reputation was impeccable, until now. I have failed my family...and for that I am truly sorry. Throughout my life I have been surrounded by a loving family, accomplished, honorable, decent friends and partners. Going forward, I have a promise to make and an obligation to fulfill to them. Every day I will work to be a better husband, father, friend and partner. I will not let you down. I will not fail you. And I will always be there when you need me. Judge, this issue has reset my priorities and focused me. Whatever your decision is today, let it be one that requires and allows me the ability to reclaim my life, focus on my family, my work and my community.”

And

The sealed sentencing report to the judge from the government had plenty of politicos wondering if it contained evidence that Barklage had cooperated with authorities on what may be multiple investigations occurring in Missouri. The smart money would be of course he likely answered questions truthfully. But similarly, I think it’s doubtful that Barklage delivered a smoking gun or someone’s head on a platter.  It’s all speculation at this point so let’s stick with… “we’ll see.”

MOFC Punches Greitens

Aaron Dorr of the Missouri Firearms Coalition makes a video with “pro-tips” for Eric Greitens.  See it here.

·         It would appear that Greitens may take some flack from the right for his position against SAPA.

·         And it’s unclear how this impacts efforts to modify SAPA next session.  But it likely hardens resistance to making accommodations that some law enforcement are asking for.

MOIndy on Schmitt’s Non-Appeal

Missouri Independent has an article about Attorney General Eric Schmitt refusing to appeal the ruling from Judge Green neutering the state health department.  See it here.

Chuck Hatfield, an attorney who previously served in the attorney general’s office under Democrat Jay Nixon, said it would be “extremely unusual” for the attorney general’s office to go against the wishes of a client, in this case DHSS, the state agency it represented in the lawsuit. “The idea that the attorney general can just go in personally, and because of his own personal feelings, stop appeals and dictate policy — if you allow that to happen, you basically have an attorney general running the entire state,” Hatfield said. “And that’s never how it’s worked before, and it’s not how it should work.”

·         As unusual as this maneuver may be, I’m actually OK with the dynamic.  The AG is an elected position and if folks don’t like the calls he makes, they can vote him (or someday her?) out next election.

MEC in WaPo

Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman made the Washington Post, on its story about the abortion case before the US Supreme Court.  Read it here.

In Missouri, state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican who represents parts of Jefferson and St. Louis counties, is the architect of the state’s “heartbeat bill,” which would ban abortion as early as eight weeks. That bill is now working its way through the courts.  “No matter what the Supreme Court says, we have a focus on electing pro-life state leaders,” Coleman said. “We want to make abortion illegal but also unthinkable.”

And One Last Thing…

Reader: Just in time for the legislative session….  Fifty Shades of Something house for rent by night or hour in downtown JC equipped with everything from cages, chains, paddles and torture devices.

AirBnB listing… See it here.

Lobbyists Registrations

Andy Arnold added Paladin Strategies LLC.

Kamera Meaney added University Health Truman Medical Centers.

Steven Hobbs added Missouri Association of Counties.

David Klarich deleted The Daily Hybrid LLC, and Our Missouri.

Jake Silverman deleted Missouri Prosper.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Jill Ott.