MOScout Daily Update: Plocher and ReimbursementGate - The Return of the Jetton - Scharf Nationalizes AG's Race and more...

MOIndy: Reimbursement-Gate

Missouri Independent’s Jason Hancock dropped a humdinger last night: Speaker Dean Plocher has repeatedly double-dipped reimbursements for travel expenses.  Read the story here.

·       On at least nine occasions since 2018, Plocher spent campaign money on conference registration, airfare, hotels and other travel expenses, and then also sought reimbursement from the legislature.  In each instance, Plocher was required to sign a sworn statement declaring that he had used “personal funds” to pay the expenses. 

·       Campaign and legal experts interviewed by The Independent say an elected official is allowed to use campaign money for official business. Or, they can use personal money and then request reimbursement from the state.  But doing both could violate state and federal law.

Plocher, in a message to his Caucus members, lashed out at the Missouri Independent, calling it a dark-money, leftist organization, and saying they were out to get him.

However, Plocher’s claim he’s being persecuted doesn’t alleviate his core problem: the story is true. It doesn’t matter where it was posted.  It could be written in graffiti on the bathroom wall.  It’s still true.  There’s a clear paper trail: campaign filings and reimbursement requests.  It’s an open-and-shut case.

Plocher’s only excuse can be “sloppy bookkeeping.”  Perhaps he’ll blame these repeated errors on miscommunication between himself and his legislative assistant and his campaign treasurer – who happens to be his wife.  We’ll see.

My in-box took a dark turn as the story broke…

·       If he’s smart he cuts his losses, ends his LG campaign, and focuses on trying to keep his speakership. He’s not an “outsider” who can claim it’s the swamp trying to get him. His statewide race is over.

·       Just had someone ask me if I thought there was any chance Plocher would not serve out his term.

The Return of the Jetton?

Meanwhile speculation has swirled about who Speaker Dean Plocher will choose to replace Kenny Ross, his chief of staff who he abruptly fired.  One name that’s been mentioned is quite surprising: former speaker Rod Jetton.

Jetton was a leader of the Republican class which overturned decades of Democratic control and won the majority.  He followed Catherine Hanaway as Speaker of the House, though a series of scandals ultimately drove him out of politics.  He currently works for the Department of Revenue.

Jetton is just one of several names that are making the rumor circuit.  Others mentioned, all of whom have held prominent roles in the House in the past…

·       Adam Crumbliss – recently with Missouri Department of Social Services.

·       Alex Curchin – currently working government relations for Centene.

·       Chris Dunn – chief of staff to the president of Missouri Western.

1 Big Thing: Scharf Nationalizes AG Race

Yesterday Gregg Keller – political consultant backing Will Scharf’s AG campaign – tweeted about Scharf’s introduction of Charlie Kirk at the Turning Point USA event at Missouri State.

It’s normal for US Senate races to command national attention and to draw donors from around the country.  That’s less often the case with state offices.  Scharf is clearly trying to nationalize the attorney general’s race. 

On the one hand, it’s not surprising.  Eric Schmitt spent a large portion of his energy and attention during his AG tenure in fighting against the Biden Administration, suing China etc.  And he made national connections at RAGA and elsewhere which ultimately helped his run for US Senate.

On the other hand, it’s remarkable that Scharf who hasn’t held office before is so successfully lining up national support.  Kirk is the latest which includes Club for Growth and Federalist Society heavyweight Leonard Leo.

Moves

·       Jeffrey Earl announced on LinkedIn that he has been promoted to Director of State Governmental Affairs at Clean Fuels Alliance America

·       Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that he’s hiring Branden Rathert to serve as Deputy Communications Director. Rathert is the host of Wake Up Mid-Missouri radio program.

eMailbag on Bailey’s Strike

AG Bailey benching himself from defending a rape/incest abortion amendment and making taxpayers pay for his replacement? Most people can’t show up for a job and say I want 100% of my salary but I’m only going to do 70% of the work.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Alliance PAC (pro-Patterson) - $8,000 from Missouri Leadership Forum.

Lincoln PAC (pro-Hough) - $10,000 from Thomas Strong.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom - $7,081 from American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, Inc.

Residents for Hazelwood, Inc - $16,681 from Ross A Davis LLC.

Teamsters Local Union No 688 Political Action Committee - $7,682 from International Brotherhood of Teamsters Missouri PAC- Federal Committee.

Missouri C PAC - $25,000 from Protection Plus LLC.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. Alex Riley, Chuck Hatfield, Jay Wasson, Jon Galloway, and Craig Stevenson.