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Mo. aide sent political e-mails to state account
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By Chris Blank
The Associated Press
E-mail records from the lieutenant governor's office show former chief of staff Eric Feltner forwarded a few political messages from a personal account to his official account before he resigned in June.
The three documents in Eric Feltner's state government e-mail account are a draft of a speech for a Republican congressional candidate and two identical copies of a suggested message from Missouri GOP Chairman Doug Russell urging Republicans to help re-elect Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.
State resources are not supposed to be used for political activities. It's unclear why Feltner forwarded the political documents from his private e-mail account to his state address or if he was doing campaign work from the lieutenant governor's office.
Feltner resigned this summer after it became public he had been indicted for two misdemeanor counts of attempting to provide pornography to a minor. Feltner pleaded guilty in August to one misdemeanor charge of public display of explicit sexual material.
There was no answer to a Columbia phone number listed for Feltner.
A spokesman for Kinder's office said the e-mails would violate office policy if Feltner had intentionally sent them to his official account. Spokesman Gary McElyea denied Kinder knew anything about the e-mails.
“We have a clear policy about this, we follow the law in regard to no employee in this office is supposed to be working on any political function during state time using taxpayer resources,” McElyea said. “That's our policy, and the lieutenant governor is very clear about it. I think there's an isolated incidence here.”
Feltner forwarded identical e-mails to himself at 9:22 a.m. March 7, and 3:35 p.m. March 12. Attached to those e-mails was the draft of a two-page message to be sent from Russell that urges people to “join Peter Kinder's team for positive change and forward this e-mail to every Republican you know and ask them to sign-up for the team.”
At 1:26 p.m. March 18, Feltner forwarded an e-mail with an attached 18-page draft of a speech written for Blaine Luetkemeyer to announce he was running in Missouri's 9th congressional district. Luetkemeyer won the Republican primary and faces Democrat Judy Baker.
The e-mails sent by Feltner were provided to The Associated Press by the campaign of Democrat Sam Page, who is running against Kinder in the Nov. 4 election. The e-mails also were included in a series of e-mails released by Kinder's office after the state Democratic Party requested all of Feltner's office e-mails under the state open records law.
Page said Friday said the incident raises questions about Kinder's ethics.
“I find it hard to believe that Kinder was not aware that his staff was doing political work on state time,” Page said.
McElyea said Kinder shouldn't be held responsible for another's decisions. He estimated several thousand e-mails were provided to the Democrats at no cost. The lieutenant governor's office also provided copies of Feltner's e-mails at no cost to reporters.
Over the last year, several of Missouri's statewide officeholders have been accused of mixing politics and state resources.
State Treasurer Sarah Steelman's governor campaign earlier this year faced questions about an arrangement for her office's top deputy to use six weeks of paid state vacation time to volunteer for her campaign. Steelman defended the practice, saying it's common for legislative staff at the Capitol to take paid vacation to work on campaigns.
Attorney General Jay Nixon acknowledged last fall he had used state vehicles and staff members for political events. Nixon, who is running for governor, has defended the use of his official car and staff while on political events by asserting they are necessary for his security and that he is always on duty as attorney general.
Nixon's campaign later reimbursed the state for the use of state workers and the vehicles.
The three documents in Eric Feltner's state government e-mail account are a draft of a speech for a Republican congressional candidate and two identical copies of a suggested message from Missouri GOP Chairman Doug Russell urging Republicans to help re-elect Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.
State resources are not supposed to be used for political activities. It's unclear why Feltner forwarded the political documents from his private e-mail account to his state address or if he was doing campaign work from the lieutenant governor's office.
Feltner resigned this summer after it became public he had been indicted for two misdemeanor counts of attempting to provide pornography to a minor. Feltner pleaded guilty in August to one misdemeanor charge of public display of explicit sexual material.
There was no answer to a Columbia phone number listed for Feltner.
A spokesman for Kinder's office said the e-mails would violate office policy if Feltner had intentionally sent them to his official account. Spokesman Gary McElyea denied Kinder knew anything about the e-mails.
“We have a clear policy about this, we follow the law in regard to no employee in this office is supposed to be working on any political function during state time using taxpayer resources,” McElyea said. “That's our policy, and the lieutenant governor is very clear about it. I think there's an isolated incidence here.”
Feltner forwarded identical e-mails to himself at 9:22 a.m. March 7, and 3:35 p.m. March 12. Attached to those e-mails was the draft of a two-page message to be sent from Russell that urges people to “join Peter Kinder's team for positive change and forward this e-mail to every Republican you know and ask them to sign-up for the team.”
At 1:26 p.m. March 18, Feltner forwarded an e-mail with an attached 18-page draft of a speech written for Blaine Luetkemeyer to announce he was running in Missouri's 9th congressional district. Luetkemeyer won the Republican primary and faces Democrat Judy Baker.
The e-mails sent by Feltner were provided to The Associated Press by the campaign of Democrat Sam Page, who is running against Kinder in the Nov. 4 election. The e-mails also were included in a series of e-mails released by Kinder's office after the state Democratic Party requested all of Feltner's office e-mails under the state open records law.
Page said Friday said the incident raises questions about Kinder's ethics.
“I find it hard to believe that Kinder was not aware that his staff was doing political work on state time,” Page said.
McElyea said Kinder shouldn't be held responsible for another's decisions. He estimated several thousand e-mails were provided to the Democrats at no cost. The lieutenant governor's office also provided copies of Feltner's e-mails at no cost to reporters.
Over the last year, several of Missouri's statewide officeholders have been accused of mixing politics and state resources.
State Treasurer Sarah Steelman's governor campaign earlier this year faced questions about an arrangement for her office's top deputy to use six weeks of paid state vacation time to volunteer for her campaign. Steelman defended the practice, saying it's common for legislative staff at the Capitol to take paid vacation to work on campaigns.
Attorney General Jay Nixon acknowledged last fall he had used state vehicles and staff members for political events. Nixon, who is running for governor, has defended the use of his official car and staff while on political events by asserting they are necessary for his security and that he is always on duty as attorney general.
Nixon's campaign later reimbursed the state for the use of state workers and the vehicles.
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