Governor Blunt Secretly Appoints Two Members Of The Ethics Commission

Yesterday, Governor Matt Blunt secretly appointed two members to the Missouri Ethics Commission. His recommendations to the Senate were:

John P. King, Republican
7803 Cardinal Ridge Court
Shrewsbury, Missouri 63119

And

Brad G. Mitchell, Democrat
1561 Camp Street
Washington, MO 63090

By failing to meet his obligation to make these appointments sooner, the Commission has already missed statutory deadlines for dealing with candidates who failed to file personal financial disclosure statements.

What an interesting coincidence that the Governor just happened to find a Democrat from James Harris' hometown to be considered for the Ethics Commission.

These commissioners will determine the Governor's punishment for failing to disclose massive contributions from Mike Kehoe.

The Senate would be well served to ask very detailed questions about any discussions between Governor Blunt, his staff, and these nominees about any matters likely to come before the commission.

And one can only assume that Senator Jason Crowell will be recusing himself from his role on the Gubernatorial Appointments Committee for these nominees, as the commission is actively reviewing the scheme he employed to funnel money to Speaker Rod Jetton.

As a side note, the Governor didn't even get the appointments into the proper form. His appointment documents say that the nominees will "serve until his successor is duly appointed and qualified." However, according to the statute, the appointees can only serve until a date certain.