The Blunt Administration's Scott Eckersley Scandal Resource Page
Fired Up! Missouri was responsible not only for being the first to report on the Blunt administration's firing of Scott Eckersley for his role in objecting to the Governor's unlawful email retention policy, but also for doing much of the subsequent reporting and analysis on the Eckersley scandal as the story progressed.
This page has been created as a one-stop repository for all of the Eckersley information and opinion thus far compiled on Fired Up! Below, in chronological order, are Eckersley related items from Fired Up! contributors.
The post that started it all. (9/24/07) Fired Up! is the first to report that Scott Eckersley had been fired by the Blunt administration for reasons related to email retention policy.
The next reference. (10/27/07) Response to pre-emptive attacks on media from GOP blogs.
Despicable, awful people. (10/28/07) The shoe drops, and the firing of Eckersley reported on first more than a month earlier by Fired Up! finally appears in the mainstream media.
Martin's peculiar personnel management. (10/28/07) Ed Martin made some bizarre inquiries into the personal life of Scott Eckersley before Eckersley was fired.
Eckersley Scandal, Day One. (10/29/07) Eckersley says he was fired for speaking up about emails being deleted by the Governor's office, and Team Blunt says he's lying.
Internet Scumbags Attack. (10/29/07) Paid GOP operatives Jeff Roe and John Hancock use their blogs to begin a merciless and dishonest attack on Scott Eckersley's character.
Blunt's OA Counsel Lies in Letter to Press. (10/29/07) Rich Aubuchon sends a letter to members of the media that includes obvious lies intended to smear Eckersley.
Day Two. (10/30/07) Facts prove that attacks on Eckersley's character are beside the point.
Gubernatorial Law Breaking. (10/30/07) Tony Messenger teases column in which he will point out that one or more of Blunt's lawyers was breaking the law.
Team Blunt Sent Reams of Smear Documents. (10/31/07) While withholding from his attorneys Eckersley's personnel records, Team Blunt sent closed records to the press to discredit the former employee.
Day Three. (10/31/07) Team Blunt chose to bunker down instead of coming clean, to his great detriment.
Obfuscation Strategy Born of Political Weakness. (10/31/07) Matt Blunt has hidden his modus operandi because he's too politically weak for his methods to bear public scrutiny.
Day Four. (11/1/07) Stories about Eckersley's early willingness to deal bely GOP suggestions that he was "out to get" Blunt from the beginning.
Graves' Involvement Discredits 'Extortion' Theme. (11/1/07) GOP insider Todd Graves tried to get Team Blunt to Eckersley moved to save the administration from embarrassment.
Penrose Cartoon: Blunt's Emails. (11/1/07)
Blunt on video: Stone Cold Liar. (11/1/07) Blunt caught on tape lying to reporters about the existence of documents sent by Scott Eckersley to other gubernatorial staff.
P-D's Incredible Disappearing Reporting. (11/1/07) Bullied by Ed Martin, the Post-Dispatch had done no new reporting on the Eckersley scandal some five days after breaking the story in the mainstream press.
Day Five. (11/2/07) Blunt is lying about the existence of certain documents and is enlisting the help of liars from outside his office to outsource some of the risk.
Poll: Who'll Be Blunt's Scapegoat for Eckersley Scandal? (11/2/07) Open voting on who'll be sacrificed for Matt Blunt's lawbreaking.
Messenger talks on radio about Scandal. (11/2/07) Tony Messenger describes scandal to KMOX's Charlie Brennan.
Day Six. (11/3/07) Team Blunt is using far-flung spokespeople to flack on the Eckersley scandal rather than making available to the press inner circle staff who have first-hand knowledge of the Eckersley events.
Day Seven. (11/4/07) Evidence surfaces that someone from Team Blunt engaged in criminal acts to gain access to Eckersley's private email account and assist in smearing him.
Privilege is for the Privileged. (11/4/07) Blunt refuses to waive attorney-client privilege so that Eckersley can produce documents which prove his allegations.
Eckersley and the Corrupt Administration. (11/4/07) Scandal is example of Blunt's governing philosophy which costs Missourians dearly.
Day Eight. (11/5/07) Ed Martin's protracted silence and the emergence of probable criminal wrongdoing.
Blunt Caught Again in Own Lies. (11/5/07) Blunt's own employee manual (attached) contradicts his claims of "no written policy" on email retention.
Video: It's Time for Some Truth (11/5/07) Democratic Party video on Eckersley Scandal.
Day Nine. (11/6/07) Team Blunt continues to rely on improbable claims that everyone but them, including Eckersley's Internet Service Provider, is lying.
Blunt Gives Up Tech Docs But No Answers. (11/6/07) Blunt's OA sends an IT professional to answer press questions instead of sending someone with knowledge of who accessed Eckersley's email account.
How about this document, Governor? (11/6/07) Press references exist to documents which Team Blunt contends don't exist.
Day Ten. (11/7/07) Andy Blunt and Little John Russell want Ed Martin out; Ed wants to go on his own terms or make things messy.
Various Blogs. (11/7/07) Virginia Young posts official rejoinders to Fired Up's reporting on Ed Martin's impending departure.
Memories. (11/7/07) An old Blunt bid for "document destruction services." Heh.
Day Eleven. (11/8/07) Speculation on possible motivations and rationales for Blunt's seemingly irrational stonewalling on the Eckersley case.
Blunt OA Scraps Tape Backup System Bid. (11/8/07) In midst of email retention controversy, Blunt's OA decides to withdraw RFP for a new mainframe tape backup system.
Day Twelve. (11/9/07) Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson should not let partisan affiliation stop him from investigating Eckersley-related law breaking by fellow GOPers.
Day Thirteen. (11/10/07) The AP reports that it has obtained one of the documents that makes Eckersley's case and which Blunt has denied exists.
Day Fourteen. (11/11/07) Lifelong Republicans laud Eckersley's character in Springfield News-Leader, disputing Blunt's smear campaign claims.
Video: More Blunt Scandal. (11/12/07)
Day Fifteen. (11/12/07) Like Richardson, Republican U.S. Attorney John Wood should set partisanship aside and look into probable violations of federal law by the Blunt team.
Not Cool Under Pressure. (11/12/07) Blunt security team manhandles reporters and speed Blunt away from marauding reporters wielding dangerously pointed questions.
Penrose Cartoon: Eckersley Over Blunt (11/12/07)
Day Sixteen. (11/13/07) Faced with AP's receipt of document proving Eckersley's objection to email policy, Team Blunt desperately pretends that the document must be phony.
Day Seventeen. (11/14/07) Ed Martin, linchpin of the entire Eckersley scandal, remains incommunicado and unavailable to reporters despite increasing importance of getting his statements on the record.
It's 10:30am, Does Blunt Know Where Ed Martin is? (11/14/07) 418 hours since the scandal broke and no word from Blunt's chief of staff.
Blunt's Bar Complaint Proves He Got Email Advice. (11/14/07) Blunt's complaint against Eckersley for breaking attorney-client privilege is implicit admission that Eckersely gave advice on email retention.
Big Ed to Lay Low. (11/14/07) Martin to dodge Eckersley questions by missing MHDC meeting which he'd usually attend.
Martin Sighted. (11/15/07) Tim Hoover reports seeing Martin in capitol garage. 439 hours since the Eckersley story broke and still no on the record answers from Ed Martin.
Day Eighteen. (11/15/07) Team Blunt's desperate recent plays are proof-positive of his severely damaged position.
Information Superhighway to Damascus. (11/15/07) Blunt has a faux conversion on emails, suggesting that he will create a system that will "save every email."
Martin Hides From Press, Spins to His Partisans. (11/16/07) Ed Martin holds a Sunshine Spin conference call for southwest Missouri legislators, Tony Messenger listens in. Martin can't keep his lies facts straight.
Day Nineteen. (11/17/07) Governor Blunt apparently expects to be rewarded for "creating" an expensive new system to do what he should have been doing --and has the ability to do-- all along.
Day Twenty. (11/17/07) Blunt's unnecessary "save every email" system itself violates record retention scheduling principles set forth by the State Records Commission.
Day Twenty-one. (11/18/07) Messenger column goes unfortunately off the rails by comparing Blunt to Nixon, thereby engaging in some unwelcome "High Broderism."
Journalism! (11/18/07) David Lieb points out that Blunt has reversed course but refuses to admit as much.
Day Twenty-two. (11/19/07) Why do we need a "save every email system" when we can get what we need in the Eckersley case from electronic backup tapes that the state already has?
Penrose Cartoon: Nerds On Call (11/19/07)
Ed Martin Sighting, But Still No Explanation. (11/19/07) Martin spotted leaving the mansion with Rich Chrismer, presumably after having just discussed his exit strategy. 519 hours into the Eckersley scnadal Martin still hasn't gone on record.
Day Twenty-three. (11/20/07) Even more documents crop up which show that Matt Blunt and company peddled lies about Scott Eckersley's objections to email retention policy.
The Year's Hot Game, Matt Blunt Document Destroyer. (11/20/07) Online game lets you shine a light on Blunt and stop him from deleting emails.
No Pardon for Martin; Blunt Saves One Turkey Will Fire Another. (11/20/07) Presser called to announce Martin's resignation.
Vincent to Replace Martin? (11/20/07) FiredUp! reports that Revenue Director Trish Vincent will be named as successor to Ed Martin.
How Long Will Martin Take State Pay? (11/20/07) Ed Martin will get a couple months of taxpayer funded severance pay as an inducement for keeping quiet n his way out the door.
Was Ed Martin Deleted or Did He Shred Himself? (11/20/07) Blunt dodges question about whether Martin was fired.
Day Twenty-four. (11/21/07) The Eckersley scandal isn't, nor has it ever been, about Ed Martin. A walk through the archive proves it's always been about Matt Blunt.
Messenger Speak, You Listen. (11/21/07) Messenger column points to an as-yet unexplored facet of the Eckersley scandal: the possibility that Blunt administration insiders tampered with electronic backup documents after their initial malfeasance became known.
Day Twenty-five. (11/22/07) Jo Mannies column makes novel claims about how scandal-driven firing of Ed Martin might be really good politically for Matt Blunt.
