Scott Eckersley

At the end of a "Random notes from Lincoln Days" blog post by Missourinet's Brent Martin, there's a noteworthy bit of audio recorded last Tuesday with Scott Eckersley. 

Eckersley worked for then-Chief of Staff Ed Martin in Governor Matt Blunt's administration, and was fired after raising questions about whether the Blunt Administration complied with the Sunshine Law (read more about that here). Eckersley was in Jefferson City to talk about strengthening the state's open records laws.

Here's what he told Missourinet about Martin's campaign for Congress:

Ed Martin isn't a man that's fit to hold public office. I think that's been proven. I think if the Missouri Republican Party sees this guy as somebody they want to support, then they're making one more mistake. And I don't have much more to say about Ed than that.  And I think voters will see that.

Listen:

Today marks the two year anniversary of Ed Martin's replacement as chief of staff for former Gov. Matt Blunt. 

Hours after his ceremonial pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey, Blunt was repeatedly asked to explain Martin's departure. Blunt refused to offer direct answers, and then finally said:

"If you're confused then that's my intent."

Martin's departure came in the wake of intense criticism about how he handled the firing of Scott Eckersley, the former staff attorney who said he was fired after advising Blunt’s office not to delete emails. After dismissing Eckersley, Martin "orchestrated a taxpayer-funded character assassination unlike anything ever seen before in Missouri government."

The legal battle of the email records and Eckersley's wrongful termination suit would eventually cost taxpayers more than $2 million.

So news broke on Friday that Scott Eckersley's wrongful termination suit had been settled. Defendants Matt Blunt, Ed Martin and three other former staffers finally settled the suit, but only after it cost the state $2 million to resolve. After such a long, embarrassing ordeal, you might think that Ed would lay low for a little while.

You would be wrong.

Why lay low when you can get your name in the paper for a major non-event like writing a letter?

Hiding behind executive privilege didn't work, and trying to make Governor Nixon the target of the suit didn't work, so settling to avoid a trial may have been the last best option.

The state will pay a former staffer of Gov. Matt Blunt $500,000 to settle his wrongful termination and defamation lawsuit.

Scott Eckersley sued the governor and several of his staff members last January alleging defamation of character, wrongful termination and violations of the state open records law. The lawsuit has cost the state well over a million dollars as Blunt and his staffers used the state’s legal defense fund to pay attorneys fees.

When we last checked in, Matt Blunt was trying to hide behind executive privilege in the ongoing defamation and wrongful termination lawsuit of Scott Eckersley. That didn't work, so now the Blunt legal team is trying to make Jay Nixon the target of the suit.  Honestly, I'm not sure my mind can comprehend the weirdness of this latest request:

Matt Blunt says Jay Nixon should be the target of fired former aide's lawsuit

Former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt is seeking to pass the defense of a defamation and wrongful termination lawsuit to his political rival and successor, Gov. Jay Nixon.

Attorneys for former governor's office counsel Scott Eckersley, who is suing Blunt, assert the request is legally wrong and "a sleight of hand that would make even the most jaded political operative squirm."

The lengths to which Blunt & Co. are willing to go to avoid accountability are breathtaking -- and sure aren't the acts of a crew with nothing to hide.

Fired Up's rundown of all the things Matt Blunt wants Jay Nixon to answer for can be found here. 

No luck for the former governor:

The Western District Court of Appeals agreed with a trial judge that Gov. Matt Blunt could not hide behind “executive privilege” in defense of the defamation and wrongful termination lawsuit of Scott Eckersley.

For a breakdown of the bad behavior Blunt wants to hide, check out our timeline of how the Eckersley firing went down.

Though the formal investigation into the record retention practices of the Blunt administration records has concluded, Scott Eckersley's defamation suit is yet to be resolved.

As first reported by Fired Up!, Eckersley, a former Blunt staff lawyer, was fired in September 2007. Eckersley says he was fired after raising concerns about whether Blunt’s office was properly applying the Sunshine Law to e-mails. But after Eckersley was fired, Governor Blunt, COS Ed Martin and others tried to convince the public that Eckersley's dismissal was the result of improper use of state resources, and had nothing to do with his warnings about the legal record retention requirements.

However, the publicly released emails from Ed Martin, Richard Aubuchon, Rich Chrismer and others show that requests for details on Eckersley's computer and phone use came after Fired Up! reported that Eckersley had been locked out of the Governor's office.

----- Original Message-----
From: Kane, Brendan
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007 4:42 PM
To: Herschel, Henry
Subject: FW:

Henry,
The email you requested is below.

Brendan Kane
Office of Governor Matt Blunt

----- Original Message-----
From: Eckersley, Scott
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007 2:44 PM
To: Kane, Brendan
Cc: 'ernorley@slu.edu'
Subject:

This should be our response to Mannie's article:

----- Original Message -----
From: Martin, Ed
Sent: Saturday, August 11,2007 10:19 PM
To: Russell, John
Subject: FW: Conversation wl Tom Deuschle

Great work Scott. You are a great part of our team. I am not sure I have said "thank you" to you enough - I tease you a lot because I like you - and please remind me of this on Monday.

Ed Martin
(573) 751-5261

----- Original Message -----
From: Eckersley Scott
To: Martin, Ed
Sent: Fri Aug 10 19:30:43 2007
Subject: Conversation w/ Tom Deuschle

I am going to repeat to you what I just relayed to Henry-I just had a good, lengthy conversation with Tom Deuschle regarding past panels' political affiliations in order to compile a more comprehensive history--(Henry knows that I contacted him). Toward the end of the conversation (wlo any prompting fiom me), he strongly recommended that we contact PAUL STENDON (Ct of Appeals in KC) to get the straight scoop on Breckenridge. Stendon was an Ashcrofi republican appointee and very- close religious friend of Ashcroft's who Deuschle says can be completely trusted to he discreet and give us the straight scoop on her.

He mentioned that Henry knows Stendon well and would be a good person to contact him in a confidential fashion. I did not say too much or allude to anything in our conversation.. . it was more of him telling stories about past panels and appointments in an appropriate way. I just wanted to pass this along blc it sounds like this might he our best bet at an honest republican analysis of Breckenridge and her views on real issues.

Also, Yolanda and I have put together an organized binder on Breck and have included all of the correspondence/research that I have received from you so that you can access when you want-it is all intact.

----- Original Message-----
From: Eckersley, Scott
Sent:Wednesday, September 19,2007 2:10 PM
To:Herschel, Henry
Subject:RE: PD sunshine

I don't know but gmb is going around saying we don't have an office policy--kane showed it to me in the pd--I don't think Chrismer gets it.

Scott J. Eckersley
Deputy General Counsel
Off ice of Govcrl2or Matt Blunt
State Capital, Room 216
Jefferson City, MO 65101
573-751-3841 (Phone)
573-751-8099 (Fax)

----- Original Message-----
From: Herschel, Henry
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 12:48 PM
TO: Martin, Ed; Eckersley, Scott
Cc: Chrismer, Rich
Subject:RE: PD sunshine

I think we already told everyone that.
--------.-----------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

----- Original Message-----
From: Martin, Ed
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 12:41 PM
To: Eckersley, Scott
Cc: Herschel, Henry; Chrismer, Rich
Subject: Re: P3 sunshine

Give to rich c.

Ed Martin
(573) 751-5261

----- Original Message-----
From: Eckersley, Scott
To: Martin, Ed
Sent: Wed Sep 19 12:37:35 2007
Subject: PD sunshine

Ed-I just want to make sure you are aware that we do have an official office policy on records retention (in the employee manual):

Section 5.11-Office Record Retention and Open Record Policy:

----- Original Message-----
From: Eckersley, Scott
Sent: Wednesday, September 19,2007 257 PM
To: Herschel, Henry
Subject:RE: PD sunshine

I didn't send him anything than what ed asked me to send.

Scott J. Eckersley
Deputy General Counsel
Office of Governor Matt Blunt
State Capital, 3oom 216
Jefferson City, MO 65101
573-751-3841 (Phone)
573-751-8099 (Fax)

----- Original Message-----
From: Herschel, Henry
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 2:56 PM
To: Eckersley, Scott
Subject: Fw: PD sunshine

Please go through me before you start e-mailing people

------Original Message------
From: Rich pin C
To: Henry Herschel
Sent: Sep 19, 2007 2:50 PM
Subject: Fw: PD sunshine

Henry, can you, in a very kind way, ask Scott to not send me emails about email retention?

I am not complaining, but I would prefer to discuss in person.

------ Original Message------
From: Scott Eckersley
To: Chrismer, Rich
Sent: Sep 19, 2007 2:05 PM
Subject: FW: PD sunshine

Scott J. Eckerjley
Deputy General Counsel
Office of Governor Matt Blunt
State Capital, Room 216
Jefferson City, MO 65101
573-751-3841 (Phone)
573-751-8099 (Fax)

----- Original Message-----
From: Martin, Ed
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 12:41 PM
To: Eckersley, Scott
Cc: Herschel, Henry; Chrismer, Rich
Subject: Re: P3 sunshine

Give to rich c.

Ed Martin
(573) 751-5261

----- Original Message-----
From: Eckersley, Scott
To: Martin, Ed
Sent: Wed Sep 19 12:37:35 2007
Subject: PD sunshine

Here's an interesting exchange between Ed Martin and Scott Eckerlsey from the released Blunt administration emails:

----- Original Message -----
From: Martin, Ed
Sent: Tuesday, September 18,2007 12:21 PM
To: Eckersley, Scott
Subject: Re: Am I to destroy my breckenridge stuff? 

Not all of it. Just your notes.

Ed Martin
(573) 751-5261

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Martin, Ed 
Sent: Tuesday, September 18,2007 12:21 PM 
To: Eckersley, Scott 
Subject: Re: Am I to destroy my breckenridge stuff? 

Not all of it. Just your notes.

Ed Martin
(573) 751-5261

----- Original Message -----
From: Eckersley, Scott
To: 'treiss@mycingular.blackberry.net' <treiss@mycingular.blackberry.net>; Martin, Ed
Sent: Tue Sep 18 11:51:14 2007
Subject: Am I to destroy my breckenridge stuff?

Scott J. Eckersley
Deputy General Counsel
Office of Governor Matt Blunt
State Capital, Room 216
Jefferson City, MO 65101
573-751-3841 (Phone)
573-751-8099 (Fax)

From: Scott Eckersley [scott.eckersley@employershealthnetwork.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 4:35 PM
To: Martin, Ed
Subject: Tomorrow's Meeting

After prayerful consideration, I think the best solution to this situation is to put me back to work with Henry. I am confident that I can make Henry happy--I promise you that I will make this work.

Thanks,
Scott

From: Martin, Ed
Sent: Monday, September 24,2007 7:35 AM
To: 'chuck.pryor@sbcglobal.net'

Due to eck, I had the locks changed. I think the rest of the staff don't need to know
why.

Ed Martin
(573) 751-5261