Blunt Names Former Team Abramoff Lobbyist As ED Of Missouri Republican Party

According to the Missourinet, Governor Matt Blunt today named Jared Craighead as the new Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party. Blunt offloaded Craighead from the Deputy Chief of Staff position in his office, hoping that by reshuffling his official staff, he could prop up his failing administration.

This is also an indication that Blunt takes seriously the potential primary challenges of State Treasurer Sarah Steelman and former Chief Justice Chip Robertson, and is trying to consolidate control over the party apparatus in anticipation of that dual primary challenge.

Craighead is a surprising choice for this post. He has virtually no previous political experience, but he does come with serious ethical baggage.

Craighead was part of the Team Abramoff cadre of lobbyists at Cassidy and Associates, the DC-based lobbying firm where Jack Abramoff once worked. Abramoff is under federal indictment in Florida, and additional indictments for his activities as a Washington lobbyist are widely expected.

Craighead also played a role earlier this year in the scandal involving former Roy Blunt aide, Greg Hartley, and the $50,000 contract he received to ensure that Governor Blunt did not veto a bill of interest to the Realtors, despite a recomendation from the FTC and the DOJ that he do so.

Craighead also has ties to a suspicious contract that Cassidy and Associates enjoyed with the Missouri Department of Transportation.

During Craighead's tenure on Rep. Blunt's staff, he was one of several Blunt staffers who took junkets to Turkey, courtesy of the special interests, including Phillip Morris, the company where Roy Blunt's lobbyist wife is employed.