Blunt Misleads On Use Of The Patrol

The Blunt administration is utterly incapable of admitting a mistake. They now have General Counsel Jane Drummond writing commentary pieces across the state mischaracterizing Blunt's use of the Patrol.

She equates using the Patrol for criminal record history reviews with the sexual harassment investigation into Agriculture Director Fred Ferrell. She either knows better and intentionally misleads, or she truly doesn't understand how to conduct a sexual harassment investigation. I'm not sure which is worse.

Here's what she says about Governor Blunt's decision to violae Chapter 43 of the RSMo.:

The statute referenced in the story was enacted in 1939. It was clearly
intended to prevent the governor from using the patrol as a private
militia to harass and intimidate political opponents.

Governor Blunt might want to have Ms. Drummond inquire of Mr. Ferrell's victims as to whether they felt harassed or intimidated when armed law enforcement personnel started inquiring of their co-workers whether they were "overly flirtatious" or expected "special treatment because they were women."

It seems the Patrol was used by Blunt to protect Ferrell, rather than obtain the facts. And that's the precise abuse of the Patrol that the statute was intended to protect against.