On the Way Out, Blunt Pays Hush Money to Harris
Even as as it became clear that his quest for a second term would never fully materialize, Matt Blunt's campaign continued to pay vast sums for "services" to former appointments director and Nathan Cooper associate, James Harris. Team Blunt reported paying more money to Harris in consulting fees after Blunt had announced that he wouldn't seek a second term than they paid to him in the previous quarter, when the campaign was still live.
Missourians for Matt Blunt Inc. reports making the following payments to James Harris's consulting firm over the first quarter. All but one of these payments came after Blunt announced on January 22 that he would not be seeking another term in office.
| The J. Harris Company PO Box 74 Jefferson City, MO 65102- |
3/6/2008 | Prof. Services 0 |
$14,500.00 Paid |
| The J. Harris Company PO Box 74 Jefferson City, MO 65102- |
2/19/2008 | Prof. Services 0 |
$15,000.00 Paid |
| The J. Harris Company PO Box 74 Jefferson City, MO 65102- |
1/4/2008 | Prof. Services 0 |
$14,500.00 Paid |
| The J. Harris Company PO Box 74 Jefferson City, MO 65102- |
1/31/2008 | Prof. Services 0 |
$14,500.00 Paid |
In sum, James Harris ingested $58,500 in fees from the Blunt campaign treasury in just a touch over two months.
An observer might reasonably ask why the Blunt campaign, which had previously been paying Harris $6,500 per month in fees, would all of the sudden decide to increase Harris's fee by more than double at precisely the same time that there ceased being any meaningful campaign work to be done? Remember, after January 22, the Matt Blunt for Governor campaign essentially no longer existed.
Skeptics might suggest that Blunt --no longer needing the small fortune he'd raised for campaign purposes-- began in the first quarter to offload large sums to the people who were most keenly aware of the intricate workings of his administration's pay-to-play and fee office schemes as an inducement to continue their silence. Color me skeptical.
