Out of the ether floats word that Peter Kinder has decided on a replacement for Eric Feltner, the chief of staff forced out after being charged with furnishing pornography to a minor.

According to sources, Kinder will name Rich Aubuchon, currently of the Office of Administration, as the new chief of staff for the office of Lieutenant Governor.  Most of you will remember Aubuchon as the man who was made provisional point-person by Matt Blunt for purposes of destroying electronic records of emails from the governor's office and spearheading the campaign of public disinformation [0] and lying to the media [0].

Aubuchon appears a curious choice by Kinder in replacing a staffer whose tenure in office ended in scandal, as Aubuchon remains embroiled in legal controversy himself.  Aubuchon is one of several named defendants in Scott Eckersley's lawsuit against Team Blunt and has been outed as the Blunt aide who delivered a message to the administration's IT chief that Blunt wanted electronic tape backups destroyed [0].

Interestingly, the apparent decision to hire the scandal-tainted Aubuchon comes just days after Kinder stepped out of character to hold a "ethics in government" kabuki dance [1] targeting Rod Jetton's corrupt consulting business.  This has some observers suggesting that the ethics stance was mere prophylaxis in advance of the public announcement of the ethically-challenged Aubuchon's hiring.

Given the timing, Kinder's supposed choice of top staff calls into question the man's judgment regarding assessment of personal character at the very moment he's chosen to make ethics a part of his race.  Bizarre stuff from a bizarre fellow.