Monday, January 7, 2008 |
Contact: Michael Keathley, |
Commissioner Keathley: "Nixon Has Failed To Answer Critical Questions About Political Use Of State Car"JEFFERSON CITY - Office of Administration Commissioner Mike Keathley continues to seek information from Attorney General Jay Nixon regarding his political use of his taxpayer-funded vehicle including the identities of the Attorney General's staff who misled the State Auditor in 2006 by providing false information about how the vehicle was being used. "You or your campaign received four letters from this office seeking information that would establish the accuracy of this payment, but have failed to answer necessary questions about this payment," Commissioner Keathley wrote in a letter to Nixon. "As I have said before, state employees routinely provide the same documentation with their expense reports. Please provide it to me, let my office verify the true cost of your personal and political use of state resources, and we can put this issue behind us." State Auditor Susan Montee told the Columbia Daily Tribune on December 6 that Attorney General Nixon's political use of his state vehicle "was not compliant with the law." Montee also told The Associated Press on October 12 that the Attorney General's representation during the 2006 audit of his office was that his use of his state car "was official use." A year after the audit, Nixon was caught using his state car for his political campaign and admitted using his taxpayer funded vehicle for campaign activities for at least three years even though he told the State Auditor a year earlier his use of the car "was official use." It is against state law to withhold information from state auditors. Section 29.250 RSMo, requires the state auditor to report to the prosecuting attorney any instance where a state officer "shall refuse to submit their books, papers and concerns to the inspection of the state auditor." Violation of this disclosure requirement is a misdemeanor. Commissioner Keathley has again asked Nixon which employee or employees of his office falsely represented to the State Auditor that your state vehicle was used only for state activities. The Office of Administration is still holding a check from Nixon's campaign purporting to reimburse the state for Nixon's unlawful use of state resources for political and personal purposes. Because Nixon has withheld information and only provided "estimates" for his political use of his state car, Commissioner Keathley cannot properly account for the reimbursement. "I am asking you for this information one final time," Commissioner Keathley wrote. "I must deposit the check by January 23. If you do not answer these questions by January 21, I will have no choice but to deposit the check and I will do so. Should you fail to fully answer these questions and thus leave me no choice but to deposit the check without full verification, you should not assume that the state accepts the check as full satisfaction of the debt. To the contrary, I will continue to pursue the information necessary to establish the actual cost to the taxpayers of your personal and political use of state resources." Letter to Attorney General Jay Nixon ### Go to News Releases Index |
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