Commissioner Asks Montee To Identify Nixon Staff Members Who Misled Auditor on Nixon's Political Use of State Vehicle

Jefferson City - State Auditor Susan Montee said on October 12 that Attorney General Jay Nixon's office misled the auditor about Jay Nixon's political use of his state car, and now Office of Administration Commissioner Mike Keathley wants to know who in Nixon's office was involved in the attempted cover up.

Keathley sent a letter to Montee today requesting who in Attorney General Nixon's office falsely represented that Nixon was only using his state car for official purposes during a 2006 audit.  One year after the audit, Nixon was caught using his state car for politics and then admitted he had used his taxpayer-funded vehicle for his political campaign for at least three years.

"As I pointed out in my request for your audit, Mr. Nixon's office misled your predecessor during her 2006 audit about the attorney general's political use of his state vehicle," Commissioner Keathley wrote in a letter to Auditor Montee.  "To this point I am following up on a statement you gave The Associated Press on October 12 about Mr. Nixon's office misleading the State Auditor. In that statement you said 'The representation at that time in that audit from the attorney general is that his use was official use.'  I am trying to determine who in Attorney General Nixon's office was a part of an attempted cover up of the political use of state equipment."

Keathley also pointed out that 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.

"As part of my investigation into whether Mr. Nixon has adequately compensated the taxpayers of Missouri for his political use of his state vehicle, I am again asking you to provide me the names of the staff members in the Attorney General's office who misled the State Auditor and her office," Keathley wrote.  "Specifically, I would like to know who in the Attorney General's office provided false ‘representation,’ as you called it, that Mr. Nixon was using his state car for only official purposes."

Keathley has requested this information from Auditor Montee's office by December 12.

Keathley also thanked State Auditor Montee for reversing her earlier decision and agreeing to his request to audit Nixon's political use of his state car. Keathley requested the audit Tuesday in a letter to the auditor.  Montee had told The Associated Press on October 31 that she had no plans to undertake a special audit of the Attorney General Nixon's office until 2009.

Letter to Auditor Susan Montee

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