Blog

Nixon and Koster share damage control duties

August 17, 2009

Media, watchdogs not happy with Sunshine whitewash

JEFFERSON CITY—For weeks, Jay Nixon has refused to hold anyone accountable for his administration’s serious breach of the public’s trust in withholding documents regarding dangerous levels of E coli in the Lake of the Ozarks. Last week, Attorney General Chris Koster released a report that seemed to absolve the Department of Natural Resources of wrongdoing. But mounting evidence shows that his investigation was so narrow in scope that it seemed to have a predetermined outcome, igniting a firestorm of controversy among government watchdogs and the media.

“As we learn more about Chris Koster’s report, we are forced to conclude that the Sierra Club’s Ken Midkiff was right: it was a ‘shabby’ effort produced to protect the Nixon Administration, not hold them accountable,” said Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party. “Koster’s review overlooked important documents and set the standard for a violation impossibly high. It seems that Koster made up his mind before his investigation even started, and he editorialized the report rather than working to get the real facts.”

Koster’s investigation missed incriminating emails that even the Kansas City Star was able to obtain: According to the e-mail by a DNR employee: “In a nutshell, I have had email inquires (sic) from four reporters since May 26 and phone calls from those four plus a couple others … for information, interviews or data.” In an interview Thursday, Koster said he was unaware of that e-mail and some others obtained by The Star.

Ethics watchdogs rightly worry that Koster’s narrow interpretation of the Sunshine Law may further restrict the public’s ability to get information from their government. Several have publicly disputed Koster’s contention that any Sunshine Law request must be labeled as such. The executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition called Koster’s argument “too technical” and asked “whether you can violate the Sunshine Law at all.”

“It appears that Chris Koster’s sloppy attempt to fix a political problem for Jay Nixon will have a chilling effect on transparency in government for years to come,” said Smith.