JEFFERSON CITY - State Auditor Claire McCaskill, the defeated candidate for Governor in 2004, has returned to a clear fact pattern of abusing her office to serve partisan or personal agendas, the Missouri Republican Party charged today.

In 2004, McCaskill and Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry lost their respective races by similar margins — (Blunt-McCaskill, Missouri, 50.8%-47.9%, and Bush-Kerry, US, 51.1%-48.6%). After losing by similar margins ? McCaskill by 3 points, Kerry by 2.5 ? each dropped from sight for months. Now, each is returning to public view, in pursuit of political rehabilitation through attack politics.

MRP spokesman John Hancock said, ?The facts are not pretty. They are readily available, and we are today detailing a few key points. The bottom line is that McCaskill needs to do her job for the people, and stop using taxpayer dollars in a transparent attempt to rebuild a political career that hit the rocks last November.?

• In 2004, audit production fell to the lowest level of McCaskill?s entire tenure. This was while she was running for Governor, and 102 reports were issued, compared with a tenure average of about 122 annually. Worse: just under one-half of 2004 production (just under 50 reports) had little if anything to do with state government, and concerned issues or entities pertaining to counties, municipalities, or other subdivisions.

 

• For 2005, the pace is even lower. As of June 30, 2005, the 2005 annual rate was down to 92 reports, with 46 issued. This further decline in production accompanied McCaskill?s disappearance from most public notice in the wake of the defeat. McCaskill?s new visibility has been built on a ?maybe? 2006 run for U.S. Senate; a weeklong summer trip to Guatemala on a medical mission; and, recently, a rash of loosely framed queries to state agencies, followed by complaints of non-cooperation. With respect to the medical mission by an established and respected private organization, McCaskill is an attorney, not a doctor, nurse, or paramedic. Notably, McCaskill has not said if the mission group had to pay for her trip, or if ? surely ? she paid her own way.

?So, McCaskill let the job slide while running for Governor. Now, it is sliding further, with McCaskill launching a ?Revenge Tour? of fishing trips to state agencies, interspersed with trips to Washington about Senate race money, and to Central America. And 2005 report production is down from the previous low-water mark in 2004,? Hancock said.

• Not one audit was issued from September 30-November 10, 2004, which was the final stretch of the Governor?s race. In this period, Governor Blunt was Secretary of State, and was successfully overseeing what became a well-managed and clean statewide election, while also running for Governor.

 

• Hancock pointed specifically to one glaring professional failure associated with McCaskill?s ?let it slide? pullback from office work in 2004. McCaskill?s now-stale 2002 audit of the Missouri Department of Revenue failed to uncover Holden Administration failures with computer purchasing. In late 2004, the incoming Blunt Administration discovered an unused cache of $1.8 million in unused computer equipment, which had been missed entirely by McCaskill. In January 2005, seeking to cover up this obvious professional lapse, McCaskill told the press that ?a tip? had led her to discover the Holden era computer mismanagement.

Hancock said, by way of summary: ?The Auditor needs to get back to work, stop playing politics on office time, and drop her ?Revenge Tour? of fishing expeditions at the Department of Revenue. Claire McCaskill needs to stop wasting taxpayer dollars on her political games and bring the agencies an audit plan and professional work programs for credible audits.?