JEFFERSON CITY - Despite declaring that it was a “minor mistake,” Claire McCaskill has been shamed into changing radio ads that initially failed to include the name of the office she is seeking in violation of federal campaign finance laws.

In yet another example of her incompetence and carelessness, McCaskill allowed the illegal radio ads to run in St. Louis, Kansas City and other areas until she was confronted by the media about the violations raised in letters to media outlets from Sen. Jim Talent’s campaign.

The illegal ad can be found at: http://www.mogop.org/media/clairenodis.mp3.

The revised ad can be found at: http://www.mogop.org/media/claireedited.mp3.

McCaskill’s admission is nothing more than a desperate attempt to avoid federal law that allows media outlets, both television and radio, to refuse to give McCaskill’s campaign a discount on advertising given to candidates who follow the spirit and letter of the law.

“By changing these ads after the fact, Claire McCaskill has admitted that she violated federal law. Apparently, like many of her other mistakes, this one was not so minor,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “This lame attempt to hide her incompetence is Claire McCaskill’s way of trying to avoid paying higher advertising rates which her cash-strapped campaign can’t afford. But the fact is Claire McCaskill violated federal campaign finance law and she will be held accountable.”

McCaskill’s admission is another in a long string of blunders including her failure to disclose to the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee details of her vast family fortune including offshore tax shelters and other questionable investments; her failure to release her tax returns and those of her husband, Joseph Shepard; and her continuing audit of the Missouri Housing Development Commission that constitutes a glaring conflict of interest since her family fortune has been built by tax credits obtained by the MHDC.