Inappropriate interference from Missouri governor’s office
subscribeEditorial , Kansas City Star
Gov. Matt Blunt should not let his staff drag the Missouri Highway Patrol into next year's re-election campaign. Unfortunately, that appears to be the way things are headed.
The Star reported this week that Blunt's staff was heavily involved in writing an early June news release sent out by the patrol regarding its investigation into the Taum Sauk Reservoir collapse that badly damaged Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park.
In e-mails, Rich Chrismer, the governor's communications deputy, told Mark James, director of the Department of Public Safety, that the patrol should issue the statement and not answer any questions about it. James is an appointee of the governor and his agency oversees the Highway Patrol.
"They know to let the statement speak for itself, correct?" Chrismer wrote. That's just incredible. The governor's office has no business ordering a law enforcement agency to keep information from the public.