Panel clears Talent of some ethics charges, pursues one

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Ethics Commission has cleared Republican Senate candidate Jim Talent of some ethics charges brought by Democrats but is pursuing a potential violation related to his 2000 governor's race.

Talent's campaign claimed exoneration by the Ethics Commission, which released its findings Friday. A Talent attorney described the complaint related to the 2000 governor's race as a technical accounting issue that likely can be settled.

Democratic Party consultant Marc Farinella, who also works for Talent's opponent Sen. Jean Carnahan, called the 2000 case "a big deal."

The ethics complaint says an investigator has "determined that there were reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of law had occurred" in the way Talent handled his 2000 campaign committee after he narrowly lost the election. Unless the case is settled, the next step would be a hearing on the alleged violations.

Referring to the dismissed portion of the complaints, Talent said in a statement: "Missouri voters recognize a trumped-up charge when they see one. People don't want this kind of politics anymore."

Debt retirement

The letter sent to Talent only mentioned the dismissed allegations. Accompanying documents included the complaint about the 2000 debt retirement committee.

The charges being pursued relate to the Talent for Governor committee's reorganization -- about a week after the 2000 election -- into a debt retirement committee. But the committee's 30-day, post-election report showed Talent had $71,110 on hand.

Because the report did now show debt, the Ethics Commission complaint said Talent was not entitled to create a debt committee or to continue raising money through the committee.

Democrats charged that Talent intentionally broke the law so he could continue raising money for other purposes.

"This is a guy who has had a ton of political experience," said Farinella, referring to Talent's service in Congress and the state legislature. "He just didn't think the rules applied to him."

Stephen B. Higgins, an attorney for Talent's gubernatorial campaign, said campaign staffers knew that there would be debt, and formed the debt committee at the suggestion of an Ethics Commission staff member. He said the campaign bills trickled in for six months after the election.

Amended report likely

Based on conversations among Talent's people and the Ethics Commission, Higgins said he expects the complaint to be settled by filing an amended 2000 report reflecting Talent's full debt.

"What's left are very technical issues. It is not always possible to know what debts exist" 30 days after an election, said Higgins, adding that the Ethics Commission's interpretation of the law was impractical. "I know that was the thinking of the campaign treasurer when the debt service committee was formed."

Until Friday, Democrats had emphasized another part of their complaint targeting Missouri Renewal, a political fund-raising committee established in January 2001 with Talent as the honorary chairman. The committee raised more than $100,000 last year.

State Democratic Party executive director Mike Kelley said Talent was violating state law by using Missouri Renewal to promote his candidacy.

Under state law, candidates cannot run political committees that can accept donations of unlimited size. A candidate is defined by state law as anyone who seeks election, regardless of whether he or she has settled on a specific office.

The Ethics Commission determined that Talent was not yet a candidate while he was involved with Missouri Renewal.

The Democratic complaint also had alleged that Talent used his 2000 gubernatorial committee to spend money in 2001 benefiting his Senate campaign.

The Ethics Commission disagreed and said the expenditures -- though paid later -- had been incurred before the 2000 governor's election, which Talent narrowly lost to Democrat Bob Holden.