JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Ethics Commission dismissed complaints against Chris Koster and Eric Greitens over outside groups spending money on their campaigns.
For both Greitens and Koster, complaints had been filed about federal political action committees spending money on their behalf without being registered in Missouri. In both cases the ethics commission said that the groups were properly registered with the Federal Elections Commission and that the candidates had properly reported the large contributions.
In Greitens’ case, the complaint was filed over $1.9 million donated by a political action committee called Seals for Truth. The federal committee was created after the most recent filing deadline in July and won’t have to disclose its donors until the Oct. 15 filing deadline.
In the Koster case, a complaint had been brought over contributions from the Jobs and Opportunity PAC, which spent money attacking Greitens during the final stages of the Republican primary. Koster reported over $1 million in in-kind contributions from that group. Like Seals for Truth, Jobs and Opportunity will not have to report its donors until the Oct. 15 filing deadline, but it has been connected to the Democratic Governors Association.
A second case against Greitens was also dismissed by the MEC. It involved allegations that the Eric Greitens campaign had coordinated with the LG PAC, which attacked Republican candidates John Brunner and Catherine Hanaway.
Reports had surfaced connecting Greitens to the PAC’s treasurer, Hank Monsees. But the ethics commission did not find that the Greitens campaign had any prior knowledge of LG PAC.
In response to ethics commission inquiries, Greitens provided certified statements denying prior knowledge of the pace. The PAC’s attorney also stated that no one from the Greitens campaign had any prior knowledge or participated in LG PAC’s media strategy.
