Democrats accuse Talent of running illegal committee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Democrats are alleging that a committee set up by Republican Jim Talent last year was an illegal effort to raise money for a political campaign.

But Talent said the committee, Missouri Renewal, was legal and served to give him a political platform and help other Missouri Republicans win office.

Mike Reid, an official at the Missouri Ethics Commission, would not comment on the accusations.

Democrats said Friday that the type of committee Talent set up allowed him to accept donations far above state and federal limits on contributions to candidates. Those donations, Democrats told The Kansas City Star, should have been prohibited.

It was the third time in recent days that Democrats leveled charges against Talent, although the party has not filed formal complaints. Earlier, they criticized his lobbying contracts in his work with a Washington firm as well as his $90,000 salary last year while teaching two classes at Washington University in St. Louis.

The committee, Missouri Renewal, was established in January 2001, just weeks after Talent narrowly lost the race for governor. Talent said the committee enabled him to focus on inner-city issues, campaign for Republican candidates and work on Republican get-out-the-vote efforts.

"I anticipated that being a political platform for several years, then either running for governor or getting out" of politics, Talent told the Star.

More than $100,000

Early last year, Talent was considering another run for governor in 2004. By May or June, Talent instead decided to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan.

In all, Missouri Renewal raised more than $100,000 last year, including $40,000 from the Missouri GOP and donations of $20,000 and $10,000 from other supporters.

"When you step back and look at all this money that's being provided to him through very unusual and questionable channels, like lobbying contracts and huge contributions from his state party before he even states publicly that he's running for anything, it looks really suspicious," said Mike Kelley, executive director of the Missouri Democratic Party.

Talent formed a Senate exploratory committee on Aug. 2 and formally announced that he was running on Oct. 9.