JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While state Sen. Jerry T. Howard said Wednesday that state officials have cleared him of Republican allegations of wrongdoing, a state GOP leader maintained the matter isn't yet resolved.
Howard's campaign produced a letter from the Missouri attorney general's office in which special prosecuting attorney Edward R. Ardini Jr. said "criminal prosecution is not appropriate" in connection with a 1993 purchase of property at Lake of the Ozarks.
In an accompanying statement, the campaign said the Missouri Ethics Commission had issued a final directive stating that no further action would be pursued regarding unrelated charges that the Dexter, Mo., Democrat had bilked money from his campaign.
"As I said when all this began, I have nothing to hide," Howard said. "I cooperated fully with the investigators, and they concluded I had not tried to defraud anyone. I hope people will now see these attacks for what they really are -- sleazy politics."
Kevin Gallagher, Howard's campaign manager, said the investigation uncovered that over four years money totaling $759 from two checks had been deposited in the wrong account. Those checks were from the state for reimbursement of expenses, mileage and phone charges while conducting Senate business. A portion of the phone reimbursement should have gone to the campaign account but inadvertently wasn't separated from the rest of the money, Gallagher said.
Reports amended
The Ethics Commission requested that amended campaign finance reports be filed by this Monday to correct the discrepancy and said the matter would be closed at that time, Gallagher said. Howard's campaign filed the amended reports Wednesday.
Gallagher said Michael Reid, the Ethics Commission's director of compliance, notified Howard by phone that the senator had been cleared. An official written notification is expected after Nov. 1, the next scheduled commission meeting.
"If there had been more to it, they would have turned it over to another agency, and they haven't done that," Gallagher said.
The Ethics Commission is prohibited by law from discussing investigations with third parties unless it decides to pursue sanctions.
John Hancock, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, accused the special prosecutor of partisanship and dismissed Howard's assertion that the ethics investigation is over.
"Ted Ardini is a highly partisan Democrat who clearly wrote this for a partisan purpose," Hancock said. "The letter doesn't say Jerry Howard did something wrong. It says he did something wrong, but (Ardini) is not going to prosecute."
Purchase undisclosed?
Republicans said Howard purchased a condominium at Lake of the Ozarks in 1993 and failed to include the property on his annual financial disclosure report.
"I would say Senator Howard's desire to have this ended is great, but his ability to demonstrate it is over is poor," Hancock said.
The fact that $759 was misapplied proves the Republican claim at least partially true, Hancock said.
Hancock said, "I don't see anything to indicate that this investigation is concluded other than Jerry Howard's assertion."
Howard is seeking a third-full term in the state Senate from the 25th District, which represents much of Missouri's Bootheel. State Rep. Bill Foster, R-Poplar Bluff, is his opponent.
The seat is one of two currently held by a Democrat that the state Republican Party is targeting in its bid to become the majority party in the Senate for the first time in more than 50 years.
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