Letter by Gov. Holden backer draws scrutiny

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A former state lawmaker said Saturday that he plans to file an ethics complaint against Gov. Bob Holden over a letter from a Springfield lawyer that appeared to encourage supporters to make legally questionable donations.

Doug Harpool, who supports State Auditor Claire McCaskill, Holden's rival in the Aug. 3 primary, said he plans to file a complaint Monday with the Missouri Ethics Commission against the governor's campaign and lawyer Sam Hamra.

A state campaign finance law caps the size of donations an individual can give to a candidate for statewide office at $1,200 per election.

Party committees don't face the same restrictions on the size of donations. The committees can give to candidates, but people who contribute money to committees can't earmark their donations for specific candidates.

However, a letter sent last Tuesday from Hamra says "unlimited amounts" can be sent to the county or state Democratic committees.

"They will forward these checks over to 'Holden for Governor' campaign, which is perfectly legal and ethical," the letter says.

Hamra's letter concludes, "I would appreciate you sending your check for $1200 prior to June 20th so we can have your name listed" that day at a Holden fund-raising event in Springfield.

Holden spokesman Caleb Weaver said the campaign has not knowingly accepted money funneled illegally. He said the campaign responded within a few hours after learning about Hamra's letter.

"The Holden campaign," he said Saturday, "works within finance law to raise the money we need to get out our message, and we abide by the law very strictly."

Hamra told the Springfield News Leader, which first wrote about the letter in its Saturday editions, that he was out of state when he dictated the letter by telephone to a secretary. He said he didn't remember what his wording was but thought she "misinterpreted" what he said.

"She didn't do it intentionally," Hamra said. "It was just a miscommunication."

The letter, typed on letterhead from his law office, is signed "S." Hamra said he signs about 100 letters a day and doesn't remember whether he signed the one Harpool received.

Harpool, a Democratic lawyer who served in the state House from 1982 to 1992, said he is concerned about the amount of money Holden's campaign has received from political committees.

"I think it's clear that there are limits to what a person is supposed to contribute to a campaign, and it's not appropriate for one campaign to choose to avoid those limits," he said. "And if they think what they have done is proper, they can explain that to the ethics commission because I don't think it is."

Glenn Campbell, a spokesman for McCaskill, said her campaign has identified at least $170,000 the governor has received from committees across the state. Campbell said the auditor's campaign is trying to find out whether there are any other "smoking guns."

"The question today based on what we learned yesterday is whether or not the governor's campaign has used some sort of method or out-of-sort practice to circumvent campaign contribution limits," Campbell said. "The letter yesterday clearly indicates there is some sort of problem, and we want to find out how big the problem is."