Rep. Cooper repays '04 campaign debt to himself

State Rep. Nathan Cooper in February repaid $53,715 he lent to his 2004 campaign by raising large sums from Republican committees in the St. Louis and Kansas City regions.

The repayment, reported last month to the Missouri Ethics Commission, does not include 8 percent interest on the loans. That interest, totalling about $9,400, was not reported on Cooper's disclosure report but will be included in an amended report that will be filed soon, said campaign treasurer Victor Gunn.

Cooper, who represents the 158th Missouri House district, won a three-way primary in 2004 and was unopposed in the general election. He is seeking his second term. Cooper is unopposed in the Republican primary this year and said he doesn't plan to make large loans to his campaign to defend his seat against Democrat Matt Hill and Libertarian George Webster.

In the weeks prior to paying the debt, Cooper's campaign received $49,700 from 17 Republican committees. Those donations included $3,000 from the 158th Republican Legislative Committee, the maximum it could legally donate.

The 158th Republican committee distributed $56,665 to Republican committees in December and January, much of it to the committees that later donated to help retire Cooper's debt.

In an interview, Cooper said he helps the 158th District committee raise money but did not have a list of which committees around the state received donations. His solicitation for help retiring his debt was a general call for assistance to Republican loyalists.

"I solicit from a wide array of committees and individuals," Cooper said.

The movement of money among political party committees, which has been called "lawful money laundering" by Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, is under scrutiny in Jefferson City. The Senate has voted to ban the practice, a move that is being resisted in the House.

Cooper and Gunn, who is also treasurer of the 158th District committee, said there was no understanding that money sent to other committees would be returned for the debt repayment.

"If they want to donate money back to anything else, that is up to them," Gunn said. "I did not specifically ask anyone to donate any money to any committee."

The practice of using local political party committees to move large sums of money is common in both the Republican and Democratic parties. The Southeast Missourian last week documented how the money is moved at the highest levels of state politics.

Political party committees may accept donations of any size and are allowed to make contributions far in excess of the amounts allowed for other contributors.

Fee for consulting firm

In addition to repaying the money he lent his campaign, Cooper also paid a $10,000 debt dating from Nov. 20, 2004. The money was paid to Liberty Consulting LLC, a Washington, Mo., firm owned by James Harris, director of boards and commissions for Gov. Matt Blunt.

"They were the general campaign consultant for the 2004 campaign," Cooper said. "They were handling all media, direct mail and campaign strategy for the entire year."

The company appeared only once on his disclosure reports, Cooper said, because his deal with Liberty Consulting was that he didn't owe any money if he lost the election.

Transactions prior to Cooper's debt repayment include $3,000 sent Dec. 19 to the 124th Legislative District Committee-Republican. On Jan. 18, the committee sent $3,000 to Cooper.

The chairman of the 124th Legislative District Committee, Steve Cheslik of Harrisonville, Mo., said he directed the donation to Cooper. "There are all kinds of reasons why we give money," said Cheslick, who is also the Cass County treasurer. "But I am not going to tell you why, so I guess we don't need to talk anymore."

The largest single donation by the 158th District committee, $33,165 in all, went to the 2nd Senatorial District Republican Committee, operated by Tom Smith of St. Charles. Smith, who is the treasurer for dozens of committees, handles hundreds of thousands of dollars for Republicans in St. Charles.

Committees in Smith's control sent $29,200 to Cooper. There was no agreement that money sent from the 158th District committee would be returned to Cooper, Smith said.

"He had a lot of debt from his old campaign, and it is always important to get rid of debt when you have it," Smith said.

Smith said he didn't know that most of Cooper's campaign debt was to himself, but said it wouldn't have changed his decision to donate.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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