(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) In Missouri’s 3rd Congressional district, all politics is personal.
With just eight weeks left until the general election in a race Politico characterizes as “on the bubble” for a party change, both sides are liberal with their use of bringing up their opponent’s personal history.
Whether it be Ed Martin’s loss of his Chief of Staff post in Governor Matt Blunt’s office, or Rep. Russ Carnahan’s yaht LLC., the punches keep coming.
This time – Martin’s campaign is focusing on requesting disclosure of documents regarding Congressman Carnahan’s earmarks, travels, and “all of the missing records from his State service.”
“Pursuant to FOIA, and with his sister Robin’s stated support, we request Congressman Carnahan offer constituents some true transparency. We have seen that Congressman Carnahan hides from the people of this district and refuses to face their questions but they deserve to know just how he is ‘representing’ them,” said Theresa Petry, spokeswoman for the Ed Martin for Congress campaign. “Carnahan can’t simply ignore people’s inquiries. With a record that seems to indicate the destruction of public records; we feel it is important to request his records now and under federal law.”
Congressman Carnahan’s office was quick to respond.
Chief of Staff Caroline Battles noted “fundamental flaws” in Martin’s request letter, surrounding his request for what they call confidential constituent emails to the Congressman and the public availability of congressional budgets.
In a letter to Martin, Battles said, “Given that several years have passed since your own unfortunate experience with FOIA and sunshine requests as former Governor Matt Blunt’s Chief of Staff, your confusion about this process is understandable.
“Nevertheless, I applaud your new-found appreciation for transparency in government,” she quipped.
Regarding Martin’s own history of disclosure struggles, his campaign had no comment.
Battles said the request had been sent to the General Counsel for The House of Representatives for further inquiry.
(Read the FOIA request. / Read the Congressman’s office response.)
email: eli [at] politicmo.com | phone: 417.597.3873 | twitter: @eyokley 
