Free Republic

Lawyers paid $2,500 by campaign just after they wrote 'scathing open letter' to GOP's Josh Hawley The lawyers who were lead authors of a letter criticizing Republican Josh Hawley's performance as attorney general were paid $2,500 by the campaign of his Democratic opponent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.). The $2,500 payment from McCaskill's campaign to Trachtenberg Germinder Hirth Litigation LLC came on April 11, 2018, about three weeks after two of the firm's top lawyers, Joanna Trachtenberg and Andrew Hirth, wrote their letter criticizing Hawley as "incompetent." The payment, for "legal services," was the first TGH Litigation had received from...

Former Navy SEAL officer Eric Greitens won the Republican primary for Missouri governor Tuesday after a hard-fought race in which he cast himself as a conservative outsider willing to use his military bravado to blow up perceived corruption in government. Greitens prevailed over another self-described outsider, businessman John Brunner, and a pair of more experienced Republican leaders — longtime Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and former Missouri House Speaker and U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway. He will face Attorney General Chris Koster, who easily won the Democratic gubernatorial primary, in the Nov. 8 general election. The Missouri governor's office will be open...

Missouri Democrats face an uphill fight to sustain Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill eliminating training requirements to carry a concealed firearm. Same goes for another bill Nixon vetoed that would require voters to provide a government-issued photo ID before being allowed to cast a ballot. Complicating their efforts is the fact that their all-but-certain nominee for governor supports both bills. Attorney General Chris Koster, who faces only token opposition in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary to replace term-limited Nixon, said he saw no reason to veto the wide-ranging gun bill.

Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones on Wednesday created a committee of lawmakers to review allegations that Attorney General Chris Koster is influenced by lobbyist perks and campaign contributions. Jones, a Eureka Republican, said the committee will look into claims that Koster, a Democrat, changed policies and negotiated more favorable settlements in consumer fraud cases following lobbying by companies. The allegations were raised by a New York Times article published last month that cited similar examples involving attorneys general across the country.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)FERGUSON, MO (KTVI) – Rev. Al Sharpton speaks at the Greater St. Marks Family Church in Ferguson. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is in attendance and gave the opening speech. Koster said, “You have lost a member of your community at the hands of one of my community. Not just the Caucasian community. The law enforcement community.” Sharpton tells reporters before the speech that he is not a “drive-by” activist and plans to be in Ferguson until the Michael Brown case is resolved. He is critical of release of surveillance video allegedly showing Michael Brown stealing cigars. During the speech...

The Missouri state auditor’s post has been a launching pad for politicians with higher aspirations like Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and former GOP Sen. Kit Bond. But this year, Democrats concede they won’t field a serious candidate against incumbent Republican Auditor Tom Schweich — sparking questions about the strength of the party’s bench in the red-trending swing state. Schweich may also be using his position to mount a bid for higher office in 2016, making Democrats’ historic failure to recruit an opponent for Schweich even more costly. “The reality is we believed we had...

Missouri on Sunday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a plan to intentionally breach a levee on the rain-swollen Mississippi River, flooding Missouri farmland in an effort to save an Illinois town. Earlier, Missouri filed a federal suit to block the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from following through on its plan to breach the Birds Point-New Madrid levee. A federal judge on Friday ruled against Missouri, saying a 1928 law permits the breach of the levee to ease pressure on the river. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster filed an application for an injunction to the high court on...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s Democratic attorney general broke with his party on Monday and urged a federal judge to invalidate the central provision of the new health care law. The filing of the court brief by Attorney General Chris Koster, a onetime Republican state legislator who switched to the Democratic Party in 2007, underscores the act’s political tenuousness in a critical Midwestern swing state. Mr. Koster’s action followed months of pressure from state Republicans that he join attorneys general from other states who are challenging the constitutionality of the law. Rather than join the litigation, however, Mr. Koster chose...

To buy certain cold medicines in Missouri, people already must approach a pharmacy counter, show a photo ID and submit their personal information to an electronic database to make sure they haven't stockpiled more than the legal limit of pills. On Tuesday, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon Attorney and General Chris Koster proposed to make Missouri the third state in the U.S. to require a doctor's prescription to buy decongestants such as Sudafed, Claritin-D and Aleve Cold & Sinus. Their target is pseudoephedrine — a key ingredient both in cold medications and the illegal stimulant methamphetamine. Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/30/2487211/nixon-backs-more-restrictions.html#ixzz16ozyGsIG