HRCC? What HRCC? I’ve never heard of them, part 2

Tags

121st Legislative District, Courtney Cole, Denny Hoskins, HRCC, missouri, robocalls, Survey St. Louis

The “30 Day After General Election” reports were due in at the Missouri Ethics Commission today. At this point we usually start wading through final campaign reports by race (and we are) and post as many stories as we can on the interesting minutiae and connections we find in our research. In starting that research today we ran into another blatant connection to the robocalls in the 121st Legislative District race. Yes, we were very interested in this race – it had a hardworking and hard charging newcomer in Courtney Cole (D) challenging a republican incumbent who managed to keep shooting himself in the foot. Alas, Denny Hoskins (r) was reelected.

Right at the end of the campaign the Missouri House republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) loosed homophobic robocalls against a number of Democratic candidates across the state, including Courtney Cole, on October 27th. You might want to remember that date.

Of course, the republican candidates disavowed any knowledge of those calls. Wink, wink.

We followed the story and tracked the source of those robocalls:

HRCC? What HRCC? I’ve never heard of them… (November 1, 2010)

….The Missouri House republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) filed a “no name” report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on October 29th. There are some enlightening expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE INC

ReportDate: 10/29/2010

Survey St. Louis, LLC PO Box 432 Saint Charles, MO 63302-0432 10/28/2010 IE GOTV Call-Hoskins $1,288.54

Survey St. Louis, LLC PO Box 432 Saint Charles, MO 63302-0432 10/28/2010 IE GOTV Call-Brattin $1,141.13…

That’s for Denny Hoskins (r-noun, verb, CPA) in the 121st Legislative District and Rick Brattin (r) in the 124th Legislative District….

On October 29, 2010 Denny Hoskins (r) publicly disavowed any knowledge of the robocalls in the Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal:

10/29/2010 2:08:00 PM

GOP robocall attacks Cole’s ‘family values’

Warrensburg – Rep. Denny Hoskins sought to distance himself Thursday from a robocall barrage targeting his Nov. 2 Democratic opponent….

….Hoskins said in a prepared statement. “I did not pay for, approve or have any knowledge of the robocall, nor do I condone its message….”

You might want to remember that date.

Denny Hoskins (r) filed his “30 Day After General Election” report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on December 1st. There was an interesting entry in the expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: CITIZENS FOR HOSKINS

ReportDate: 12/2/2010

B. ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES ALL OVER $100 AND ALL PAYMENTS TO CAMPAIGN WORKERS

SURVEY ST. LOUIS PO BOX 432 ST. CHARLES, MO 63302 10/29/2010 PUSH CARDS $1,712.15

[emphasis added]

That’s right, on the same day that he disavowed the robocalls, and two days after those calls were made, Denny Hoskins (r) paid the perpetrator of those calls, Survey St. Louis, for campaign paraphernalia. How nice.

The right hand doesn’t know what the far right hand is doing? Yeah, right.

So, we thought we do a little searching on Survey St. Louis via the Missouri Secretary of State:

Survey Saint Louis, LLC is a fictitious business name registered to Display Stuff, LLC. The owner is a Thomas Smith.

Business Name History

Name Name Type

Survey Saint Louis, LLC Legal

Fictitious Registration – Domestic – Information

Charter Number: X00589093

Status: Fictitious Active

Entity Creation Date: 5/24/2004

State of Business.: MO

Expiration Date: 8/28/2014

Owners

Name: DISPLAY STUFF, L.L.C.

Address: 320 MONROE STREET

ST. CHARLES MO 63301

The registered agent for Display Stuff, LLC is a Thomas Smith:

Business Name History

Name Name Type

DISPLAY STUFF, L.L.C. Legal

Limited Liability Company – Domestic – Information

Charter Number: LC0044000

Status: Active

Entity Creation Date: 10/26/2000

State of Business.: MO

Expiration Date: Perpetual

Registered Agent

Agent Name: THOMAS W. SMITH, JR.

Office Address: 320 MONROE STREET

ST. CHARLES MO 63301

Mailing Address:

Organizers

Name: JAMES W. MATHIS

Address: 911 WASHINGTON AVEUE

ST. LOUIS MO 63101

Where have we seen that name before?:

…Tom Smith, the owner of the company hired by the HRCC to blast the calls (and who also happens to be a staffer for outgoing Speaker Ron Richard)…

[emphasis added]

Apparently, the right hand washes the far right hand, too.

Previously:

HRCC robocall in the 121st Legislative District: desperation and homophobia (October 27, 2010)

The Missouri HRCC steps in it with homophobic robocalls (October 28, 2010)

Tilley (r) on HRCC robocalls: Uh, that didn’t go very well, did it? (October 28, 2010)

Tilley (r) on HRCC robocalls: “But, but, the Democrats are mean to us…” (October 29, 2010)

Tilley (r), the HRCC robocalls, and the media: “…testing, testing, testing, is this thing on?” (October 29, 2010)

Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal Headline: “GOP robocall attacks Cole’s ‘family values'” (October 29, 2010)

Campaign Finance: old media needs to learn to do some freakin’ research (October 29, 2010)

I guess I’m going to have to go with “No Comment” (October 29, 2010)

Another Democrat fights sleazy robocalls (October 30, 2010)