• About
  • The Poetry of Protest

Show Me Progress

~ covering government and politics in Missouri – since 2007

Show Me Progress

Tag Archives: plane

Gov. Mike Parson (r): a complaint to the Missouri Ethics Commission about those plane flights

20 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in campaign finance, Missouri Governor

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

complaint, flight, governor, Mike Parson, missouri, Missouri Ethics Commission, PACs, plane, Super Bowl, Uniting Missouri

“…It is nearly impossible for an individual to fly on a plane without being advised of the flight ahead of time…”

$15,497.55 worth of plane flight(s) for the Super Bowl. And others?

We asked the complainant (and the attorney) for a copy of the document. They sent it to us.

The complaint to the Missouri Ethics Commission, filed yesterday:

2020.02.19 MEC Official Complaint – Mike Parson [pdf]

[….]
Governor Mike Parson, Parson for Missouri (the Governor’s official campaign committee), and Uniting Missouri PAC (a political action committee supporting the Governor’s election bid) appear to be engaged in on-going violations of Missouri campaign finance law related to the use of private airplanes. Uniting Missouri is supposed to be a political action committee, independent from the “consent, coordination or control” of its expenditures by Mike Parson. But the public statements of Uniting Missouri PAC’s officers and Parson for Missouri officials show that candidate Parson is in fact consenting to, coordinating, and/or controlling expenditures by the PAC for private plane travel.

Governor Parson flew on planes paid for by, or reported as a contribution by, a third party to a PAC. He could not have done so without some level of “cooperation” or “coordination” with the PAC. As the Commission recently said in MEC v. Greitens, expenditures “done in cooperation with” a candidate are in-kind contributions.2 Just as Greitens for Missouri violated Missouri law by coordinating expenditures with a PAC, Parson for Missouri has violated Missouri law by failing to report coordinated expenditures for flights as in-kind contributions. Along the way, Uniting Missouri PAC violated other requirements that the flights be reported timely. Finally, these flights exceeded the contribution limits for contributions to candidates. Intentionally evading those limits is a misdemeanor.
[….]

[….]
A. THE WASHINGTON DC FLIGHT
According to these public reports, the December 11, 2019 flight to Washington D.C. was on a plane belonging to Rick DeStefane, a longtime donor to Parson.4 This flight occurred after an appearance by Parson at a fundraiser for Uniting Missouri PAC. “Hancock said Uniting Missouri is covering the cost of the flight because the trip followed its St. Louis fundraiser.” Given that Parson lives in Missouri, not Washington D.C., it is not clear why travel out of state away from a fundraiser would be related to fundraising. Although Hancock claims the trip was related to fundraising, “the governor’s office said…that Parson and Willard were in Washington, D.C., to attend ‘an official event on a public policy matter hosted by the White House’.”5 But, Governor Parson’s trip to Washington, D.C. was not official business, rather it was likely campaign related. Parson even promoted it on his campaign social media account. Exhibit A. Regardless of the true purpose for the trip, there is no doubt that the flight was an expenditure on the part of Uniting Missouri PAC. This flight has never been reported as either an expenditure by Uniting Missouri PAC or an in-kind contribution to the PAC by DeStefane.6 Exhibit B. Nor has Parson for Missouri reported this flight as a contribution to the campaign.

B. THE SUPER BOWL FLIGHT
Parson’s February 2, 2020 trip to the Super Bowl on a plane provided by Uniting Missouri PAC, while also purportedly official business, directly benefitted his campaign. While the Governor’s office put out an official statement that his attendance at the Super Bowl was in his official capacity, Uniting Missouri PAC chairman John Hancock stated otherwise. “John Hancock said the use of the plane is legal because Parson raised money while in Florida for the game.” Press reports do not clarify for whom Governor Parson raised the money. The 2020 Super Bowl in Miami, Florida between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers was played on February 2, 2020. Uniting Missouri PAC reported a $15,497.55 in kind contribution from TM Aviation LLC nine days later, on February 11, 2020. Exhibit C. The report does not make clear that the in-kind contribution was the flight to the Super Bowl.

C. MISCELLANEOUS FLIGHTS
In addition to the 2019 DC and Super Bowl Flights, Uniting Missouri PAC has paid “more than $37,000 to Branson Aircraft LLC for expenses listed as ‘travel for fundraisers’.” 1° Exhibit D. Given Hancock’s statements that Uniting Missouri provides the Governor’s fundraising travel, this likely includes private air travel by Governor Parson. None of these flights are reported as in kind contributions to the Parson candidate committee.
[….]

[….]
However, in this case, Parson’s use of private aircraft arranged by Uniting Missouri PAC is an in-kind contribution to Parson for Missouri. “If a candidate is advised of the proposed expenditure ahead of time, it might be construed to be an expenditure made either with the cooperation or implied consent of that candidate.” It is nearly impossible for an individual to fly on a plane without being advised of the flight ahead of time.

Parson must have requested Uniting Missouri PAC arrange and pay for the use of the aircraft, and cooperated and consented to getting on the plane. At a minimum, Parson gave “express or implied consent” as contemplated by MEC Opinion 96.06.135. Therefore, Mike Parson, Parson for Missouri, and Uniting Missouri PAC unlawfully coordinated these airplane flights. Unless Parson was in control of or at least consented to expenditures by Uniting Missouri PAC, he would not be able to take these flights because, for example, he would not have known when or where to show up or where the flight was going.
[….]

[….]
In addition, Uniting Missouri PAC may have acted as a pass-through organization for donations from individuals and LLCs to Parson for Missouri. When a flight is reported as an in kind contribution, it should be an in-kind contribution from the owner of the airplane, not Uniting Missouri PAC. That in-kind contribution counts against Missouri’s campaign contribution limits. In every instance listed above, the cost of the flight either alone or in combination with other donations from those individuals or LLCs far exceeds the $2600 donation limit set for in the Missouri Constitution.
[….]

[….]
Any contribution above $5000 must be reported within 48 hours of receipt. The 2020 Super Bowl in Miami, Florida between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers was played on February 2, 2020. Uniting Missouri PAC reported a $15,497.55 in-kind contribution from TM Aviation LLC nine days later, on February 11, 2020. This is over 200 hours after the Super Bowl occurred. Either the in-kind is for the Super Bowl flight and should have been reported as made on February 2, 2020 when Governor Parson took a private plane to the Super Bowl (and reported within 48 hours of that flight) or the Super Bowl flight was not reported at all and the February 11, 2020 in-kind is for a different flight. Either scenario is a violation of campaign finance law.
[….]

Claire McCaskill (D) must be having a laugh or two right now.

Governor Mike Parson (r) and Missouri First Lady Teresa Parson [2018 file photo].

Previously:

Nice Super Bowl LIV seats you got there (February 3, 2020)

Because there are never any direct commercial flights between Kansas City or St. Louis and Miami? (February 3, 2020)

The plane! The plane! (February 12, 2020)

Missouri Ethics Commission – it ain’t chicken feed (February 13, 2020)

Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2020)

The really good news for Josh Hawley (r): now he can unload that Jeff City apartment and the commute to visit his real constituents in DC will be a lot shorter

07 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Claire McCaskill, Josh Hawley, US Senate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

apartment, Claire McCaskill, Josh Hawley, missouri, plane, U.S. Senate

Saving on rent and airfare, what’s not to like?

The results:

State of Missouri – General Election, November 06, 2018
Unofficial Results

U.S. Senator
3256 of 3256 Precincts Reported

Josh Hawley Republican 1,249,854 51.457%
Claire McCaskill Democratic 1,103,461 45.430%
Japheth Campbell Libertarian 27,508 1.133%
Jo Crain Green 13,195 0.543%
Craig O’Dear Independent 33,303 1.371%
WRITE-INS:
Write-in 1,605 0.066%

Total Votes: 2,428,926

Previously:

Attorney General Josh Hawley (r): the pepul of Misoori our stoopit (January 23, 2017)

HB 797: no confidence in the legal opinion of Attorney General Josh Hawley (r) (January 31, 2017)

Josh Hawley (r): well, maybe (July 11, 2017)

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – town hall in Warrensburg – Press Q and A – August 17, 2017 (August 17, 2017)

Josh Hawley (r): looking to unload that apartment in Jefferson City (October 10, 2017)

HB 1347: Well, isn’t that special? (December 1, 2017)

Josh Hawley (r): you brought up planes (October 20, 2018)

If he’d be a blogger by his trade…

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Claire McCaskill, Jay Nixon, meta, missouri, plane

…He may have junk food ready made

And if he posts his Twitter light

He’ll have his access to the right.

Okay, this is funny:

Eli Yokley ‏@eyokley

The plane issue has been one that Republicans have pretty successfully hounded Nixon on for years… Can’t imagine it polls well. #MOGov #2016 2:59 PM – 23 Jan 13

Brandon H. ‏@BHIndepMO

define successfully please | rt @eyokley The plane issue has been one that Republicans have pretty successfully hounded Nixon on for years 3:04 PM – 23 Jan 13

Eli Yokley @eyokley

@BHIndepMO Um, everyone knows about it and we’re still talking about it. 3:04 PM – 23 Jan 13

Um, tautology much?

Brandon H. ‏@BHIndepMO

@eyokley has it really changed anything aside from that? the Rs can only go to the point that they see their own planes/plane rides 3:06 PM – 23 Jan 13

It gets better:

caitlin legacki ‏@caitleg

He won by only 14% RT @eyokley: The plane issue has been one that GOP have pretty successfully hounded Nixon on Can’t imagine it polls well. 3:10 PM – 23 Jan 13

Eli Yokley ‏@eyokley

@caitleg 1) you of all people know that plane stuff sticks with people, 2) 2016: Whole new ballgame. 3:11 PM – 23 Jan 13

Brandon H. ‏@BHIndepMO

@caitleg we need a formula to figure out how many planes would have cost Jay (or Claire) re-election last year. 3:12 PM – 23 Jan 13

caitlin legacki ‏@caitleg

@eyokley you’re right. The plane stuff was so effective against Claire that she won by only 16%. Ooof. 3:13 PM – 23 Jan 13

That last one left a mark.

Previously:

He doth protest too much, methinks (December 30, 2012)

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D): she did what she said she was going to do

26 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2012, Claire McCaskill, missouri, plane, Senate

Previously:

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): media conference call on plane issues (March 21, 2011)

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): media conference call on plane issues – Q and A (Mar 21, 2011)

“…Let me finally say, I have convinced my husband to sell the damn plane. He has hired a broker and I can tell you I will not be setting foot on the plane ever again….”

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) and her husband sold the plane.

A statement from Senator McCaskill’s Communications Director, Trevor Kincaid:

“Claire said she would sell the plane and did.  True to her word as always.”

The republicans filed an ethics complaint and the Senate Ethics Committee dismissed the complaint, finding that no rules were violated. The plane was sold at a loss for $1.9 million. The buyer was an air ambulance cooperative.

Claire McCaskill addressed the initial problem, discovered the property tax problem, disclosed it and promptly paid the bill. She said they would sell the plane, and they did.

And the republicans are still stuck with either Sarah Steelman or Todd Akin. Or is it Peter Kinder?

Spring in Missouri

27 Sunday Mar 2011

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2012, Claire McCaskill, missouri, plane, Steve Kraske

The stenographer is, oh, so predictable, the weather isn’t.


It snowed yesterday in west central Missouri.

Yesterday the stenographer had a thing or two to say about Senator Claire McCaskill’s plane issue:

In political circles, that’s not the sound of a leaky faucet. It’s insider lingo for a bad-news story that won’t go away….

….The classic example: Woodward & Bernstein’s coverage of Watergate. The burglary….

….And on and on it went.

Drip, drip, drip.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, is in the midst of one of those cycles. It’s a place where no self-respecting politician wants to be….

False equivalence? Check. Let’s see, apparently, in the stenographer’s mind a wide ranging conspiracy and the resultant cover up is equivalent to the failure to pay property taxes on a plane which was self reported by a politician and accompanied by that politician’s immediate mea culpa.

Contrast that instance of taking responsibility with another politician in Missouri, who, by the way, won reelection.

Then, there’s this little gem:

….The recent stories open the door for reporters to go farther….

You mean you don’t dig around unless prompted by someone else? Just asking.

That’s what I thought. As useful as a lawn full of plastic flamingos.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): media conference call on plane issues – Q and A

22 Tuesday Mar 2011

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Claire McCaskill, missouri, personal property taxes, plane

Previously: Senator Claire McCaskill (D): media conference call on plane issues

“…I’m disappointed in myself that this mistake was made. But I have done an awful lot on accountability and transparency and ultimately the reason this happened was not because of the Republicans. It was because this was a public record. And this was a public record, um, that, that the flights were taken. It’s a public record on my PFD, my personal financial disclosure, that I owned part of the plane. It’s a public record that the government paid the money. Um, and I think that, that that is why this happened. And that’s a good thing. The transparency part of this is a good thing. I am being held accountable like I should be. And so should everyone else…”

The transcript of the media question and answer portion of this afternoon’s conference call with Senator Claire McCaskill (D):

…Question: …The issue of the plane first came up in two thousand six. Um, now these, my question is, if this came up in two thousand six why did it take four years for you to I guess check out some of this stuff at least to make sure that, um, going forward things would be done right tax wise? I mean, the issue didn’t stick in two thousand six, um, who knows, I mean, but, Republicans are getting a lot of play out of it in the last few weeks this time. And apparently, you know, there is this misstep with the taxes. Uh, why was this not looked into when it first became a political issue?

Senator Claire McCaskill (D):  I think, honestly I’m kicking myself, but, I think because they were throwing so much on the wall at that point, um, trying to allege that a lot of things, uh, were wrong that weren’t wrong. And, frankly, in two thousand six we didn’t owe any property taxes on this plane. We didn’t but the plane until two thousand six and the taxes would not have been due until the following year…

…Question: So, now, second, uh, on the, on the other side of the ledger, uh, there has been some, uh, contention that actually you’re using your personal plane even though you did assess, I mean, did use your, uh, office account to pay for some of it that’s it’s cheaper for the public for you to do that than, um, let’s say, the way Bond was doing it. Are you gonna end up actually costing the taxpayers more by going to a different system, you sell the plane?

Senator McCaskill: Well, the first thing I’m gonna do is drive as much as possible. There are times when you’re trying to, to, um, respond to a disaster in the state, when there is, um, a limited amount of time and you’re trying to move around the state that charter flights may be necessary. Um, but, I will tell you I kept track of my charter costs every single year I’ve been in the Senate while I’ve been focusing on making sure I didn’t spend all of my office budget I also focused on those costs. And I spent less in four years on charter flights than Senator Bond spent in one year. So, clearly we were being very careful with the way we spent the taxpayer’s money. I will continue to do that. But, the plane is one of those you’re darned if you do and you’re darned if you don’t. If you save the taxpayers’ money by using your own plane you’re subject to the criticism that you’re using public dollars to pay for your private airplane. If you don’t use your airplane for public flights, uh, you’re accused of overcharging the taxpayers by not using the cheapest transportation available. So, in this instance, I think the problems surrounding this, um, frankly, are just, the, the laws here are complex on planes, there’s different laws in every state, uh, there are complex political laws and FEC laws about use of planes, so, my goal is to buy a ticket that has a boarding pass in coach as often as I possibly can and when I, when I, when I’m in Missouri, to drive as often as I possibly can, and, if that’s not an option, to use charter flights as infrequently as possible.

Question: …in, in St. Louis City we all have to pay property tax on our, our own private vehicles so I’m sure a lot of people who hear about this may be scratching their heads wondering how someone could purchase an airplane and then just not have the state find out where that airplane was going to be located and, and thus, you know, account for the proper, uh, uh, personal property tax on this issue. So, I mean, how does something like that fall through the cracks? It would seem like it should, it just happens automatically.

Senator McCaskill: Well, it’s very straightforward. Um, you must license your car or your truck or your boat with the state. You must be licensed. An airplane must be licensed with the FAA. So there is no licensing that’s required by the county, the city, or the state for an airplane. So, that, that means it’s entirely a self reporting mechanism. And, um, I don’t want to, uh, cast aspersions anywhere else, but, I’m just saying that it’s self reporting, So, if you don’t know about it or if you chose not to or any other option it, there is no bill that comes. For, like for your car, the bill comes you gotta go get it licensed. And they know that you have it and they track you down. In this the self reporting didn’t occur. We had, had hangar space in Illinois previously and there is no personal property tax in Illinois. So, I might point out that if we were trying to evade personal property taxes and we knew about it we certainly wouldn’t have moved it from Illinois to Missouri.

Question: …Uh, the, the group or the, the LLC that owns the plane, Timesaver LLC, is incorporated in willing, Wilmington, Delaware. Um, Delaware obviously has a reputation for, uh, for being good for business. Um, was, was incorporating the plane in, in Delaware and effort by you or your husband or your tax attorneys to avoid paying any personal property tax? Delaware does not have a personal property tax.

Senator McCaskill: No, because the, frankly, um, having the plane owned in Delaware would not in any way negate the necessity of paying the personal property tax in Missouri. Uh, this was a mistake. It should have been reported to Missouri, it was owed in Missouri, it will be paid in Missouri today. Delaware is used by most plane companies, I believe, and by most planes, I think aviation lawyers recommend it, because it is a very common jurisdiction for aviation law. And, it is, I think, um, I don’t know if it’s nine out of ten or eight out of ten airplanes are registered there. But, registering in Delaware did not relieve, um, uh, the plane from the obligation of paying the personal property taxes in Missouri. If it had we wouldn’t be on this phone call right now.

Question: …I, in, in terms of your decision to try and sell the plane is that because you don’t ultimately want to continue paying the sales tax and the property taxes on it or because of the publicity that this has gotten?

Senator McCaskill: It’s just been more trouble than it’s worth. It sounded really good, um, but it’s very expensive and it is, um, complicated. Every time you’ve got to figure out, okay, am I gonna do, uh, uh, official, am I gonna do personal, am I gonna do political? How much is official? How much is personal? How much is political? How do we divide it up? I think it does complicate things for the public, that we own the plane. Because on the one hand, are we enriching ourselves by using the plane? On the other hand, are we taking advantage of the fact that we own the plane. It’s just too complicated. Um, you know, frankly, um, it’s, it’s just as convenient in many ways for us to hangar the plane in Illinois. If we really wanted to hold on the plane and not pay personal property tax all anybody has to do is move the plane to Illinois. Nobody’s trying to evade taxes here. That’s why the sales tax was paid fifty five months in a row to the State of Missouri with full information about the
plane and, and, and who owned the plane. And that this was in fact a Missouri company.

Question: …I want to go back to the Truman Days stuff. You, uh, indicated that, uh, you, you found another flight, eight events, uh, the Truman Days in Kansas City and a subsequent fact finding speech the next day and you, you said it represented  eight percent. Eight percent of the eighty-eight thousand you repaid?

Senator McCaskill: Oh, no, no, no, no. On one trip, okay, on one trip where I began and did a number of locations and a number of official events. Um, I did a, a water meeting in Springfield, I did a press conference in Kansas City, I did the office opening in Columbia. Of that trip the Truman Days speech represented eight percent of my time on that trip. In other words, what I was trying to explain is under the rules that would probably be considered de minimus and you wouldn’t even have an obligation to talk about it. But, I wanted to be clear that I had looked at every single trip and other than the big mistake in Hannibal the only other one that came close to even being worthy of acknowledging that there could have been anything political on the trip was in fact that Truman Days speech which represented a very small fraction of that particular trip.

Question: And, and you mentioned a subsequent Kansas City fundraiser the next day. [crosstalk][inaudible]

Senator McCaskill: Correct, I stopped by a fundraiser the next morning after I’d had a breakfast with the mayor, uh,  which was an official breakfast.

Question: …Um, obviously this all came forward whenever Republicans were, um, trying to dig up information on you. Do you feel like this has and will, uh, compromise your, your bid for reelection?

Senator McCaskill: You know, I don’t know. I know that I tried to handle this like I’ve handled everything else, as forthright as I could, as honestly as I could. Um, it is, um, I’m disappointed in myself that this mistake was made. But I have done an awful lot on accountability and transparency and ultimately the reason this happened was not because of the Republicans. It was because this was a public record. And this was a public record, um, that, that the flights were taken. It’s a public record on my PFD, my personal financial disclosure, that I owned part of the plane. It’s a public record that the government paid the money. Um, and I think that, that that is why this happened. And that’s a good thing. The transparency part of this is a good thing. I am being held accountable like I should be. And so should everyone else. We should have the same transparency for foreign travel, um, that’s paid for with taxpayer dollars. So, uh, the people of Missouri will make up their mind on this. I have a feeling the Republicans will try to, many, many times over the next eighteen months, try to make this about, um, the fact that my husband has been very successful in business and has lots of different corporations and lots of different companies. And I’m sure they’ll try to make, uh, there to be another, uh, something else. Um, but in this instance, in all fairness to the Republicans, I made this mistake. And I’m being accountable for the mistake. And I am very happy that I’ve convinced my husband to sell the plane.

Question: …Um, one of the things Republicans are talking about is they’re talk about your two, two thousand seven personal financial disclosure that shows income for Timesaver. And they’re saying, and raising questions about that. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Senator McCaskill: Well, um, the, first of all, the word income, uh, does not mean profit. Um, it’s an imprecise term. Do they mean revenue? Do they mean income? Or do they mean profit? And those are not necessarily interchangeable terms. Um, the, the depreciation was not figured in that figure and I can assure you, I can assure you that this plane has not been a profitable endeavor. It, all you have to do is look at the value of the plane and the number of flights that were reimbursed by public dollars and I think anyone, um, that has basic rudimentary math skills would understand this certainly was not a profitable adventure by virtue of the less than twenty thousand dollars a year on average that the government paid, uh, for chartering the plane when I was on a limited number of official business trips.

Question: Can I just follow up with another question? Um, related to the previous question about, you know, the campaign next year. You’ve, in the Senate, you’ve built your reputation over the past, over your first term as someone who looks, a critic, uh, of efforts, government secrecy and excessive spending in contracts and bad contracting. Do you think this is gonna create an, a problem for you in that regard?

Senator McCaskill: Well, um, yeah. [laughter] Um, I, sure, I mean this, this is not good. Um, I am, I am, uh, this is, obviously, I’ve been sick to my stomach for four days that this happened. And I can’t, I’m gonna, you know, I really do feel like a lot of people are gonna feel. How in the world, you know, they got this big, you got this big business and there is, they’re, they’re, they’re wealthy and how did they not self report this airplane? And, um, somebody made a mistake and I made a mistake by not checking to make sure that somebody hadn’t made a mistake. The sales tax was done perfectly. Uh, every month according to the law. And I am glad of that because I think it does show the public that nobody was trying to hide the airplane.

Staff: Last question.

Question: …You mention that the plane was moved from Illinois to, um, to St. Louis County and, and I think there’s actually two planes here, one that was, the plane that was originally reported by Politico last week and I guess there’s a new plane since then. Can you tell me, you know, if in fact there was more than one plane and also, I guess, it sounds like you moved it from downtown St. Louis airport to Sprit of St. Louis.

Senator McCaskill: I moved from down, first of all, I didn’t move this plane. Um, we had hangar space in Illinois for a previous airplane.

Question: Okay.

Senator McCaskill: And, and. Um, the previous airplane, I used to work downtown in, when I was the Auditor. And it was more convenient, um, for, uh, to use the Illinois, uh, hangar. Um, when I was no longer working downtown as frequently and knew I wasn’t gonna be working there on a permanent basis anymore ’cause I was either not gonna be Auditor anymore or I was gonna be a United States Senator , uh, the decision was made to move, uh, the, the then the Pilates airplane which is the one that, uh, we’ve, that we’re talking about today, the decision was made to hangar it in St. Louis. So, um, that, there was no personal property tax in Illinois and obviously, um, I’m not, I don’t know if that’s the reason why this mistake was made or not.  But, if there was going to be an aggressive attempt to evade taxes it seems to me that, um, it would have been pretty simple for us to keep the plane in Illinois where this tax is not even owed. And by the way it’s not owed in Kansas either.  

Question: And, and so the new plane, um, was moved, if, if the old plane was at downtown St. Louis and the new one was, was hangared at, uh, Spirit of St. Louis?

Senator McCaskill: Correct.

Question: And when did you buy that new plane?

Senator McCaskill: Oh, I want to say, I, I don’t have the record sitting here in front of me, but I want to say it was June of oh-six.  Uh.

Staff: [crosstalk][inaudible] It was July of Oh-six.

Senator McCaskill: July of oh-six.

Question: July of oh-six. Okay.

Staff: Thanks everyone for joining today…

Senator McCaskill: Thank you, guys.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): media conference call on plane issues

21 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Claire McCaskill, missouri, personal property taxes, plane

“….I have convinced my husband to sell the damn plane…I can tell you I will not be setting foot on the plane ever again….”

This afternoon we received a notification that Senator Claire McCaskill (D) would be holding a media conference call on the issues surrounding the use of her plane. The transcript of Senator McCaskill’s opening remarks follows:

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): Thanks everybody. I know that you all are aware that, uh, several days ago, uh, ten days ago, maybe more, it became, um, I became aware that the perception of me chartering a flight that I had an ownership interest in had the appearance of impropriety in terms of using public funds. I, as you know, we refunded that money immediately to the government and then we discovered, um, because of the public records that are available, that there was one flight that was taken for purely political purposes. Clearly the money had already been paid back, but I acknowledged at the time that there was, this was a big mistake and indicated, um, that I apologized for it and acknowledged the mistake. At that point in time then I realized that that kind of mistake had been made, uh, the former auditor in me wanted to take a really close look at everything surrounding this plane. So I began a thorough review of the plane and all of the flights that have been taken and all of the documentation surrounding the plane. And this is, these are some of the things that I found as a result of this review…

…First, as to political use, I wanted to closely examine every flight that was paid for with public money to determine if there had been any other errors where there had been money paid from the public coffers for any political activity. I examined all eighty-nine of those flights. And other than the flight that we have previously acknowledged was a mistake we are unable to find any other political activity on any of those flights, with one slight exception. There was one flight that involved eight different official events and I realize that in the middle of those official events I went by Truman Days in Kansas City, uh, and gave a speech, and that the following morning I stopped by a fundraiser in Kansas City. We believe that that represented about eight percent of that trip, uh, and frankly, um, that eight percent, even though I believe under the rules that’s, that’s considered de minimus, uh, obviously initially that should have been caught.

All of the money has been repaid to the public funds and we will be releasing for you, uh, all of the purposes of those trips and the official events that took place because I think it’s very important that since I initially used public money that the public have a right to inspect those.

I then, um, looked at some of the, uh, other political issues surrounding flights that the government did not pay for. We are trying to turn over every stone in regards to its use and how it was billed. This includes having campaign lawyers look at all of our flights to make sure that I have given all the inkind contributions that are necessary when the plane was used for political purpose and it wasn’t reimbursed by the campaign. There were many instances where the plane was reimbursed by the campaign. There are some instances where it was not and we are determining if in kind contributions from me do need to be filed or any other amendments would need to be filed in that regard.

I then turn to taxes. And, I first looked at sales tax knowing that these flights were, uh, money was being paid for these flights to the, the company that owns the plane regardless of whether I was flying on the plane personally or in official capacity or politically. But first I wanted to look at the sales tax records. I examined the sales tax records, wanted to make sure that they had been paid, in fact, I found that every month for fifty-five months the sales tax has been paid to the state, uh, to account for the state sales tax as well as the county sales tax. That total amount that has been paid in on sales tax is thirty-eight thousand eight hundred dollars. And we will provide you today all the copies of the sales tax remittance that accounts for every month that the sales tax was paid.

Finally, I have discovered that even though we have paid the taxes to the state for sales tax, obviously showing no attempt to hide the plane, I have discovered that the property taxes, the personal property taxes on the plane have not been paid. I have learned that Missouri is one of a minority of states that require personal property taxes be paid on airplanes that are hangared in the state and that those taxes are due to the county. There should have been a reporting to the county of the existence of this airplane since it has been hangared in St. Louis County. Because it was never declared to the county there was never a bill sent and there was never a bill paid.

There are people I could blame for this. But, I know better. As an auditor I know that I should have checked for myself. I take full responsibility for the mistake. I should have checked the documentation. I should have been asking the questions. I shouldn’t have assumed that someone was doing it.

According to the estimates that I am able to calculate by publicly available information the taxes that are owed are as follows:  for two thousand and seven, seventy-two thousand seven hundred and eighty nine dollars and seventy-four cents; for two thousand and eight, seventy-four thousand six hundred and ninety-eight dollars and fifty three cents; for two thousand and nine, sixty-nine thousand three hundred and ninety-four dollars and thirteen cents; in two thousand and ten, seventy thousand four hundred and one dollars and one cent. There will clearly be additional interest and late fees will be charged on those taxes. There is also a possibility that some of those years the taxes will be less because there is an entitled, in Missouri law, it, that you can allocate the miles from, flown in state and out of state, we may be able to allocate miles for the last year of those years. And I’d be happy to answer more questions about that, um, but to be on the safe side we are going to send in checks today to the St. Louis County Director of Revenue in the amounts that I just specified. And if in fact we have overpaid, um, that [garbled] be fine. Uh, if, and, and, those taxes can be applied to the taxes we’ll owe at the end of this year. If in fact, um, uh, we, we, uh, and obviously we have to calculate, and we’ll even try to calculate before we’re told what the interest and penalties are. Uh, typically this is a three step process. You send in the report to the assessor, the assessor then has you fill out documentation to go to the state tax commission, the state tax commission makes an estimate and it is sent back. In this instance I thought it was more important, since I discovered this literally, um, just a matter of a few days ago that we go as quickly as possible and try to acknowledge the mistake up front and get the money in as quickly as possible that has been owed.

I want to reiterate, um, that there is no attempt to evade the plane because the State of Missouri, um, Sunset Cove, has filed remittances every single month on sales tax. It, it, this is just a mistake which, as I said, I take responsibility for.

Let me finally say, I have convinced my husband to sell the damn plane. He has hired a broker and I can tell you I will not be setting foot on the plane ever again. Uh, I know what people are gonna think about this ’cause I know exactly what I would think. How in the world does something like this happen? Ultimately, the problem is, I didn’t do what I should have done. I should have been the one to take responsibility and check and make sure that it had been done properly. And, and that it was handled with the appropriate documentation. Uh, and I am being very open about my failure to do that, um, and hope that the fact that we have done this review and determined, um, that these taxes wer
e not paid, while some were paid that were supposed to be paid, there were others that were not paid. And with that, I’ll be happy to answer your questions…

The transcript(s) of media questions and Senator McCaskill’s answers will follow in subsequent post(s).

Campaign Finance: after spending all that money someone has to fill up the tank

12 Friday Nov 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

campaign finance, General Assembly, missouri, plane, Steve Tilley, Travis Brown

It’s plane as day.

This may not be the plane in question – we couldn’t find the registration number on it.

Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

CONTRIBUTION OF MORE THAN $5,000.00 RECEIVED BY ANY COMMITTEE FROM ANY SINGLE DONOR – TO BE FILED WITHIN 48 HOURS OF RECEIVING THE CONTRIBUTION

C031160 FRIENDS OF TILLEY [pdf] 11/12/2010

LEWIS & CLARK REGIONAL LEADERSHIP FUND

PO BOX 1013

ST CHARLES MO 63302

11/12/2010

$15,000.00

[emphasis added]

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007

Categories

  • campaign finance
  • Claire McCaskill
  • Democratic Party News
  • Healthcare
  • Hillary Clinton
  • Interview
  • Josh Hawley
  • media criticism
  • meta
  • Missouri General Assembly
  • Missouri Governor
  • Missouri House
  • Missouri Senate
  • Resist
  • Roy Blunt
  • social media
  • Standing Rock
  • Town Hall
  • Uncategorized
  • US Senate

Meta

  • Log in

Blogroll

  • Balloon Juice
  • Crooks and Liars
  • Digby
  • I Spy With My Little Eye
  • Lawyers, Guns, and Money
  • No More Mister Nice Blog
  • The Great Orange Satan
  • Washington Monthly
  • Yael Abouhalkah

Donate to Show Me Progress via PayPal

Your modest support helps keep the lights on. Click on the button:

Blog Stats

  • 411,076 hits

Powered by WordPress.com.