It’s Time for Kinder to Let the Sun Shine In, Release Records for Secretive Legal Fund

For Immediate Release: June 13, 2011
Contact: Sean Soendker Nicholson, Progress Missouri, (573) 427-7326

It’s Time for Kinder to Let the Sun Shine In, Release Records for Secretive Legal Fund
Lieutenant Governor Called On To Disclose Donors and Expenses Immediately

Jefferson City, MO -- Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder has steadfastly refused to make public the financial records of his secretive Healthcare In Action legal fund. Yet as the Lieutenant Governor prepares to submit yet another frivolous filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals, he once again has the opportunity to operate his legal fund in the open and transparent manner he promised a year ago.

The Lieutenant Governor and his attorneys are expected to file an appellant brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday, June 13. To pay for the legal work behind these filings, the Lieutenant Governor Kinder set up an opaque slush fund last year to finance his frivolous and faulty lawsuit against the the Affordable Care Act. However, Kinder has never fully explained who is funding the effort or what he is doing with the secret money.

“It’s simple: the public deserves to know which special interests are financing the Lieutenant Governor’s suit,” said Sean Soendker Nicholson, Executive Director of Progress Missouri. “Who is paying for his lawyers? And who is getting paid with this secretive account?”

Indeed, Kinder is on record promising to operate his Healthcare In Action fund in an open and transparent manner. “Our legal challenge has been transparent from the very beginning and we have never had anything to hide,” he wrote in July 2010. But since then, the Lieutenant Governor has only released information for about $6,600 worth of donations that are now “way up in the six figures.” (Missouri Lawyers Media, July 9, 2010; Dan Brown for Senate video, 9/29/2010)

Furthermore, the Lieutenant Governor needs to explain why he is working so hard to overturn a law that improves the lives of working Missourians. “If Lieutenant Governor Kinder has his way, insurance companies will go back to denying children with pre-existing conditions coverage and dropping you when you get sick,” said Joyce Clark, a resident of South St. Louis County. “The cost of prescriptions for senior citizens will go up again, and small businesses will face higher taxes, higher premiums and higher costs.”

Given recent revelations regarding Kinder’s pattern of co-mingling public, private and campaign activities at taxpayer expense, the Lieutenant Governor must also be called on to disclose how he is spending the money raised from large and small donations. Disclosure of this information will answer questions like:

Is the Lieutenant Governor receiving reimbursements or any payments from the fund?
Is board member and political consultant David Barklage receiving any fees from the fund?
How much is conservative lawyer Thor Hearne being paid for his services?

“It’s time for the Lieutenant Governor to let the sunshine in,” said Soendker Nicholson, Executive Director of Progress Missouri. “Open up all of your donation and expense records for public review. Every dollar counts.”

----------------

Healthcare In Action, Inc was created on June 16, 2010 by Peter Kinder. It replaced a similar entity, Health Care In Action, LLC, that was created in April 8, 2010 and dissolved on June 16, 2010. Kinder has not explained why he reorganized his legal fund as a corporation.
The corporation’s three board members are Peter Kinder, GOP campaign consultant David Barklage and Dr. Rickey Lents of Cape Girardeau, according to state filings.
Kinder released information for about $6,600 worth of donations on July 8, 2010. Since that date, he has released absolutely no information about which special interests and political allies have financed his frivolous lawsuit. (Missouri Lawyers Media, July 9, 2010)
In April 2010, Kinder told reporters, “I don't have any problem” disclosing donor information.
REPORTER: “Do you plan to release the donors to your funds?” KINDER: I don't have any problem. I haven't had any donor among the sixty or eighty we've had so far say they wanted anonymity, so I hope we can.” (http ://www .youtube .com /user /jasonrosenbaum, 4/29/2010)
Kinder claimed financial commitments “way up in the six figures” for his lawyers at a September 2010 campaign event. (Dan Brown for Senate video, 9/29/2010) “We have been assured by some very generous donors that I am going to have all the resources I need -- and it's way up in the six figures -- to take that case all the way to the United State Supreme Court, “ Kinder declared publicly. http://www.youtube.com/user/DrDanBrown4Senate
Kinder promised in February 2011 that he would release more donor information in May. He has not done so. (PoliticMO, 2/17/2011) Reporter to Kinder: “So we will see more in May?” Kinder: “Yeah, we’re not withholding anything.” http://politicmo.com/2011/02/17/interview-lt-governor-peter-kinder-healt...
The News-Tribune Editorial Board Affirmed That “Missourians Deserve to Know Who is Paying the Costs” in July 2010. “Missourians will be mindful of the lawsuit's costs. Kinder filed the action in his official as well as his personal capacity, and is raising private money to finance the suit. We're not convinced Missouri needs to ask a question already posed by other states but, if we do, Missourians deserve to know who is paying the costs.” (The News Tribune, July 9, 2010)
In July 2010, Kinder asked “newspapers in Missouri [to] challenge the people behind the clandestine lawsuit” challenging the legality of Proposition C. “As they operate in secret, I am proud to thank the contributors who have helped fund our constitutional challenge…I am hopeful that newspapers in Missouri will now challenge the people behind the clandestine lawsuit I mentioned above to do the same. Our legal challenge has been transparent from the very beginning and we have never had anything to hide.” (HealthCareInaction.com, 7/8/2010)