Updated 3:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7 with comments from U.S. attorney - U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan, who heads the federal Justice Department's operation for Missouri's Eastern District, said Monday that neither Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder nor his current campaign "are the targets" in a probe of alleged financial irregularities regarding Kinder's campaign donations and spending.
"We are looking into it,'' Callahan said. "We do not have a time table at this point'' as to the length of the investigation.
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Our earlier story, published Dec. 4 - Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder's campaign has alerted the U.S. attorney's office about apparent financial discrepancies that the campaign is blaming on independent contractors.
A campaign spokeswoman said Friday the contractors made unauthorized payments and expenditures over a period of three years, beginning shortly before the November 2012 election and continuing until it was discovered in July.
The questionable amounts could total in the tens of thousands of dollars, the spokeswoman confirmed.
Kinder hired an accountant this summer to examine his campaign reports when the unauthorized spending was uncovered soon after he formally kicked off his 2016 campaign for governor in July. Kinder is among at least four Republican hopefuls.
On the advice of the Missouri Ethics Commission, the spokeswoman said Kinder acted several months ago to shut down his campaign committee and set up a new one.
With the CPA's help, his campaign also has filed amended reports for his old committee that reflect more accurate spending, the spokeswoman said. At least 16 reports have been amended.
In a statement, his campaign said, "This activity took place without the consent of Lt. Gov. Kinder or his current campaign team. The Kinder campaign immediately notified the (Missouri Ethics Commission) and federal legal authorities, fully disclosed the situation, and cooperated with the authorities. "
Barklage denies any ties to misreporting or misspending
Shortly before his kickoff, Kinder had split with longtime consultant David Barklage, a prominent figure in Missouri GOP politics.
Barklage said in an interview Friday night that his firm had nothing to do with the questionable payments.
In fact, Barklage said, he had told Kinder in 2014 that there appeared to be financial discrepancies in his campaign reports, which prompted Barklage to initiate an audit.
Kinder brought in his own CPA after he terminated his professional ties with Barklage. At issue was the fact that Barklage already had been assisting rival John Brunner for governor, for whom Barklage still works.
On Saturday, Barklage issued even more details on his company's previous payments from Kinder. Barklage said in an interview that he was attempting to refute any inappropriate allegations or implications, which he alleged were being spread by some media outlets.
Barklage said that Kinder's amended campaign-finance reports, which include payments to Barklage, actually show that he and his companies were paid $2,000 less than the earlier filed reports.
"Every dollar the Kinder campaign paid to The Barklage Company, its successor firm Barklage & Knodell, and company owner David Barklage, is accounted for in both the prior campaign finance reports and the amended reports," Barklage said in a statement. "The newly amended reports break down the amounts paid to Barklage in specific detail, and every dollar paid to Barklage is accounted for."
Barklage also reaffirmed that neither he nor his firm had ever been involved in preparing or filing Kinder's campaign-finance reports. He alleged that the misspending and misreporting appeared to be the fault of the contractors who had prepared the reports.
For example, Kinder's amended reports show a number of instances were donors actually had given his campaign more money than had been listed in the earlier reports -- the implication being at least some of the money intended to be contributed to Kinder was actually being diverted.
A spokeswoman confirmed Kinder's statements of last summer, in which he said that his July 2015 campaign report's alleged balance of $59,866 as of June 30 appeared to be way off. After the campaign's internal audit, the June bank balance actually was determined to be less than $200.
