“YOU HAVE ALL THE DOCUMENTS RESPONSIVE TO YOUR REQUEST”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Dec. 29, 2014) — On Sunday, The Post & Email published documents received under Missouri’s Sunshine Law regarding records of phone calls and emails exchanged between Gov. Jay Nixon and White House personnel during most of the month of November 2014.
On the evening of November 24, St. Louis, MO county prosecutor Robert McCulloch held a press conference to announce that the St. Louis grand jury had not found probable cause to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9.
McCulloch may have been compromised in acting as prosecutor, and Nixon made statements indicating that he believed Wilson was guilty of a crime before the grand jury conducted its investigation. Following Nixon’s remarks, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said, “It’s really heartbreaking to see a man elected to an office that high in our state government … come out with a statement like that, that does prejudge the case.”
On November 26, Breitbart published a story titled “Confirmed: Valerie Jarrett Keeping In Touch With Gov. Nixon During Ferguson Fiasco” which began:
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon adamantly denies that the White House pressured him to resist sending in the National Guard in response to violent protesters unhappy with the Michael Brown shooting decision.
It is clear, however, that Nixon has been in close contact with President Obama’s senior advisor Valerie Jarrett as the chaotic situation unfolded. According to the White House, Jarrett spoke with Nixon the first night of the protests as well as the morning after.
Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz confirmed that Jarrett received “updates” from Nixon, “promising to stay in close touch” as the situation continued.
The White House Media Affairs desk did not respond to our questions regarding statements made by Schultz claiming that “Valerie spoke to Governor Nixon both last night and this morning, and has been briefing the President on an ongoing basis since last night. And in each of those conversations with Governor Nixon, Valerie has pledged to stay in close coordination with the Governor in making sure that he’s getting the support he needs from the federal government.”
In late 2011, Schultz and a former Department of Justice media representative, Tracy Schmaler, discussed with dismay former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson’s reportage of the Fast & Furious gunrunning operation.
Millions of dollars in damages were wrought upon Ferguson after rioters burned, looted, and smashed windows of local retail establishments following McCulloch’s announcement. Automobiles were also set ablaze, police cars damaged, gunshots fired, and an elderly man on oxygen carjacked and injured as the thieves made off with his vehicle.
Following Brown’s death last summer, the police response was delegated to the Missouri Highway Patrol, who reportedly confronted protesters in “military gear” and violated their First Amendment rights by instituting a “five-second” rule which required protesters to “keep moving.” As a result of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, a federal judge ruled in early October that the five-second rule “violated free speech rights” and “due process rights.”
According to USA Today, 700 members of the Missouri National Guard were given notice by Nixon that they would be needed but were not assigned to patrol Ferguson following the announcement of the grand jury’s decision. Upon surveying the extensive damage the following day, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles was quoted as having said that the National Guard’s presence was “requested,” and that “It was my understanding they would be deployed when needed to maintain order and protect businesses. They were not.”
Prior to the grand jury’s arrival at a decision, Knowles speculated that any damage which might arise from protests would not be carried out by Ferguson residents. “The concern would be who comes (from) outside the area,” he said.
As violence erupted on Monday, November 24, Knowles said that he was unable to reach Nixon.
Missouri’s Lt. Governor Peter Kinder said on Fox News that he believed that “the Obama Administration and the Holder Justice Department leaned on” Nixon to refrain from placing National Guard troops in Ferguson on the evening of November 24. During the interview, Kinder contended that the National Guard should have been sent to Ferguson “at the first sign of an overturned police car, or a smashed police car window, with a show of force that would have stopped this…”
Kinder, who has been serving as Lt. Governor since 2005, is a Republican, while Nixon is a Democrat.
Protests over Brown’s death in August reportedly incorporated grievances by black communities over minimum-wage jobs, “racial profiling,” excessive use of force by police, health care and education. A local pastor reported that “communists” became involved in the protests, which was also observed in a December 13 New York City protest which called for “dead cops.”
Putative Attorney General Eric Holder has called blacks “my people” and been accused of failing to prosecute crimes based on the defendants’ race. Barack Hussein Obama has said that racism has affected him throughout his life, even as he prepared to spend multiple millions from taxpayers on his current Hawaii Christmas vacation.
Holder dispatched FBI agents to conduct an independent investigation of Brown’s death, which included a separate autopsy on Brown’s body which ultimately reached the same conclusions as two other autopsies conducted by Dr. Michael Baden, who was hired by the Brown family, and the St. Louis coroner’s office.
On November 26, Kinder told Fox News that he planned to ask for “emails between the office of Gov. Jay Nixon and the White House to determine whether coordination was happening on Monday night when Ferguson was erupting in riots.” He added, “Remind everyone working for the governor and the executive branch that the destruction of emails is an offense punishable under our criminal laws, and they should not be doing that.”
The Post & Email notes that Kinder’s comments were not easily located on the internet four weeks after they were made.
On Monday morning, The Post & Email sent the following message to Judy Murray, Executive Assistant to the Missouri Governor:
Good morning, Ms. Murray. Last week I received the mailing from Mr. Lyskowski which you had told me would be coming, and I thank you very much.
I noticed that there were no records of any phone calls between the governor and White House personnel enclosed. Were there no phone calls made in the specified time frame between the governor and anyone at the White House?
Thank you very much.
Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
www.thepostemail.com
P.O. Box 195
Stafford Springs, CT 06076
and we received the following response:
Ms. Rondeau,
I checked with Mr. Lyskowski. You have all the documents responsive to your request.
We then sent the following message to Kinder via his “Contact Us” form:
EMAILS/PHONE CALLS BETWEEN GOV. NIXON AND THE WHITE HOUSE
I have received 20 pages of documents in response to a Sunshine Law request submitted to the governor’s office in late November regarding emails and phone call records exchanged between Gov. Nixon and anyone in the White House. There are no records of any phone calls exchanged, despite White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz’s statement that WH Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and Nixon were “keeping in touch” during that time: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2014/11/26/confirmed-valerie-jarrett-keeping-tabs-on-gov-nixon-in-ferguson-fiasco/
This morning, I double-checked with my initial contact, Judy Kay, to make sure that I was provided all of the records responsive to my request, and Ms. Kay affirmed that according to Peter Lyskowski, I was.
Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
www.thepostemail.com
P.O. Box 195
Stafford Springs, CT 06076
editor@thepostemail.com
We then received a message of acknowledgement from Kinder’s office:
