Eric Greitens Under Fire For ‘Dark Money’ Political Donations

Eric Greitens Image by Rubenstein Public Relations

By Nathan Guttman May 4, 2017

Missouri governor Eric Greitens, who ran on a platform of ethic reform, is now getting a taste of his own medicine.

The Kansas City Star reports that lawmakers in Jefferson City are forcing a debate over a bill that would provide greater transparency in political donations from not-for-profit organizations including one that is backing Greitens.

The legislation would expose donors behind A New Missouri Inc., a nonprofit set up by Greitens’ supporters in order to advance the Republican governor’s agenda. Donors to the organization were not identified since under current Missouri laws nonprofits are exempt from providing names of their donors.

The group, A New Missouri Inc., waged war against lawmakers pushing for the ethics legislation, including by running ads disclosing one of the state senators’ cell phone number. But Republican and Democratic state senators used procedural meandering to overcome the leadership’s refusal and to force a debate on the “dark money” bill.

Greitens, who is Jewish, is viewed as rising star in Republican politics but since taking office this year he has been criticized for lack of transparency in his administration.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO