This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 16, 2010 - The Missouri Ethics Commission has dismissed as unsubstantiated a complaint filed by the state Republican Party against John Temporiti, the manager of St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley's re-election campaign.
In January, the state GOP asked the ethics commission to investigate what it said was Temporiti's violation of lobbyist regulations. Basing its complaint on a story in the Post-Dispatch in November, it said Temporiti lobbied for two companies pursuing projects in St. Louis County even though he had let his lobbyist registration lapse.
The commission made no comment on the complaint but in its actions taken last Thursday, it listed it as one of those that had been dismissed as unsubstantiated.
In a statement Tuesday, Lloyd Smith, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, said:
"We think John Temporiti's admission in the Post-Dispatch is proof enough to the general public that he was acting as an off-the-books lobbyist. The Missouri Ethics Commission ruling does nothing to lessen the cloud of suspicion that hangs over Temporiti or County Executive Charlie Dooley's administration."
In a statement of his own, Temporiti criticized the campaign being run by Bill Corrigan, the Republican running against Dooley, and said:
"So far, they have managed to get themselves corrected by the FBI and rejected by the state Ethics Commission. They have not yet accused my dog of anything and they have not been contradicted by the Vatican -- so, I expect their Big Lie Campaign to continue."