Ed Martin Financing Democrat's Congressional Campaign. Only Problem? It's With Missouri Taxpayer Money

Don't let anyone ever tell you that Ed Martin is stingy. Martin is generously providing $100,000 for the congressional campaign of Democratic candidate Scott Eckersley in Missouri's 7th District. The only catch: the money is coming from the money Missouri taxpayers had to pay when Ed Martin wrongfully terminated Scott Eckersley for asking then-Chief of Staff Martin and then-Governor Matt Blunt to comply with state Sunshine Laws. Eckersley sued the state after being wrongfully terminated and the lawsuits ended up costing the state of Missouri well over $2 million dollars.

According to Jo Mannies at the Beacon, Eckersley is using part of his settlement for the campaign:

As campaign "seed'' money, Eckersley is using $100,000 of the settlement he obtained from Missouri to end a two-year, two-pronged legal battle over his dismissal and a controversy over how the Blunt administration was routinely destroying office e-mails, some of which could be considered public records that must be retained, archived and made available to the public under open-records laws.

Eckersley was fired in the midst of the e-mail controversy. He contended he was dismissed by Blunt's chief of staff Ed Martin (who coincidentally is running for Congress as a Republican in the St. Louis area's 3rd District) after telling Martin and other members of Blunt's staff that they were mishandling e-mails. Blunt and Martin alleged other reasons.

So there you have it. Ed Martin is apparently extremely generous. At least, that is, when he's throwing away other people's money.