Hey Sarah STEALman: State Documents Are Missing & You Were The Last One To See Them

by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

Politico Reports: Legally Protected Documents Are Missing From Steelman’s Time As State Treasure

Steelman - A Top Recruit for National Republicans – Hails Herself As A Champion for Sunlight

A new report today shows that “most of the key documents” from Sarah Steelman’s tenure as state treasurer are missing, Politico is reporting. If destroyed, this would constitute a violation of Missouri state law. Steelman, the top recruit of the national Republican establishment, hails herself as a champion of transparency in government and even bragged about the system her office had in place to preserve these now missing documents.

“Where are the documents? Either Sarah Steelman or the national Republican establishment that is propping up her candidacy need to answer that question,” said Matt Canter, spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “It’s hypocrisy of the highest degree. Steelman flatters herself as a champion for open records laws and even bragged to the press about the procedures she established to maintain records for the public. Now, we discover that most of these key records are gone.”

Today, Politico published an explosive report showing that “most of the key documents” from Sarah Steelman’s tenure as state treasurer are missing, even though they are considered open to the public and are legally protected from destruction under Missouri state law:

The current state treasurer's office tells POLITICO it hasn't been able to track down schedules, e-mails and other documents from Steelman's tenure that are routinely retained.

“We have received Sunshine Requests similar to this question. What we have found is that we do not know how they kept those records because we do not have them. Our team has searched the office for any schedules and public documents and we do not have them,” said Jon Galloway, the treasurer's office director of communications and policy.

…

According to state law, documents that were created or received in the office of an elected official, including calendar books, logs, diaries, recordings of meetings and trips are to be transferred to the state archive.

The report shows that Steelman and her office were well aware of Missouri’s strict sunshine laws protecting these documents. In fact, during her tenure, her office even bragged about its “special information technology” that was supposed to ensure that these records were retained.

In a February 2004 op-ed for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Steelman wrote, “Politicians often talk about government accountability. But only well-informed citizens can truly hold government accountable. At the bedrock of our democratic form of government lies openness, and every elected official at every level of government should strive to ensure that our laws, our records and our meetings are open to the public's scrutiny.” [Steelman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/12/04]

Steelman’s Office Claimed To Have Email Retention Policy Of At Least Three Years, As Required Under State Law. Wrote the editorial board of the Springfield News-Leader, “Klahr's e-mail became necessary because Martin admitted to destroying his e-mails, Blunt spokesman Rich Chrismer indicated it was standard practice, and responding to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch inquiry, Blunt said that nobody retains e-mails for three years. The governor is mistaken. Many state and local officials in Missouri do just that, because it's the law. Republican Treasurer Sarah Steelman does it. So do Democrats Nixon, Auditor Susan Montee and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.” [Springfield News-Leader, 9/19/07]

Steelman’s Office Claimed “Special Information Technology Section” To Ensure Records Retention.Reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “A Post-Dispatch survey of other statewide offices found that most say they have detailed policies governing which e-mails are to be preserved, and which can be purged. Those offices include Republican state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, and two Democrats, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and state Auditor Susan Montee. All said they also have systems in place for long-term storage of e-mails, either electronically or on paper. Montee said in an interview that her office must retain all e-mails pertaining to audits for at least 11 years. Steelman's staff said they had a special information technology section to preserve records for the office, including e-mails.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9/19/07]