EDITORIAL: AG should send back the $50,000 donation
Oct. 20—It's skeevy business, politics these days, which comes down to the relentless hounding for dollars to stay in office.
And these same politicians tell us ad nauseum money doesn't buy influence, that dots aren't connected, and coincidences between political money and political actions are just that — coincidences.
Like the $50,000 coincidence between Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Doe Run, a company based in St. Louis.
Doe Run operates the La Oroya smelter east of Lima, Peru. The city of La Oroya has been called one of the 10 most polluted places in the world, and a study by St. Louis University in 2005 found more than 90% of children from La Oroya had excessive levels of lead in their bodies.
This is all according to recent reporting by the Missouri Independent, which also pointed out a pair of lawsuits against the company filed by 3,000 or so people in the region living with the legacy of that operation.
The cases, filed more than a decade ago, are in federal court in St. Louis, and, according to the Independent, Bailey recently filed an amicus brief, signed by his solicitor general, arguing that the lawsuits should be handled by courts in Peru, given that's where the plaintiffs live and that's where the pollution is occurring. "We filed an amicus brief not in the interest of a company or individual but rather to protect our state judicial system from abuse by foreign plaintiffs," Madeline Sieren, communications director for the Missouri attorney general's office, told the Independent. Bailey also argues that the lawsuits risk undermining the sovereignty of Peru.
Although federal judges have rejected earlier efforts to move the lawsuits, there may be righteous reasons for moving them and if Bailey thinks that's in Missouri best interest, he must act accordingly.
"Less than three months later, Bailey's reelection campaign got a major boost. A political action committee created to support his 2024 hopes got a $50,000 check from Doe Run's parent company, New York-based Renco Group," the Independent reported.
A spokesperson for Doe Run said there is "nothing improper or even newsworthy about Doe Run's parent company supporting political officials in Missouri, and its support for pro-business candidates is nothing new.
Nothing illegal, anyway. And no one is accusing Bailey, or Doe Run, of any wrongdoing, but the whole thing is an indictment of a system that operates at the expensive of voter confidence.
Separating money from politics is impossible and may look like the 13th labor of Hercules, but we don't need Hercules.
We just need Bailey himself to do it. Send it back with a "thanks, but no thanks" note.
That would send a message to the voters worth more than the $50,000.
