最新杏吧原创

There was 鈥� and is 鈥� too much money at stake to expect anything else.

In fact, some of the key organizers of one of the efforts to get the issue on the 2018 ballot promised secrecy as a component of their fundraising.

鈥淣o donor disclosure required,鈥� said Missourians for Patient Care, one of the three groups behind ballot initiatives that made the 2018 ballot. It was printed in a strategic plan handed to donors.

It was a promise that couldn鈥檛 be kept.

That鈥檚 what the Missouri Ethics Commission said Friday in with the now- dissolved nonprofit that forced disclosure of its donors. The biggest one 鈥� at just under $1 million 鈥� was prolific Missouri campaign donor Rex Sinquefield, whose top lobbyist, Travis Brown, was helping to run the Missourians for Patient Care effort through Brown鈥檚 media company, First Rule.

The agreement between the Ethics Commission and Missourians for Patient Care appears to be the first time that the MEC has forced a nonprofit to disclose donors. In this case, that nonprofit was acting like a political action committee, but trying to avoid the disclosure required by law.

The reasons for requiring such disclosure could not be made more obvious by the opening months of Missouri鈥檚 fledgling medical marijuana business.

Numerous companies that have obtained cultivation licenses have hired or are connected to lobbyist Steve Tilley, one of Gov. Mike Parson鈥檚 closest allies, and a source of much of his fundraising.

Tilley, a former Speaker of the House known for playing both sides of issues, sometimes even during the same legislative session, was an early supporter of the Missourians for Patient Care effort.

Now he鈥檚 the lobbyist for the largest medical marijuana trade group, the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Organization, or MOCANN.

The day before the ethics commission forced Missourians for Patient Care to disclose its donors, MOCANN issued its own warning.

At issue is the scoring on proposals to cultivate medical marijuana. One of the questions on the scoring form produced some strange scores, MOCANN says.

鈥淲hile this question alone potentially only impacts a handful of applicants that just barely missed out on a cultivation license, a failure to review and explain this situation could erode confidence in DHSS and the scoring system by many,鈥� says the letter. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 obviously the last thing we want to see happen.鈥�

In fact, the erosion of confidence started long ago, and much of it can be tied to Missourians for Patient Care.

Take its former president, John Rallo. The co-conspirator of disgraced former 最新杏吧原创 County Executive Steve Stenger pleaded guilty last year to three counts of theft of honest services. He awaits sentencing. Through donations to Stenger, who is in prison after pleading guilty to theft, fraud and bribery charges, Rallo hoped, along with his partners, to reap the benefits of a scheme that would have given Stenger great latitude in determining who received dispensary licenses.

Rallo鈥檚 vice president was Mike Kielty, a St. Charles attorney, who added an interesting spin to his attempts to seek secret donors. He also offered some donors a contract to hire his services to obtain the highly valued state licenses once they were available.

Missourians for Patient Care stopped actively campaigning, around the time in 2018 when I exposed their use of a veteran in a First Rule-produced video advertisement that included claims of stolen valor, but the group鈥檚 influence didn鈥檛 wane.

It鈥檚 largest donor, Sinquefield, has become Parson鈥檚 largest donor, as well. Parson appointed the group鈥檚 former treasurer, Mike Colona, as a judge in 最新杏吧原创. Tilley lobbies for MOCANN, and the group鈥檚 most recent board president, Bradley Goette, is also on .

So as the medical marijuana trade group 鈥� the same one that supported state secrecy when the Post-Dispatch had to sue for the names of companies trying to obtain state licenses 鈥� pushes for a process that breeds confidence, it maintains multiple connections to a nonprofit that just agreed there is 鈥減robable cause鈥� that it violated multiple state ethics laws.

The secrecy of Missourians for Patient care wasn鈥檛 a bug, it was a feature.

鈥淲e set it up that way because most people who are supporters of it don鈥檛 want to be known,鈥� lobbyist Mark Habbas 鈥� a former Tilley employee 鈥� told me in 2018. 鈥淭hey just want to keep their donations private.鈥�

Is it any wonder why?