Following a hot lead that Ed Martin, then Chief of Staff for Governor Matt Blunt, was illegally using his government email for political activities, a journalist with the Springfield News-Leader requested to see emails he sent in late August.¹ Martin attempted to delete his emails, instructed others in the Governor's office to delete their emails, and publicly claimed his emails from that time period were not available.²

1. "Right to Open Government Won in E-mail Controversy," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/20/08.
2. "E-mails Reveal Hypocrisy in Actions of Blunt's Chief of Staff," Springfield News-Leader, 9/9/07; "Missouri Lawyer Became Flashpoint in Open Records Dispute," Missouri Lawyers Weekly, 12/29/08.

On September 14, Scott Eckersley, then a young lawyer in the Governor's office, warned Ed Martin and several top administration officials that emails are public records and it was illegal to destroy them. Two weeks later, on September 28, Ed Martin fired Eckersley.³

3. "Missouri Aide Raised E-mail Concerns Before Firing," The Associated Press, 11/17/08.

An editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch blasted Martin for his inept political maneuvering, saying, "As a lawyer, even a combative, highly partisan lawyer, Mr. Martin should have known better" and "Not since Hedley Lamarr's work for Gov. William J. LePetomaine in the movie 'Blazing Saddles' has a chief of staff served a governor so poorly as Mr. Martin served Mr. Blunt."⁴

4. "Turkey Freed, Martin Axed," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/21/07.

Scott Eckersley filed a lawsuit against Ed Martin, Governor Blunt and other members of the administration accusing them of illegally firing him.⁵

5. "E-mail Record Contradicts Blunt Claims," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/16/08.

Investigators from the Attorney General's office filed a lawsuit accusing the Blunt administration of deleting backup email records, in violation of Missouri's open government rules.⁶ Only after a similar lawsuit against Martin and others was settled were the investigators finally given access to Martin's emails.⁷ This case alone cost Missouri taxpayers $600k in legal fees.⁸

6. "E-mail Record Contradicts Blunt Claims," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/16/08.
7. "Governor's Attorneys Settle Lawsuit about E-mails," Springfield News-Leader, 1/6/09.
8. "An End to a Long and Frustrating Legal Battle," The Kansas City Star, 5/27/09.

The state settled for $500k with the young lawyer who was illegally fired by Ed Martin. The legal fees plus the settlement cost Missouri taxpayers $1.8 million.⁹

Total bill for Missouri taxpayers for Ed Martin's cover-up of his abuse of power: $2.4 million.

9. "An End to a Long and Frustrating Legal Battle," The Kansas City Star, 5/27/09.