Missouri Ethics Commission fines ‘Truth In Politics’ $250K for defying campaign laws

An investigation by the Missouri Ethics Commission found “reasonable grounds” that Truth In Politics — a group which primarily sought to influence the outcome of Springfield school board races — repeatedly violated campaign finance laws.

A consent order filed Dec. 18 and uploaded Friday, making it public, outlined the ways that Truth In Politics broke the rules, according to the MEC.

The five leaders behind the group were assessed a hefty financial penalty totaling nearly a quarter million dollars.

For a two-year period, while taking in more than $127,000, Truth In Politics failed to register as a committee, report contributions and spending, and file the required campaign finance reports.

A fee of $249,446 was jointly imposed by MEC against five leaders of Truth In Politics: Curtis Jared, president; George Husted, secretary and treasurer; and directors Lee Fraley, Royce Reding, and Sam Clifton.

If they pay $20,000 of the fee within 45 days, the remainder will be waived, provided none of the group members violate campaign finance laws for the next two years. If they do, the remaining $229,446 will be due.

Jared, Husted, Fraley, Reding and Clifton — as well as their attorney Lucinda Luetkemeyer — signed the consent order in December, waiving their right to a hearing.

It was also signed by MEC executive director Stacey Heislen.

Formed as a nonprofit corporation in July 2020, Truth In Politics started seeking contributions in March 2021 “with the express purpose of using such resources to influence the outcome of the elections” in April 2021 and 2022, according to the consent order.

In a two-year period ending in March 2023, the group raised at least $127,000 without reporting the contributions to the MEC. The gifts included $18,000 each from Humana and Centene Management, and $17,000 from Rapid Roberts.

They spent $119,826 during the same period “in support of candidates for office.”

Here are examples of ways in which Truth In Politics sought to influence the outcome of April elections in 2021 and 2022, primarily for school board but also Springfield City Council:

• A flyer or door hanger that read “Paid for by Truth in Politics, Royce Reding, treasurer” alleged Springfield teachers were “forced to participate in Critical Race Theory, which has roots in Marxism” and urged support for school board candidates Kelly Byrne and Maryam Mohammadkhani. The flyer also touted support for City Council candidate Brent Brown;
• Paid for billboard advertising for Brent Brown;
• A political attack ad ran on TV falsely alleging incumbent Charles Taylor “hijacks meetings so he can push critical race theories over and over again.” The ad also urged support for candidates Kelly Byrne and Steve Makoski. At the time, Byrne publicly asked that the ad stop running.
• Following calls for the TV ad to be removed, Reding issued a statement repeating allegations against Taylor and saying “We stand by our ad and will not back down to those afraid of the community learning the truth.”

In the 2021 board race, Mohammadkhani was elected along with Danielle Kincaid and Scott Crise. Brown, who donated to the Truth In Politics group, was not elected to the City Council.

In 2022, Taylor was defeated and Byrne and Makoski were elected to the school board.

There is no public, direct connection between the Truth In Politics group and candidates Mohammadkhani, Byrne and Makoski and none donated to the group. However, Rapid Roberts — where Makoski is employed — was a major donor. Byrne’s campaign treasurer, Tyler Creach, also donated $2,300 to the group.

In the 2024 school board race, an in-kind donation by a company owned by Curtis Jared also received scrutiny by the Missouri Ethics Commission.

The company placed billboards in support of board candidates Mohammadkhani, Landon McCarter and Chad Rollins in Springfield for more than four months before the April election.

McCarter and Rollins reported an $7,500 in-kind donation from Jared Outdoor LLC but the LLC was not classified as a corporation under federal tax code and it was not registered with the MEC, a required step.

As a result, McCarter and Rollins were each assessed a fee of $7,500 under separate consent orders in December but were allowed to pay only $750 as long as they don’t violate campaign finance laws for two years.

In all, MEC found that Truth In Politics failed to file 12 campaign finance reports, which are due quarterly and on specific dates before and after elections.

Truth In Politics also failed to quickly report large contributions and spending as required by law right before and after elections including four donations of $5,000 or more.

As part of the report, Truth In Politics publicly detailed the funds it accepted and spent. The details were included in the consent order.

Contributions in 2021, 2022

This includes total contributions of $500 or more. In some cases, an individual made a dozen or more contributions over the two-year period.

• $18,000 − Centene Management; Humana;
• $17,000 − Rapid Roberts;
• $7,750 − Curtis Jared;
• $5,500 − Ronald Neville;
• $5,000 − Jeffrey Caison; Bryan Magers; Brent Davis;
• $3,000 − Loren Cook II;
• $2,500 − Nicholas Austin; Brent Brown;
• $2,400 − Carson Buckman;
• $2,300 − Royce Reding; Joe Passanise; Tyler Creach; Kandice Prewitt;
• $2,200 − John Ruder;
• $2,100 − Caleb Arthur; Sam Clifton;
• $2,000 − Candice Ehase; Fraley Masonry; Sam Coryell;
• $1,500 − Penn Enterprises; 311 S. Hampton LLC;
• $1,200 − Nathan Adams; David Havens;
• $1,000 − Judy Beisner; Mavis Busiek; Mark and Margaret Bult; Unknown donor;
• $900 − Scott Speight;
• $500 − Gordon Kinne; Ginco Facilities Management;

Spending in 2021, 2022

Truth In Politics paid more than a dozen companies and individuals over the two-year period. Here are the amounts of $5,000 or more.

• $35,105 − Ax Media;
• $34,926 − Vanguard Field Strategies:
• $16,498 − Axiom Strategies;
• $6,974 − Remington Research Group;
• $5,000 − WPAI.