Complaint alleges Missouri candidate for governor inflated fundraising haul (2024)

JEFFERSON CITY — A formal complaint filed against Sen. Bill Eigel Thursday alleges he used illegal means to inflate his fundraising numbers as he vies to become Missouri’s next governor.

Copies of the complaint obtained by the Post-Dispatch show former Missouri Ethics Commission Chairman John Maupin, a retired Creve Coeur attorney, calling for the panel to investigate a laundry list of alleged fundraising violations committed by the Weldon Spring Republican.

One of the questionable activities, according to Maupin’s complaint, came to light in September when former President Donald Trump’s campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to Eigel for trying to raise campaign dollars by misleading donors that his efforts were tied to Trump.

The Post-Dispatch reported at the time that on at least one occasion, Eigel’s campaign operation sent out an email solicitation urging Republicans to stand behind Trump as the Department of Justice attacked him. But instead of giving to Trump, money would go to Eigel’s campaign, the email said in small type.

But that wasn’t the only concern raised by Maupin, who also served on the St. Louis County Election Commission following his 2014 appointment by former Gov. Jay Nixon.

Other possible violations, he wrote, include over-inflating the total amount of Eigel’s campaign war chest by double counting some contributions and accepting money from corporations.

“Taken together, these errors show more than sloppy and inaccurate recordkeeping and reporting. They suggest a fraudulent attempt to inflate the amount of Eigel’s contributions by tens of thousands of dollars, thereby artificially boosting its publicly reported cash-on-hand figures and providing Missourians with an inaccurate picture of Eigel’s fundraising,” Maupin wrote.

Eigel, a leader of the Senate’s five-member, hard-right Freedom Caucus faction, has trailed Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who also are running for the Republican nomination, in publicly available polling.

Eigel campaign manager Sophia Shore said any errors made on the reports were not Eigel’s fault.

“We are in the process of reviewing the complaints. Any clerical accounting and reporting errors would have been made by a vendor, not by Bill, and if legitimate, will be corrected immediately,” Shore said.

Kehoe leads the trio in fundraising and in landing key endorsem*nts from groups aligned with agriculture interests and law enforcement.

Eigel, a member of the Senate for eight years, has cast himself on the campaign trail and in the Senate chamber as an outsider and MAGA warrior.

“The establishment is scared and they should be; we’re going to win,” Shore said.

The complaint, based on self-reporting by Eigel’s campaign, shows Eigel accepting money from two corporations, which is prohibited under the Missouri Constitution.

It also lists 115 instances of duplicated contributions.

“Such a pattern is highly unusual and improbable. This is almost certainly a reporting error, which had the effect of increasing the amount of Eigel’s reported receipts for the quarter by as much as $14,905.64,” the complaint notes.

The complaint also said Eigel’s campaign finance reports show multiple individuals have contributed sums in excess of the state limit of $2,825 per candidate.

“Eigel’s acceptance of over-the-limit contributions and improper aggregate donation calculations are violations of Missouri campaign finance law,” Maupin’s complaint said.

Ashcroft and Kehoe slammed Eigel last year in connection with revelations that thousands of people who appeared to be living on fixed incomes had donated to his campaign. More than 40 donors in 2023 indicated some type of disability while thousands said they were retired, according to state records.

One donor interviewed by the newspaper, Susan Comer of Arizona, said she had never heard of Eigel and didn’t follow Missouri politics. Yet, records showed she donated $10 to BILL PAC in May.

“I can’t afford it,” Comer said.