Jim Barnett continues to thumb his nose at the FEC and the public's right to know.A review of documents submitted by the Barnett campaign to the FEC reveals that they waited until the last day to respond to an FEC request for additional information that the campaign refused to include in a second quarter report. The campaign again refused to include the same type of information in their third quarter report, and again the FEC has requested additional clarification.
However when the campaign mistakenly began with a zero balance on their third quarter report, which essentially caused the Barnett campaign to appear as though they had much less cash on hand than was actually there, the mistake was corrected in just over two weeks. Why is the Barnett campaign able to respond so quickly when it might make the campaign look bad but drags its feet to the very last second when it involves complying with federal law?
Because of the third quarter goof, Barnett has shown that he and his staff are fully capable of recognizing a mistake and correcting it quickly. Apparently the only difference between these two problems is Barnett's desire to make himself look good versus doing what's lawful and in the public's best interests.
The inability to submit a full and complete report is baffling. Barnett's November 2nd amended report includes a $1,000 contribution from the mod squad's favorite Steve Cloud. Yet his employer is listed as "undisclosed." Are we to believe that the Barnett campaign was unable to find out the employer for former Republican National Committeeman Stephen Cloud?
Barnett's lack of respect for the law and the public should be questioned at length, especially in light of his continued disregard for the law as evidenced by this December 10, 2009 request for information from the FEC, and his now proven ability to respond in a timely manner to reporting mistakes.
The real Jim Barnett is beginning to emerge; one that cares about his public image but little about the public itself.
