There is no conflict of interest for U. S. Attorney Todd Graves, despite the decision by Governor Matt Blunt to award state license fee offices to Graves' wife and others connected with him, according to the Justice Department.
The Kansas City Star reported today that Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis, in a letter to Graves said "there is no existing conflict of interest that requires further action at this time."
The Justice Department looked into the situation after the filing of charges against Blunt with the Missouri Ethics Commission by the Missouri Democratic Party. Democratic officials noted that Graves' office would be responsible for investigating any potential illegal actions by Blunt or other state officials.
Blunt had awarded the Gladstone fee office, one of the largest in the state, to Tracy Graves, Graves' wife.
In his letter, Margolis said that Graves was smart enough to recuse himself from any situation in which a potential conflict of interest existed.
Naturally, Missouri Democratic spokesman Jack Cardetti disagreed with Margolis' assessment, according to the Star. "It's shameful that the Department of Justice has chosen to stick its head in the sand while Matt Blunt and Todd Graves scratch each other's backs. Certainly justice has not been done in this situation."
The governor's spokesman Spence Jackson pretty much said the Democrats need to grow up and stop filing "frivolous" ethics complaint and "face the fact that the election is over- and they lost," according to the Star.