Former Blunt lawyer files lawsuit against governor, former and current aides

Scott Eckersley, former attorney for Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, filed a lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court today, alleging the governor, his former Chief of Staff Ed Martin and other aides ordered the illegal destruction of e-mails to keep them out of the hands of the media and the public:

The suit contends that Eckersley was fired for repeatedly pressing Blunt aides with warnings that such orders violated state record-retention and open-records laws. Eckersley's firing violated state law protecting whistle-blowers, according to the lawsuit.

Filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, the suit names Blunt, three former or current top aides and the deputy Office of Administration commissioner, Richard AuBuchon.


The suit includes allegations about a meeting convened last summer by Blunt's general counsel at the time, Henry Herschel. At the meeting, the suit contends, Herschel told lawyers for all departments under the governor that e-mails about state business "would not have to be turned over in response to Sunshine Law requests if they were destroyed and not retained."

The suit also contends that Blunt's chief of staff at the time, Ed Martin, ordered all staff members to make sure they were deleting e-mails. Martin and other top Blunt aides also are accused of orchestrating the destruction of the state's computer backup system for such e-mails.