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Blunt replaces chief of staff Ed Martin

UPDATED 6:50 p.m.

JEFFERSON CITY | After weeks of criticism over how Missouri

Columnist Mike Gov. Matt Blunt’s office handles e-mails, Ed Martin, Blunt’s
Hendricks: Stop the
chief of staff, is out.
spin -– I want to get
off. In a hastily called 2:30 p.m. news conference Tuesday, Blunt
announced he had appointed Trish Vincent, director of the
City Dispatch Department of Revenue, as his new chief of staff.
● Editorial writer Yael T. So what happened to Martin?
Abouhalkah on Midwest

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Blunt replaces chief of staff Ed Martin | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz

Voices “He wants to pursue new opportunities to serve Missouri where

he can spend more time with his wonderful wife, Carol, and their
Penn Station two children,” Blunt said. “I am very grateful for Ed’s service and
wish him well and wish his family well. He remains a close friend
as somebody who cares deeply about the future of our state.”

Attempts to reach Martin on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Search
Martin’s departure follows days of talk around Jefferson City
Columnist Steve
Penn: Taking aim at
that he was going to be forced out over how he has handled the Search
urban issues. case of Scott Eckersley, the former staff attorney who said he
User login
was fired after advising Blunt’s office not to delete e-mails.

Reporters Tuesday repeatedly asked Blunt whether he had asked Username: *

About Prime Buzz for Martin’s resignation, but the governor evaded the question.

● Features, Terms of Use “If you’re confused, that’s my intent,” Blunt said with chuckle
after a reporter asked the question a final time. Password: *
● The Rules of Civic Engagement
After the news conference, Jessica Robinson, a spokeswoman
● Who we are
for Blunt, called a reporter to say that Martin had offered to resign
Contact Us after “a discussion about leadership in the governor’s office” with Log in
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Just a few hours earlier, at a 9 a.m. news conference to pardon a
Categories Thanksgiving turkey, Blunt had praised Martin when asked by Navigation
reporters if the chief of staff would be replaced.
● Congress ● polls

● Democrats
“Ed Martin is the chief of staff. He’s done a great job,” Blunt
said, without directly answering the question. “He’s remains a Kansas City
● Jackson County
good friend and is somebody I trust and respect.” ● Midwest Voices
● Jay Nixon
The governor’s office provided a copy of the one-sentence letter ● KansasCity.com
● Johnson County of resignation Martin submitted to Blunt on Tuesday. “With this
● CareerBuilder | Find the best jobs from the Kansas City
● Kansas letter, I hereby resign from my service as chief of staff to the Star
governor of the state of Missouri effective 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 4,
● Kansas City
2008,” Martin wrote. Stiff Jabs
● Kathleen Sebelius
Martin will be “assisting in the transition” as Vincent takes over, ● Andrew Sullivan
● Mark Funkhouser Blunt said. Robinson said Martin will continue to earn his ● Instapundit.com

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Blunt replaces chief of staff Ed Martin | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz

● Missouri $120,355 a year salary, and Vincent, who now receives $110,573 ● Kausfiles
● Northland per year, will be paid the same as Martin.
● McClatchy Washington | Planet Washington
● President Obama Martin will not have any title and will be a “state employee
● Real Clear Politics
within the governor’s office,” Robinson said.
● Republicans
● The Chicago Tribune | The Swamp
Blunt appointed Martin, 37, as chief of staff in September 2006,
● Wyandotte County
The Moderate Voice
replacing Ken McClure, who resigned to take an administrative ●

Missouri blogs job at Missouri State University. Martin, an attorney, had worked ● The New York Times | The Caucus
as chairman of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners and
● 24thState ● The Note
was known for his confrontational, partisan style but also his
The Volokh Conspiracy
● Arch City Chronicle charm. ●

BlogKC ● The Washington Post | The Fix

● Martin has been squarely in the middle of several controversies
● Chief Corwin's Blog involving the governor’s office. He has written angry letters to ● TPMMuckraker.com

Attorney General Jay Nixon, Blunt’s likely Democratic The Wall Street Journal | Washington Wire
● Conservatism with Heart ●

challenger in 2008, on several occasions, and has been a sharp

Corrente critic of Missouri’s nonpartisan court plan.
●
Overhand Rights
● Donklephant Martin also was closely involved in an effort by the governor’s ● American Thinker
● Fired Up! Missouri office to pressure the Missouri Highway Patrol to attack Nixon’s
● Barone Blog
handling of the Taum Sauk Reservoir collapse investigation.
● Funk's Front Porch
● Captain's Quarters
Martin angered Hispanics over the summer when, at a public
● Gateway Pundit
● Daniel W. Drezner
meeting of the Missouri Housing Development Commission, he
● Gone Mild
used the phrase “bunch of Mexicans” when talking about illegal ● GOP Bloggers
● J-Dub! workers. Though Martin was paraphrasing what someone else had
● JustOneMinute
said, his angry delivery of the remarks caused a Hispanic
● Johncombest.com
● PoliPundit.com
employee of the agency to resign and infuriated Latino groups.
● KC Light Rail
● Power Line
More recently, Martin came under fire Sept. 9 after columnist
● Mike Ferguson Online
Tony Messenger of the Springfield News-Leader asked for a ● ProfessorBainbridge.com
● Missouri Pulse copy of an e-mail Martin had sent to anti-abortion activists. The ● Red State
● Musings from Brian J. Noggle
governor’s office said the e-mail did not exist, though Messenger
● Right Wing News
already had a copy of it.
● The Source
● Wizbang!
That led to a Sept. 14 story by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in
● Tony's Kansas City
which the governor acknowledged his office routinely deletes e-
Left Hooks
● Principally Political mails. The story also quoted Rich Chrismer, a spokesman for
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Blunt replaces chief of staff Ed Martin | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz

● Show Me Progress Blunt, as saying e-mails were not public records. ● AMERICAblog

● St. Louis Beacon Backroom That statement was despite the fact that electronic ● Brad DeLong

● They Gave Us a Republic communications are identified as public records in the Sunshine ● Daily KOS
Law, and the State Records Commission has specifically said e-
● David Corn
Kansas blogs mails showing evidence of official state business must be kept up
to three years. ● Democratic Underground
● In This Moment
Eschaton
Eckersley, a deputy counsel in Blunt’s office, was fired Sept. 28. ●
● Noblesse Oblige
He said he had told the governor’s office that its stance on deleting ● Firedoglake
● The Kansas Meadowlark
e-mails was contrary to state law and the administration’s own
● Liberal Walrus
● The Kansas Progress written policy.
● Marc Cooper
● Thoughts from Kansas In an attempt to discredit Eckersley, the administration sent a
● MyDD
● Dome on the Range
packet of materials to the media labeling him as a sexual deviant
and potential drug user. The administration also told reporters ● Talking Points Memo
● Forward Kansas
that Eckersley was habitually late to work and did outside legal ● TalkLeft
● jkevinedwards.com work on state time. Eckersley said the allegations are a smear
● The Huffington Post
● Kansas Free Press campaign against him and that he plans to sue for defamation of
character. ● Vichy Democrats
● Kaw & Border
Although Blunt’s office has said Eckersley never warned the
● KenigKonnection Just For Laughs
administration it was violating the Sunshine Law, e-mails keep
● Red County (Johnson County, popping up that appear to bolster the fired attorney’s story. ● Jibjab
KS)
● Wonkette
Last week, Blunt directed that state agencies save all e-mails.
Missouri News Media The same day, Nixon appointed a team of investigators to look ● YouTube | News & Politics
into the Eckersley case and whether Blunt’s office violated the
● Columbia Daily Tribune |
Politics Blog Sunshine Law.

● Columbia Missourian Asked whether he was disappointed in how Martin had handled
the affair, Blunt would not criticize his closest aide.
● Hannibal Courier-Post
“I’m the governor, and I’m responsible for what happens in state
● Jefferson City News Tribune
government,” the governor said.
● Joplin Globe
Vincent, 53, of Jefferson City, is viewed as a Blunt loyalist and a
● Southeast Missourian (Cape
veteran Republican bureaucrat. She has worked under several
Girardeau)
Republican administrations, and took heat in 2006 after the
● Springfield News-Leader administration privatized a number of state-run fee offices,
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Blunt replaces chief of staff Ed Martin | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz

● St. Joseph News-Press handing over the operations to political supporters.

● St. Louis Post-Dispatch | ___

Political Fix
Press release here.
● St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Submitted by Tim Hoover on November 20, 2007 - 7:50pm.
Politics
Missouri | Republicans | login or register to post comments | 1429 reads
● The Pitch | Plog

Kansas News Media

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● Lawrence Journal-World |
Kansas Legislature
So did Ed Martin Get Canned or Shuffled?
● Lawrence Journal-World |
Politics Submitted by midtown guy on November 20, 2007 - 4:03pm.

● Salina Journal
?
● The Hutchinson News

● The Manhattan Mercury Canned...

● The Wichita Eagle
Submitted by Maroon on November 20, 2007 - 4:24pm.

● The Winfield Daily Courier

Like a Christmas ham.
● Topeka Capital-Journal
Trish Vincent...that name sounds familiar...isn't she the one that
Press Release Central was Blunt's biggest cheerleader of how the fee offices were
handled?
● If you want to submit a press
release, click here. She can now bring her many talents to...running..um...and
enacting the programs of...uh...cleaning up the...hmmmm....uhhh
Other Media Links
I got nothing.
● Guardian (London)
They replaced ethically incompetent with willfully blind loyalty.
● Jerusalem Post
Way to clean up the office. She's not bright enough to question
● Los Angeles Times whether something is shady or not. Actually, now that I think
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Blunt replaces chief of staff Ed Martin | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz

● New York Times about it this might be good for her job security.

● The Times (London)

"I'm coming home honey"
● Washington Post
Submitted by BOBZILLA on November 20, 2007 - 4:27pm.
Syndicate
Except of an email released by the Governors' office from Ed
Martin's computer files.
The remainder of the file was redacted due to public policy
considerations.
BOBZILLA

Transition Assistance??????
Submitted by Saul Alinsky on November 20, 2007 - 4:46pm.

I can just hear it now.....

Trish: Any parting words of wisdom Ed?

Ed: Yes, Trish....this is the Delete key....Learn it, Live it, Love it.
Trish: Isn't that against some rules I have been reading about?
Ed: Rules don't apply here in Castle Blunt....now do what you are
told!
Trish: Will anybody catch us?
Ed: If they do, fire them, smear them, leak info to Jeffy "Jabba"
Roe, smear them and lie....focus on the lie part, especially to the
media.
Trish: Thanks Ed, you are a true standard to aspire to.

Fish rots at the head folks.

Ah so here's the page where we beat Blunt for

trying to fix this
Submitted by Hickman Mills view on November 20, 2007 - 4:54pm.

Sorry guys, but I award points to anyone who tries to clean up

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Blunt replaces chief of staff Ed Martin | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz

after a spill. I've been a parent too long not to appreciate it.

Good idea...
Submitted by Maroon on November 20, 2007 - 4:59pm.

They hired Cpt. Joseph Hazelwood to clean up a spill.

She's the only one with clean enough hands, and THATS only
because she's too clueless to catch on.

ahh jeez
Submitted by arewethereyet on November 20, 2007 - 6:24pm.

Leave the wife and family out of it washed up politico! Maybe they
are not looking forward to spending more time with you! As for
Blunt being confusing, as always. The young man is not smart
enough to be deliberately evasive, just lucky in his stupidity. Ed
Martin had been a walking time bomb. Kaboom!

Uh, Hickman Mills?

Submitted by midtown guy on November 20, 2007 - 7:27pm.

It was Baby Blunt who caused the spill, not Ed Martin.

Ed Martin and any other crony who gets the boot were all working
under the direction of and at the behest of the Boy Governor.

He deserves the blame in it's entirety. And firing Ed Martin isn't

going to "mop up" this mess.

Roe is next
Submitted by anthony on November 20, 2007 - 10:49pm.

It goes to show smear and fear no longer works for the baby blunts
and the stupid sams. Roe has not won an election in 3 years
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Blunt replaces chief of staff Ed Martin | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz

because the tactics of an Ed Martin and Jeff Roe have passed. The
public has figured out that a war without an end, no health care
and the attack on the middle class are the curse of the GOP.

Finally someone knows how to do a resignation

letter..
Submitted by papillon on November 21, 2007 - 5:05am.

Yay, from a Human Resources perspective old Ed has learned his

lesson, no more resignation letters that state you looked at porn
site, a moral character, and smoked crack with my deputy of chief
staff (3 paragraphs, etc, etc).

Nope Ed did it right, one sentence "adios", tough lesson to learn

Ed.

I hear you Midtown but I don't expect a Gov. to

commit hara-kiri
Submitted by Hickman Mills view on November 21, 2007 - 1:50pm.

Besides, you can't even resign in this country without criticism.

Last night I watched Anderson Cooper on CNN beat up U. S.

House ex-Speaker Denny Hastert for a good ten minutes, not
counting unflattering teaser promos, about Hastert's decision to
resign a year before his current term expires because the special
election to replace him will cost several hundred thousand dollars.

The big decision to relieve Blunt himself from the game, and let
that new lefty Nixon take the mound or let Blunt keep pitching
another inning, is up to the voters.

Meanwhile Martin is out off the State House premises and

someone is writing a new e-mail policy to keep up with the
Sunshine law. Progress is progress.

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Blunt replaces chief of staff Ed Martin | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz

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