Stauber Avoids the Public and his Constituents After Being Caught Red-Handed Emailing National Republicans on Government Email
As the cloud of scandal continues to grow around Pete Stauber’s misuse of taxpayer dollars when he emailed his party leaders in Washington from his government account, Stauber apparently decided he couldn’t take the risk of appearing in public and yesterday was a no-show at the St. Louis County Board of Commissioner’s meeting.
His notorious absence comes on the same day that a lawsuit was filed against St. Louis County to force the release of Stauber’s emails. Stauber has yet to personally comment on the lawsuit.
Multiple local papers have attempted to reach Stauber, to no avail, and most recently the Mankato Free Press Editorial Board called for the public’s right to know.
“Pete Stauber is on the run after being caught red-handed using official resources to campaign with the National Republican Congressional Campaign. Despite mounting pressure to release the emails in question, Stauber and the County have engaged in a cover-up to hide the collusion between himself and Washington special interests. Stauber needs to release these emails immediately and be transparent with taxpayers.” – DCCC Spokesperson Rachel Irwin
Timeline of recent events:
October 24, 2018 – Letter from St. Louis County elected officials State Reps. Ecklund, Metsa, Olson, Commissioner Rukavina, Mt. Iron Mayor Skalko sent to County Attorney Mark Rubin and County Administrator Kevin Gray. “As stewards of St. Louis County property tax payers, it’s our job to protect our constituents from having to foot the bill for an avoidable lawsuit or lawsuits that St. Louis County will certainly face for refusal to honor state law and make Mr. Stauber’s emails public” the elected officials wrote.
October 23, 2018 – Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party served a lawsuit against St. Louis County for the release of emails between County Commissioner and Eighth Congressional District candidate Pete Stauber’s official county email account and the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC). The same day, Pete Stauber does not appear at a regularly scheduled County board meeting.
October 19, 2018 – St. Louis County Commissioners Tom Rukavina and Frank Jewell called on Pete Stauber to release his emails.
October 17, 2018 – Against a state agency’s recommendation, St. Louis County again refused to release e-mails sought by the Star Tribune between Pete Stauber, a St. Louis County commissioner and Republican candidate for Congress, and the NRCC. Randy Lebedoff, general counsel for the Star Tribune, replied: “I am astonished that public officials would take such a position. I guess we will see them in court.”
October 16, 2018 – Minnesota Department of Administration issued an opinion finding the emails between Pete Stauber and the NRCC to be public data and that St. Louis County misinterpreted state law regarding its treatment of the emails. This ruling effectively negates the procedural argument Pete Stauber had been hiding behind for months.