By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – The Missouri Republican party has filed a complaint with federal and state authorities into allegations that Governor Jay Nixon and his staff tried to bribe lawmakers into supporting Medicaid expansion.
The complaint alleges that a chief aide for the governor and a staffer at the Department of Labor asked two freshmen lawmakers, Chris Molendorp (R, Belton) and Anne Zerr (R, St. Charles), to vote in favor of Medicaid expansion. In return, they would be offered jobs in the Nixon administration.
Lloyd Smith is Executive Director of the Missouri GOP.
"I don't think a specific job was mentioned, but I'm not sure whether that's necessary or not, and that's the reason we wanted the investigation to occur," Smith said.
The state GOP sent letters to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, the Cole County Prosecutor's office, and the state Ethics Commission.
Smith also wants Attorney General Chris Koster to appoint a special investigator to look into the matter.
A spokesman for Governor Nixon calls the allegation baseless, and says they offered nothing to anyone for support on health care expansion.