JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. _ The Missouri House committee investigating Gov. Eric Greitens is probing whether Greitens' 2016 campaign used so-called "shell companies" to conceal the identity of donors.
The revelation came Tuesday morning as Rep. Jay Barnes, who chairs the panel, announced that the committee was releasing two email strings it had obtained from Michael Hafner, a former Greitens campaign adviser who later worked for businessman John Brunner during the 2016 GOP primary.
In one email dated July 2016, Will Scharf, who at the time was working for GOP gubernatorial contender Catherine Hanaway, wrote to Hafner about research he had done suggesting the Greitens campaign worked to conceal donors.
Scharf now works for Greitens as his policy director.
At issue were two companies _ White Impala LLC and ELX83 LLC _ that were formed in December 2015 and subsequently donated a combined $30,000 to Greitens for Missouri at the time of the email string on July 9, 2016.
"By all appearances, these two entities were created to channel contributions to the Greitens campaign from an anonymous donor or donors," reads a memorandum attached to an email Scharf sent to Hafner. "Missouri law explicitly prohibits campaign contributions made 'in such a manner as to conceal the identity of the actual source of the contribution.'
"The use of this arrangement to hide donors certainly runs counter to Greitens's repeated attacks on 'corruption' and 'insider political games' in Missouri," the memo states.
Barnes said Tuesday that the committee would seek Scharf's testimony.
"Mr. Scharf will be a witness," Barnes said. "We may need to send him a subpoena."
Hanaway, a former U.S. attorney who is now representing the Greitens campaign, said in an email she also represents Scharf and that he would cooperate with the House committee.
Barnes said that at the time of the 2016 emails, Scharf and "presumably the Hanaway campaign" believed there was evidence "that the Greitens campaign was using shell companies to hide donors."
Hanaway, in an email to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, played down Scharf's opposition research on Greitens.
"My campaign and almost certainly every campaign for governor received contributions from LLCs," Hanaway said. "It was perfectly legal for all campaigns to receive contributions from LLCs. At the time that Will Scharf sent this email, he was working for my campaign and searching for any issue we could use to win. He did not find nor has anyone else found that the owners of these LLCs were prohibited from contributing to Missouri campaigns."
Barnes also said he intends to issue a "batch" of subpoenas in relation to the formation of the two companies.
Michael A. Becker, of St. Louis, according to state records, is the registered agent for White Impala LLC, formed in December 2015. Brian D. Boquet, an attorney for the Lewis Rice law firm, is listed as the registered agent for ELX83, also formed in December 2015.
Neither returned a request for comment on Tuesday. Becker also is the registered agent for a company owned by Jeff Stuerman, who was Greitens' campaign treasurer.
Barnes and Hanaway have sparred in recent weeks as Barnes has sought documents from the Greitens campaign. Barnes has said Hanaway has not fully complied with information requests. Hanaway has said Barnes' assertions are "intentionally misleading."
Barnes also released another email string on Tuesday in which Hafner discusses starting a campaign committee with Greitens and Danny Laub, Greitens' first campaign manager, in December 2014.
The House had previously released evidence that Greitens operated a shadow campaign before forming a campaign committee in February 2015. Missouri law requires formation of a campaign once the candidate spends more than $500.
Meanwhile, two attorneys representing the governor's office said in a letter to Barnes Tuesday that they want the committee to adopt rules of procedure, including a provision giving the governor's office the ability to subpoena witnesses.
The two attorneys, Edward Greim and Ross Garber, were brought in to assist the governor's office in the impeachment process and are being paid with taxpayer funds.
They also outlined a suggested schedule for the special session that would culminate in a recommendation by the special committee on impeachment by June 11, one week before the session is scheduled to end.
Greim, a Kansas City litigator who focuses on state policy and constitutional issues, is being paid $340 an hour. Garber, a Connecticut attorney who has experience in three previous impeachment efforts, is being paid $320 an hour.
In a related development, the office of Auditor Nicole Galloway, a Democrat, delivered a letter to the governor's office Tuesday asking if tax dollars are paying for the personal representation of Greitens.
"If the state has or will be paying private attorneys, identify what office, department, or division's budget has or will be used to pay for these attorneys and the specific budget line anticipated to be used," Galloway asked.
Garber has previously said he represents the office, not the governor.
