Response to Secretary Ashcroft
My opponent, Jay Ashcroft, has been talking about a complaint made to his office without releasing any results of an investigation.
It has become public that my office forwarded to the Missouri Secretary of State's Office a complaint received against two individuals for foreign interference in elections under 18 USC 951. I share the complaint here with the express permission of the complainant, who is sanctioned by Russia as an “expert on foreign interference”.
The day after I forwarded the complaint, the Secretary's office forwarded a complaint form and responded that:
Election complaints that our office investigates center around violations of Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 for Federal Elections as well as all violations of Missouri’s Election Laws. Specific election offenses are outlined in Missouri Revised Statutes 115.631 thru 115.637. The Secretary’s Elections Integrity Unit will evaluate each complaint received and all complaints will receive a written response.
Because the complaint I had forwarded did not involve a violation of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 or a violation of election laws as outlined in 115.631 through 115.637 RSMo, I did not return the complaint form and believed that was the end of the matter.
However, Secretary Ashcroft recently stated in an interview that "I feel a duty to investigate any claim like that [referencing election manipulation and foreign interference in our elections]. That's what I do for the people." He stated that the complaint I had forwarded, including allegations that an individual made baseless accusations that I had threatened the individual his family, "turned into being really just being antisemitism."
I am offended that Jay Ashcroft used his platform to lie about a communication made to his office. I have asked the Secretary of State's office for their policy on the confidentiality of complaints and for their policy regarding complaints of foreign interference with Missouri elections. I will let you know when I receive their response.