Campaign leaks alleged in Republican primary for Cleaver’s House seat

A cease and desist letter pertaining to two 5th district congressional campaigns was obtained by the Telegraph last week, which offers a window into the highly contentious race for the coveted U.S. House of Representatives seat currently occupied by 11-term Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.

Over the summer, multiple candidates within the race have expressed private frustrations with what they deem as suspicious happenings along the campaign trail of the newly redrawn 5th District.

“There’s definitely shenanigans going on,” said one candidate. “Now, do I have the evidence? Not exactly.” 

The cease and desist letter was written by attorney Kevin Corlew of Kansas City-based PathGuide Law, who represents the Elect Brett Hueffmeier To Congress campaign. The letter’s recipient is Kim Duncan, who was a volunteer for the Hueffmeier campaign for three to four weeks earlier this year, she says.

The letter, dated May 26, alleges that as an inner-circle campaign volunteer, Duncan had violated both Missouri and federal law when she “accessed, copied, and disclosed confidential, proprietary, and strategic information belonging to Elect Brett Hueffmeier to Congress to an opposing campaign.”

The letter goes on to say that this information was disclosed “at least to the Taylor Burks campaign…if not to others.” The Taylor Burks Campaign for Congress was also copied on the letter.

On Wednesday, Burks spoke to the Telegraph and confirmed that they had received the letter two months ago. Burks called its claims “some campaign drama between Brett (Hueffmeier) and his team.”

“I have zero interest in addressing a candidate that isn’t viable,” Burks said. “Why was I copied on it? Brett could have CC’ed the President if he wanted.”

Burks went on to say his campaign was not offered and did not request or accept any materials or information from Kim Duncan. Burks acknowledges a past interaction with Duncan after she was removed from Hueffmeier’s campaign, but he said nothing came of it. 

“I would see her at [Brett’s] events and had limited interactions with her,” Burks said. “After she left his campaign, she reached out to us and said she’d like to help. I had a phone call with her, but nothing [happened].”

Duncan said she received the cease and desist letter in late May, but she said there is no validity to its claims about her and her time volunteering for the Hueffmeier campaign. Duncan acknowledged a phone call to Burks, but she could not recall the date, or whether it had occurred before or after the cease and desist letter.

Duncan, 58, and Hueffmeier, 46, seem to agree on just one thing: Duncan was Hueffmeier’s babysitter when he was very young.

Duncan went on to say that she is not technologically savvy enough to execute the digital heist that the letter describes and is echoed by people in and around the Hueffmeier campaign. 

“I don’t even know my password to Facebook,” Duncan said. “This is all a figment of Brett’s imagination that anyone is doing anything to him. He has many issues that make it difficult for me to help him.”

Hueffmeier’s campaign continues to assert, through circumstantial evidence, that Duncan had ulterior motives when she improperly accessed about 2 terabytes of sensitive campaign data and forwarded it to a private e-mail address.

The campaign continues to circle back to Taylor Burks’ unexpected presence in Washington, D.C. while  Hueffmeier was there on a trip in April, which was the breaking point between the Hueffmeier and Duncan. 

Hueffmeier’s Campaign Director, Scott Patterson, points to a document that contained heavily guarded details to this D.C. trip and Taylor Burks’ unexpected appearance there. Hueffmeier says he thought he wouldn’t see anyone he knew from back home, much less other local figures with political aspirations. He was completely flummoxed when Burks appeared in D.C.

“[Burks] showed up in Washington for Brett’s meetings,” Patterson said. “Not only did he have our information, he flaunted that he was using it. Who knows what else he did with it behind the scenes?” 

Hueffmeier was certain his volunteer, Duncan, had passed information about the otherwise secretive meeting to Burks.

Burks calls these remarks “silly” and a reflection of who is leading in the race as it enters its final week. 

“There’s no reason for me to be antagonistic,” Burks said. “I wouldn’t want to trade places with anyone else in the race.”

Duncan says Hueffmeier’s version of events connected to the D.C. trip is “100% false.” She describes the dissolution of her relationship with the campaign as the result of a candidate who was “out of control” in his personal life. She says her access to private campaign documents was the same as other staffers and volunteers, and she acknowledges it was revoked at that time. 

Duncan points to her work in the Republican Party in Saline County, where she grew up, as the reason why the Hueffmeier campaign contacted her asking for her support. She says she regrets agreeing to get involved, and she says she now fears Hueffmeier.

“I consulted an attorney after he threatened me,” Duncan said. “I haven’t filed a restraining order, yet, and hope not to.”