ST. LOUIS—The political reaction in the St. Louis region to news that former President Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 counts by a Manhattan jury Thursday has largely been what one might expect in today’s polarized environment. Republicans condemned the verdict. Sen. Eric Schmitt joined a handful of other Republicans in the Senate who said they would refuse to pass certain funding and Democratic priorities and appointees.

Democrats said it’s a sign nobody is above the law.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., during an event at the Urban League in St. Louis Friday morning, shared that sentiment, but went further. 

“That’s 34…..hopefully we’ll get good news about other counts. He should not be able to be the nominee of the Republican party, with all of those felony counts, those convictions so….but that’s not up to us,” she said to a cheering audience.

The Trump campaign announced Friday that it had raised more than $34 million dollars in less than 24 hours after the verdict was announced. Politico reports that the Trump campaign warned Republican candidates not to try and fundraise off of the decision.

In Missouri, GOP gubernatorial hopeful State Sen. Bill Eigel ran afoul of the Trump campaign last fall when the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported his political action committee solicited donors in ways that made it appear he was raising money to support Trump when the funds were instead going to back Eigel.

The parties have since mended fences.

Since Thursday’s verdict, Eigel and the other two leading candidates for governor, Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft have all put out social media messages urging donations to Trump’s campaign.

Said Kehoe, “If any liberal prosecutor in Missouri ever tries anything like this New York witch hunt when I’m governor, I’ll be waiting with a pardon. 

When rogue prosecutors pick and choose which cases to prosecute while letting violent criminals off the hook, it’s clear we need to fix our justice system.”

The warning harkens back to the criticism leveled at former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who attempted to prosecute former Gov. Eric Greitens for invasion of privacy and computer tampering charges. The charges were dropped when Greitens resigned. She later earned more GOP scorn when she prosecuted  St. Louis attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey for waving guns at protesters outside their Central West End home. The McCloskeys pleaded guilty to firearms charges but were later pardoned by Gov. Mike Parson.

When Gardner resigned under legislative and legal pressure last year, Parson replaced her with Gabe Gore, another Democrat who has received praise from Kehoe, Ashcroft and Eigel, among other Republicans. Gore marked his first year in office Thursday.

RECA deadline

When Congress returns Monday, there will be four legislative days left until a federal program that pays medical costs for victims of nuclear radiation expires. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund has been paying those costs since the early 1990s. A bill sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, to expand the program to include victims in Missouri, Kentucky, New Mexico and Tennessee among others, passed the Senate in March but has not been heard in the House. Earlier this week, only hours after House Speaker Mike Johnson said Hawley’s bill would not move forward because of concerns over a $50 billion price-tag over five years, Johnson said he and Majority Leader Steve Scalise had talks with Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo. and that a clean extension of the existing program would not make it to the floor this coming week.

A spokesperson for Wagner said she is still advocating for the Hawley bill to get a vote.

Bush agreed.

“We’re looking for everyone. We have states like Utah where there is a portion of the community who has the compensation and a portion of the community who does not. That state is asking, they’re asking their legislators, their lawmakers like hey, what about the entire state….so right now we’re pushing for every single person. I don’t want anyone to be left out. And I wouldn’t push for something that would exclude people,” she said. 

St. Louis area advocates who have already made numerous trips to Washington to lobby for the full expansion bill will return there on Tuesday. Bush told reporters Friday she doesn’t expect legislative action on the bill Tuesday, leaving Wednesday as a pivotal day because many lawmakers will leave Washington Thursday for D-Day observances in France.

A spokesperson for Speaker Johnson did not return a message seeking comment Friday.

Speaker suit

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher and his Chief of Staff Rod Jetton have been sued in Cole County Court by House Chief Clerk Dana Miller over allegations of harassment and intimidation.

According to our news partners at the Missouri Independent: 

“The lawsuit, which names the House, Plocher and Jetton as defendants, cites disputes between Miller and Plocher that began last year when the speaker was pushing for the purchase of expensive constituent communication software. In the lawsuit, Miller accuses Plocher of pushing for the purchase because it would mean large donations for his statewide campaign for lieutenant governor and access to communications to the House for campaign use.

Until she opposed the purchase because it was too expensive and duplicated internal House-created systems, she had a good working relationship with Plocher, Miller said.

“I got along with the speaker until I told him no,” Miller said.”

A House Ethics committee investigation into Plocher, who went on to shift from the race for lieutenant governor to secretary of state, was ultimately dismissed. A draft report and the former committee chair accused him of obstructing the probe.

Plocher and Jetton could not be reached for comment.