Jeff Smith once served in the Missouri Senate.
"Voters for Truth" they weren't.
Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, and two of his campaign aides spent years covering up their role in a 2004 election shenanigan tied to a shady group with that honorable name.
The lie would eventually cost Smith his Senate seat, and his freedom. The former campaign workers — Steve Brown and Nick Adams — earned probation for their roles in the scheme. Brown also would have to resign a Missouri House seat he won in 2008.
It all started with an anonymous mailer in the summer of 2004. At the time, Smith was trying to elbow his way into the U.S. House, after longtime U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., announced his retirement.
Winning wouldn't be easy. Smith had to distinguish himself in a crowded Democratic primary field and take aim at Russ Carnahan, whose famous last name carried serious weight among Missouri Democrats.
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As later reported in the Post-Dispatch, someone identified in court records as "John Doe" with the group "Voters for Truth" coordinated with the Smith campaign in July 2004 to blast out mailers critical of "Rusty Carnahan." The fliers did not meet federal disclosure requirements.
In a sworn affidavit in September 2004, Smith denied knowing who created and sent the fliers.
The lie fell apart when investigators caught up with "John Doe" — a Democratic operative named Milton "Skip" Ohlsen III (who would later be convicted of an unrelated Clayton parking garage bombing). Through Ohlsen they got to Brown, Smith's campaign worker, then convinced Brown to turn on Smith.
Brown recorded conversations with Smith and Adams as the trio brainstormed ways to continue lying. Smith and Adams said they could blame Artie Harris, an associate who died by suicide in 2007.
"Artie would totally want us to throw him under the bus here," Smith said while Brown was recording.
Not long after, Smith's political career came crashing down. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice and spent almost a year in federal prison. He was released in 2010, and has gone on to write and teach about his experience as an ex-con politician.
