Kansas Democrats hoping to elect a U.S. senator for the first time in decades will likely need to look for someone other than Barry Grissom, one of the announced candidates.
Grissoms campaign suffered a devastating blow last week when federal judge Julie Robinson issued a blistering ruling in a case involving misconduct by federal prosecutors under Grissoms supervision.
The prosecutors are accused of improperly eavesdropping on recorded phone calls and videos involving incarcerated defendants and their lawyers. Theyre also accused covering up their behavior.
The lawyers ethical breach during Grissoms tenure as U.S. attorney is reason enough to reject his candidacy. But the court ruling and testimony in the case also show the office in Kansas City, Kansas, was a dysfunctional mess under Grissom.
Mike Warner was Grissoms first assistant. It was essentially an inmates-run-the-jail-type office, he testified.
There was no support from the U.S. attorney, (who) basically wanted to stick his head in the sand and go out and get his picture taken and maybe run for office someday, he added.
Erin Tomasic, a former assistant U.S. attorney at the center of the phone call allegations, testified to fierce infighting in the office. There was a Lord of the Flies mindset, and people were at full-out war with one another, she told the court.
Was Grissom aware of this? Yes, Warner said.
I would go to the U.S. attorney, yes, sir, and complain and say we should sanction these people; we need to do something. I did that on a, excuse me, damned daily basis, he said. I documented it. I did it verbally. OK? Nothing happened. It was frustrating.
Grissoms failure to properly supervise his office seems clear. Kansas City prosecutors distrusted current and past management, to the point of insubordination, Robinson found.
In an interview with The Star Editorial Board, Grissom defended his work, insisting he was unaware of the misbehavior in his office. If somebodys hiding something from you, how would you possibly know that? he said.
I cant wave a wand and make someone tell me the truth, he continued. You have to have some faith in your people that theyre not lying to you, or hiding things from you.
Grissom, a Democrat, was not a part of the contempt finding by Judge Robinson. He isnt mentioned in her ruling.
But voters will have serious questions about Grissoms service anyway. If he didnt know about the inappropriate behavior of his staff attorneys, he failed as a supervisor and a manager.
If he did know, and did nothing to stop it, hes complicit in a serious breach of ethical standards. Either way, Grissoms record suggests he lacks the qualifications and character to serve as a U.S. senator.
