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Summary of What Was Already Reported on the Edelen Ethics Scandal Link

Important Things The HL Missed in their Coverage of the Edelen Ethics Scandal:

Bob Babbage was lobbying for Thomas & King when Edelen hired Ralph Coldiron: Link

Possible evidence that Bob Babbage tried to conceal his business ties to Edelen (multiple annual reports filed by Bob Babbage in September 2008 show he was going to change the address to the condo he shared with Edelen's wife, but changed his mind): Link

All of Coldiron’s business assets Were at risk if he defaulted on a loan that gave a security interest in his business assets to the lender: Link

Ralph Coldiron asked for and received an exemption all Purchase Orders (Master Agreements) issued as instruments of obligation for grant funds awarded by the CMRS Board: Link

Federal flow-down requirements regarding CMRS grants create additional conflict of interest restrictions and require grant recipients to grant access to records to the Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts: Link

Edelen and Coldiron also had another business at the time, Bluesand Investments, LLC (Kim Geveden & Jesse McKnight were also members): Link

The Herald-Leader noted that Edelen made the hiring decisions (Link), which included Chuck Geveden, but they did not mention that Chuck was the brother of Edelen’s business partner in Bluesand Investments, LLC. Link

The Herald-Leader noted that Joe Barrows was hired to replace Coldiron and some of Barrows own problem with ethics, but they didn't mention that Barrows thinks the investigators were the real bad guys in BOPTROT: Link

Edelen Should Release His Tax Returns: Link

As Beshear’s Chief of Staff, Edelen Handled Beshear Administration Employment Requests:

          Edelen told police investigating Amanda Ross’ murder by Steve Nunn that employment requests for the Beshear Administration would come through him:

(Lexington Herald-Leader’s open records regarding the Steve Nunn murder investigation, page 28: Link)

[Note: like Edelen, Steve Nunn had done consulting work for Ross, Sinclaire & Associates: “Steve Nunn and Amanda Ross met when Ross's father, Terrell Ross, hired Nunn to do consulting work for his financing firm, Ross Sinclaire. Terrell Ross died in October 2006.”  (Lu-Ann Farrar, “Chronology of the Steve Nunn case,” Herald-Leader, June 29, 2011.)]

           Edelen is the person who made the decision to hire Coldiron.  Before becoming Beshear’s chief of staff, Edelen also made the hiring decisions for Beshear’s Office of Homeland Security:

However, Preston said he took the job in June, so most of the appointees were chosen earlier by Edelen, who was Beshear’s original homeland security director before becoming chief of staff this summer.

Edelen on Tuesday defended his hiring - and the other appointees’ - on the grounds that they are skilled managers and communicators, and those were the talents the office needed.  (John Cheves, “Beshear loyalists find a haven - Some question qualifications of Democratic governor’s homeland security hires,” Herald-Leader, November 19, 2008.)

Federal Conflict of Interest Requirements

          The Herald-Leader focused on state law, ignoring federal restrictions that might also apply.  The 2009 CMRS Grant Application states the following restrictions regarding conflicts of interest:

Link

The Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts is Supposed to be a Watchdog Overlooking the CMRS Grant Program:

           The federal flow-down provisions—as an attachment to the grant application, with the language tailored for the State of Kentucky—specifically require applicants to grant access to records to the Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts.  The 2009 CMRS Grant Application states the following regarding records:

Link

The Kentucky Auditor (Crit Luallen and Adam Edelen) Have Both Had a Conflict of Interest Regarding the CMRS Requirements:

          When the Herald-Leader started asking about the qualifications of the political appointees at the beginning of the Edelen Ethics Scandal, a desperate Edelen tried to justify his political appointment to head the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security (KOHS) and the subsequent hiring decisions he made—both at Homeland Security and later as Beshear’s chief of staff—by reversing his own previous statements where he had complemented the performance of the KOHS under his predecessor.

         Now, Edelen claimed the KOHS was in disarray and that Beshear brought him in to fix it:

Edelen on Tuesday defended his hiring - and the other appointees’ - on the grounds that they are skilled managers and communicators, and those were the talents the office needed.

The Fletcher administration left Homeland Security a mess, he said, with vague or incomplete budgets, plans and job duties.

“The governor wanted me to repair an agency that had fallen into administrative disrepair,” said Edelen, a one-time candidate for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. “I wasn’t hired to be James Bond. I was hired to bring order.”

Fletcher’s homeland security director, Alecia Webb-Edgington, now a Republican state representative from Fort Wright, disputed Edelen’s account. Webb-Edgington said Edelen complimented her work at a January state legislative hearing as the Beshear administration took control of Homeland Security.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Edelen feels the need to use this vital office as a political football,” she said. “But with his dire lack of experience, I think we can all question the validity of his claims.”

In the lower ranks, Homeland Security still has staff with law enforcement or military backgrounds who can handle intelligence reports and security strategy, Edelen said. Among its duties, the office is supposed to study the state’s vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks or other disasters.  (John Cheves, “Beshear loyalists find a haven - Some question qualifications of Democratic governor’s homeland security hires,” Herald-Leader, November 19, 2008.)

         But the truth is that Edelen inherited a KOHS ranked second in the nation for preparedness that he quickly made mediocre.