Emails: Kelly staffer asked DCF secretary to draft letter immediately used by campaign

Documents obtained by the Republican Governors Association show a top Kelly administration staffer asked a cabinet member to draft a letter that was used for campaign purposes that same day.

The organization says it provided the records to the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office as the RGA, the Republican Party’s arm for gubernatorial races, seeks a criminal investigation into the Kelly staffer’s activity.

A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office said in an email that that it is still reviewing the records and had not officially opened a criminal case.

The records were obtained after the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission dismissed the GOP group’s June complaint alleging the campaign improperly pressured Department of Children and Families Secretary Laura Howard to send Kelly’s chief of staff a letter that was later used to pressure Kansas television stations to remove a political advertisement.

The letter contradicted the advertisement’s claim that Kelly’s administration stopped work requirements for food stamps and was used as evidence in a cease and desist letter the campaign sent to stations airing the advertisement.

Emails obtained by the RGA and provided to The Star show Kelly’s deputy chief of staff, Ryan Wright, asking Howard to draft a letter confirming no benefits were paid under a temporary policy that waived work requirements. Wright’s request, and Howard’s response, came the same day the cease and desist letter was sent.

“Can you please draft a brief letter to Will confirming that no benefits were paid out under this policy before it was withdrawn? Also, can you send this to us today?” Wright said in an email at 10 a.m. May 16.

The email was referring to Will Lawrence, Kelly’s chief of staff. The emails show Howard sent the letter to Lawrence just before 3 p.m. that day.

Brianna Johnson, a spokeswoman for Kelly, said that the emails do not show any improper conduct by Kelly’s team.

“The administration has not improperly coordinated with the campaign,” Johnson said. “These emails show what we already knew – that the administration asked for routine information to address misinformation. This is why the Ethics Commission dismissed the RGA’s complaint earlier this summer.”

But the RGA argues this activity violates a state law barring state employees from pressuring other state employees to engage in political activity.

“Democrat Laura Kelly and her staff have taken her egregious abuse of Kansas taxpayer resources to potentially criminal levels,” RGA spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement.

The Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay’s office did not immediately respond to questions about whether they are pursuing an investigation.