LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT EAVES’ ATTACKS
Barbour for Governor sends Eaves back to the carwash

“John Arthur Eaves Jr. must feel pretty dirty about his false, negative, personal attacks against Governor Haley Barbour,” said Brian Perry, spokesman for Barbour for Governor. “You’ve heard his lies; now learn the truth.”

The Dirt on Eaves’ “Come Clean”

  1. 1. The Eaves campaign ad asks, “why he hid the $300,000 his lobbying firm still pays him.”  The television ad cites a Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal article dated 9/20/07 for this inaccurate allegation.  This Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal article was factually incorrect in that it incorrectly cites a previous Bloomberg article for the proposition that $25,000 per month, or $300,000 per year, is paid to the Governor from his former firm in Washington, DC.  This is a complete misrepresentation of the Bloomberg article.  The Bloomberg article simply references a provision of the Blind Trust agreement which allows the trustee of the trust to distribute up to $25,000 to the beneficiaries of the trust each month.  This has absolutely nothing to do with any inflows to the trust from any source, much less the firm cited in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal article.
  1. 2. The television spot expressly states, as fact, that the Governor has income from investments which is paid directly to him – this is not the case.  The Governor’s investments are in the trust, and the income is correctly reported accordingly. In fact, a recent Mississippi Ethics Commission opinion was issued which held that the Governor is correctly reporting his financial status by reporting the income from the trust. If the Governor actually received income himself, directly from other sources as the Eaves ad claims, he would have to report that separately.  Since the Ethics Commission ruled that he was reporting his income correctly, then it is factually untrue to say the Governor receives any money from any source other than the blind trust.
  1. 3. The spot asks, ”why have his clients gotten so many government contracts and special treatment” after Katrina?  Everyone, including John Arthur Eaves, Jr., knows that the Governor has no “clients” because he does not have another job of any kind outside of his work as the Governor of the state of Mississippi.  On January 13, 2004, Governor Barbour resigned from Barbour Griffith & Rogers.  It is completely misleading and incorrect for a television ad to claim that the Governor currently has “clients”; it gives the public the ridiculous impression that the Governor is somehow giving himself special treatment.  To what clients are the Eaves campaign referring?  They are unable to answer this question because the only client Governor Barbour has is the state of Mississippi.

The Truth on the Blind Trust

Governor Barbour went beyond what state law required and established a blind trust to prevent any conflict of interest while serving as Governor.  Under the blind trust, Governor Barbour has given control of his investments and other assets over to a trustee who acts on the Governor’s behalf and without the Governor’s knowledge.  This allows the Governor to aggressively pursue economic development opportunities on behalf of the state of Mississippi, while at the same time assuring the public that no possibility for a conflict of interest exists.  Public officials across the country use blind trusts in this same manner to remove any appearance or possibility of a conflict of interest.  

“John Arthur Eaves, Jr. has disclosed no more specific financial information than the Governor.  But Mr. Eaves using the Governor’s blind trust to make reckless, false allegations, and Mississippi deserves better than that.  The facts are clear: John Arthur Eaves, Jr. has no plan and no vision for Mississippi.  All he has are reckless, false attacks.  He should take his mud slinging back to the carwash,” said Perry said.

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