Trib’s Ganey: Todd Graves in Mississippi Misconduct Mess
Why is the prospect that Todd Graves was at that first trailer meeting so potentially explosive?
Because on the date of the meeting, Graves was still in his post as United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. The meeting took place on March 11, 2006, just one day after Todd Graves announced that he would resign his post on March 24, 2006 –some two weeks later.
If indeed Todd Graves was present at the March 11, 2006 trailer meeting, he was not only present while the Rigsby sisters and other attorneys gained illicit access to State Farm files in preparation for litigation, but also present while still carrying a badge and wearing a title of law enforcement prestige from the Department of Justice. He would have been there while still an employee of the taxpayers of the United States.
A little more than a month later, Graves and his firm would officially be counsel to the Rigsby sisters on certain legal claims filed against State Farm.
Ganey’s story, while it includes some defensive posturing by Todd Graves about State Farm’s claims, adds little evidence regarding the answer to the question about whether it was Todd Graves or Todd A. Scott who was actually in the first trailer meeting. From the story:
“I’ve never been around a computer that was on a State Farm database,” Graves said. “The allegation is ridiculous. They don’t have a basis for it.” …
“The facts that are in the motion are all wrong,” DeWitt added. “We never went onto their computer system. We never did the things we are alleged to have done. We have not violated any of the rules of professional conduct in Missouri or Mississippi.”
Note that Graves and DeWitt couch their denials very carefully. Both go to lengths to refute specifically the claim that they accessed State Farm’s computer files, though nothing provided by Ganey indicates that either man denies having been present at the March 11, 2006 trailer meeting.
Immediate clarity is necessary on whether Todd Graves claims to have been present at or absent from the March 11, 2006 meeting. If Ganey explored this topic with Graves and did receive answers and simply chose not to publish them in this piece, I would hope he would make those responses available. If Ganey did not, perhaps some other reporter will put that query to the former U.S. Attorney.
If Graves was at the March 11, 2006 trailer meeting, an immediate accounting must be given to the people of Missouri, and of the United States, for why a sitting U.S. Attorney was in another state, effectively engaging the private practice of law before leaving office. And then the appropriate punishments should be assigned.
Fired Up Missouri
4/16/8
Magnolia Tribune
