Department of Natural Resources Director Doyle Childers is asking Attorney General Jay Nixon to step down from the Ameren Taum Sauk case after the utility company revealed yesterday it was the Nixon campaign that sought and accepted nearly $20,000 from Ameren after Nixon became the criminal prosecutor in the Taum Sauk case and made Ameren the target of a criminal probe.
The funds sent to Nixon were withdrawn from the company's general revenue, which includes money collected from Ameren customers and ratepayers.
"At this late date, and certainly in light of the new disclosures regarding your campaign's solicitation of Ameren after you became the criminal prosecutor in the matter, it is quite clear that you cannot or will not settle the state's claim against Ameren," Childers wrote. "In the interests of the citizens of Reynolds County and the entire state of Missouri, I ask that you step down from the case and permit us to settle the state's claims."
For months Nixon denied that he or his campaign requested the Ameren money. On June 8, 2006, Nixon told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his campaign did not know how the money got to him from Ameren.
The railroad corridor for the Katy Trail connection to Kansas City is controlled by Ameren and has been part of the Taum Sauk reparations discussions.
Both the Attorney General and DNR Director Childers have pledged to make trail access on this railroad corridor part of the Taum Sauk reparations.
