Posted on 12/29/2007 3:13:01 PM PST by Huntress
Attorney General Paul Morrison and mistress Linda Carter kept in close touch during their extramarital affair, leaving a trail of evidence pinpointing when their long-distance romance came to a bitter end.
Documents obtained Thursday from the offices of the attorney general and the Johnson County district attorney under the Kansas Open Records Act show Morrison placed at least 480 telephone calls this year from his personal and work telephones to numbers assigned to Carter. At the time, he was serving as the state's top law enforcement officer in Topeka and she was director of administration in the Johnson County district attorney's office in Olathe.
The covert lovers spoke for more than 10,700 minutes in the first 10 months of this year — lighting up the switchboard until their relationship hit a brick wall in October. That averages about 35 minutes a day on the phone.
In November, Carter filed a federal sexual harassment complaint against Morrison and quit her job.
The Topeka-Capital Journal first reported their two-year relationship Dec. 9, and Morrison announced five days later his intention to resign at the end of January.
The telephone records are potentially significant because Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline is pressing a criminal investigation of Morrison's involvement in telephone harassment, blackmail and unspecified other crimes alleged to have occurred amid the Carter-Morrison affair.
Kline wasn't available for comment Thursday, but the district attorney has said "sufficient evidence to warrant" the investigation had been obtained.
Morrison confirmed he had a sexual relationship with Carter, who was his subordinate in the district attorney's office. However, Morrison rejects assertions he violated any law or code of ethics. He affirmed that position Thursday in a statement issued by his spokeswoman.
"Any allegations that I violated the laws of this state or the ethical standards of my profession are absolutely false," Morrison said.
Telephone records obtained by The Capital-Journal provide support to claims made by Carter that Morrison called her repeatedly around noon Oct. 31 threatening to "destroy" her effort to obtain employment if she wouldn't talk to him about their relationship. In a portion of one of those calls overheard by witnesses, Carter said Morrison told her she was a "monster, (expletive) sociopath liar."
Records also confirm the Johnson County cellular telephone number assigned to Carter was dialed five times back-to-back at 4 a.m. Sept. 29 from someone using the phone at Morrison's residence in Lenexa. Carter said she spoke to Morrison that night and he explained that his wife, Joyce, was out of town and it was fine to talk. Carter said she had told Morrison the previous day that she no longer wanted a relationship with him.
"I want you out of my life," she recalled saying in a signed statement.
Half of the telephone calls linking Morrison and Carter in 2007 occurred from July to October, seeming to undercut Morrison's public statement in early December that he had been "working for the past year to repair the damage this relationship (with Carter) caused to others."
From July 11 to Oct. 10, the span of three monthly billing cycles, Morrison called Carter at least 124 times and they talked for more than 5,500 minutes. A significant portion of these conversations took place from July 11 to Aug. 10, including 61 calls that consumed an astonishing 4,000 minutes. That is a daily average of two hours on the phone with each other.
In Morrison's first month as attorney general, he called Carter more than 100 times. Approximately one-third of those calls were placed during the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a weekday.
Although they had sex after he was sworn in, the last time Carter said she last had sex with Morrison inside the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe was on Jan. 7, the day before he became attorney general. Their affair had started in 2005 with a sexual liaison in the county building in downtown Olathe.
Morrison reached Carter by telephone twice on the day he swore the oath of office at the Statehouse, according to the telephone records. Carter and Morrison spoke for 20 minutes during a call initiated by Morrison at 7:22 a.m. from a cell phone. By the time Morrison and Carter spoke by telephone again, at 11:49 p.m., he had traded his title as Johnson County district attorney for Kansas attorney general.
These records don't represent a complete summary of communication between Morrison and Carter. Only calls on phones tied to a publicly funded agency, such as the attorney general's office or the Johnson County government, are within reach of the state's open records act.
Morrison switched to the Democratic Party to oppose Kline, the GOP incumbent attorney general, during the general election in 2006. He easily defeated Kline following a contentious campaign.
While Morrison replaced Kline in the attorney general's office, Kline was appointed by members of the Republican Party in Johnson County to complete the remainder of Morrison's term as district attorney.
Kline intends to select the special prosecutor after Jan. 1 to look into evidence Morrison might have violated state law in the conduct of his relationship with Carter. She alleges, in part, Morrison attempted to obtain from her confidential information and to influence litigation involving Kline's district attorney office.
Morrison said more than once he had never "done anything contrary to the laws of this state."
In addition to the criminal inquiry, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has Carter's sexual harassment complaint. The state's panel for the discipline of attorneys is reviewing Morrison's conduct for ethical infractions.
Tim Carpenter can be reached at (785) 296-3005 or timothy.carpenter@cjonline.com.
Phill's got $25 grand to fund his investigation. He has enough enemies on the county board so that it is a real possibility that they won't fund anything after that. Phill has to come up with evidence of criminal activity - Morrison soliciting information on ongoing investigations, something like that - or Morrison may well skate on this. On the "he's been punished enough" theory.
Sebelius has already dropped him like a shot once this came out. Since Morrison was a recent switch from the GOP I don't think there is enough of a connection to tarnish her. The funny thing is that the Democrats were supposed to have vetted Morrison six ways from Sunday before he announced in 2006. Obviously Paul was less than forthcoming.
The vetting did not uncover the hanky-panky, which typically, the whole office would have known about.
I believe that many have been advised that this is all going to come out due to "other" suits and investigations and that they'd better NOT be seen as "obstructionists" attempting to shield Morrison on this one.
Gov. Sebelius quickly attempted to shield herself and her administration as well as Lt. Gov (former RINO Mark Parkinson, turned dim)from Morrison.
He's a real hot potato, like someone with small pox and all want to shield themselves as far from him as possible, lest they be brought down with him (many might be anyway as this runs far and deep.)
Morrison had reason to fear what would come out there.
For a professional DA not to be sitting IN his office does not indicate he's NOT working.
Obviously, Morrison sitting IN his office and being on the phone w/Carter for 3 hours, is NOT working.
No problem with their "vetting" process as this is not looked upon as making him or anyone else unelectable, especially with dims and RINOs just conservatives.
What they didn't plan on was his "getting caught" attempting to subvert an ongoing investigation about, ta da, Planned Parenthood.
There's a lot to lose for Planned Parenthood there as they are federally funded and licensed to "operate" in every state.
What goes on in KS Planned Parenthood, goes on in every state where they operate, with federal tax dollars!
Should this blow open, believe me, it will hit nationwide and it's not about a sexual liason between a DA turned AG and an employee and those involved know it.
Couldn't have been that open. I know a couple of former DAs and they're surprised at this.
What they didn't plan on was his "getting caught" attempting to subvert an ongoing investigation about, ta da, Planned Parenthood.
From what I've heard about Phill's case, Planned Parenthood hasn't got anything to worry about. It will get thrown out on procedural grounds before it ever gets to trial.
Actually they were after ratings. And their report was in keeping with the quality of the rest of their reporting; a lot of noise and very little substance.
For a professional DA not to be sitting IN his office does not indicate he's NOT working.
Phill does spend a lot of time travelling and giving speeches before pro-life organizations and laying the groundwork for his post-politics career on the speaking circuit. There is nothing illegal in that. I doubt Morrison was around the office all that much when he was running for AG. In fact, Phill could not show up at all and he wouldn't be breaking any laws.
Obviously, Morrison sitting IN his office and being on the phone w/Carter for 3 hours, is NOT working.
I don't know, I imagine it isn't easy to come up with three hours a day of sweet nothings to whisper into your bimbo's ear.
This is definitely going to be “messy” and a lot of people are going to look really bad if all comes to light.
Which means that Phill had better concentrate on possible felonies rather than making this a matter of adultery. If all Morrison did was bang this broad on state time then that's disgusting but not criminal. If he was using her to keep track of ongoing JoCo DA investigations then that's a felony and Morrison should be charged. Phill should use his money to look in that direction and then it'll be harder for the county board to end any future investigations. But if he burns through his investigating budget and all he has is how often Morrison was on the phone with her and the board will use that as an excuse to end the investigation right there.
Gov. Sebelius quickly attempted to shield herself and her administration as well as Lt. Gov (former RINO Mark Parkinson, turned dim)from Morrison.
Successfully, too. Nobody is linking her with Morrison anymore. And when she appoints Chris Biggs as Morrison's replacement then he'll have 3 years to make people forget about Morrison.
He's a real hot potato, like someone with small pox and all want to shield themselves as far from him as possible, lest they be brought down with him (many might be anyway as this runs far and deep.)
How hot will depend on what Phill finds. If Morrison did use illegal means to track what Phill was doing, and especially if this results in cases being thrown out or convictions overturned, then the scandal could have legs and make things uncomfortable for the Dems for some time.
At the very least Morrison may have removed a 2008 election strategy that might have been very effective for the Dems. They have been planning on using the label "Phill Kline Republican" on Jenkins and Ryun, if he wins nomination again, and other candidates in the 2nd and 3rd districts. If Morrion continues to stink then that reduces the effectiveness of that label
Jo Co Bar may have some egg on it's face as well for supporting Morrison so strongly and may decide to stay out of primary picks in the future but maybe not, seeing as how their hatred of Kline colored any objectiveness and overlooked the previous sexual harassment filed by another DA employee against Morrison. Normally, I think that these sexual harassment charges are an attempt to get $$$ however, sometimes they are actually true. We'll see about that especially if some other women start coming out of the woodwork against Morrison.
As to the dim strategy to use the "Phill Kline is a Snoop Dog (paid for by Tiller)" and "Phill Kline Republicans," the tables are now turned, Kobach and crew may now use that as a "Morrison dimocRAT" or even conservatives use "A Morrison RINO." Not looking too good for Morrison, Parkinson, Sebelius and other KS dims.
As to what Morrison is involved in it will be investigated not by Kline nor anyone in his office as it involves that office and some people (such as Carter) are still there left from Morrison's days.
Tampering with JoCo DA's investigation IS a felony and Morrison has more than a zipper problem here and he and others know it, as was evident from Steve Rose's comments to Mike Shanin on KMBZ during his interview re: Morrison.
People who brushed aside Morrison's past zipper problems because of their hatred of Kline, may, just may find themselves on the losing side.
I believe that if the investigation brings up lots of tampering in the investigation and it goes where I think, the JoCo Commissioners are going to be hard pressed to ever attempt to shut it down no matter how much the media screams but that's just my personal opinion.
Surely you aren't referring to that lady that Phill dredged up during the election and which fell apart on him?
Jo Co Bar may have some egg on it's face as well for supporting Morrison so strongly and may decide to stay out of primary picks in the future but maybe not, seeing as how their hatred of Kline colored any objectiveness and overlooked the previous sexual harassment filed by another DA employee against Morrison.
Phill's career in Kansas politics is over, so the JoCo Bar doesn't have to endorse anyone just because they're running against Kline.
As to the dim strategy to use the "Phill Kline is a Snoop Dog (paid for by Tiller)" and "Phill Kline Republicans," the tables are now turned, Kobach and crew may now use that as a "Morrison dimocRAT" or even conservatives use "A Morrison RINO." Not looking too good for Morrison, Parkinson, Sebelius and other KS dims.
They might, but considering just how unpopular Phill is in this state I think the Dem strategy might have worked better. In any case, Morrison wasn't a Democrat long enough for any to really be closely associated with him. It all depends on what comes out and if Morrison gets charged with anything.
As to what Morrison is involved in it will be investigated not by Kline nor anyone in his office as it involves that office and some people (such as Carter) are still there left from Morrison's days.
It will be investigated by whoever Phill hires to do the investigating. The county gave him the money to get the ball rolling.
Tampering with JoCo DA's investigation IS a felony and Morrison has more than a zipper problem here and he and others know it, as was evident from Steve Rose's comments to Mike Shanin on KMBZ during his interview re: Morrison.
It is, and that's where Phill had best be concentrating his investigation. If convictions are overturned as a result of Morrison's antics then he could be headed for jail.
If the investigation documents serious infractions on the part of Morrison then you are right. If all Phill does is document that Morrison couldn't keep his wee-wee where it belonged then the investigation will die. Simple as that.
More evidence that:
(a) the Star is a rag
(b) they love Morrison
(c) they will publish negative news from Jo Co DA's office only if it puts Kline in a bad light
I quit my subscription to the Star years ago, I might just start a subscription to the Capitol-Journal
No, I have the cutest granddaughter and she is a Kasnsan.
;-)
Pictures, please.
I’m curious in the amount of information Carter has that could help out Kline in all this.
He'd better cut her a deal then. If Morrison has been pumping her for information and she's been passing it on then she's as liable as he is. Work a deal in exchange for her testimony.
(I don't post personal pictures on the internet.)
You’ll have to take my word for it :-)
(I don’t post personal pictures on the internet.)
I believe you! How lucky and blessed you are.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.