JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 A Fenton church that sued 50度灰视频 County over coronavirus-related restrictions on gatherings received a $5,000 financial boost from a Republican-affiliated political action committee before it filed the headline-grabbing lawsuit in May.
The Show Me Growth PAC contributed to the Church of the Word on May 19, the day before the church filed a federal lawsuit against County Executive Sam Page, a Democrat, according to records filed Wednesday with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
Mike Leara, treasurer of the PAC, said Thursday none of the money went to state Rep. David Gregory, R-Fenton, who was one of the attorneys who represented the church in the case.
鈥淒avid Gregory didn鈥檛 get paid on that,鈥 Leara said. 鈥淚 may have asked him that after I saw him on television over the issue. There was another attorney that was handling that case.鈥
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Leara said he is related to Gregory by marriage and that the Show Me Growth PAC supports Gregory. Leara represented the 96th House District, covering parts of south 50度灰视频 County, before Gregory succeeded him in 2017.
鈥淥ne of my uncles is married to one of his aunts,鈥 Leara said.
Gregory and his co-counsel, Henry Elster, did not respond to requests for comment.
Gov. Mike Parson appointed Leara chairman of the Missouri Gaming Commission in April 2019.
Matthew Sheffer, the pastor of the church at 801 Hawkins Road, wasn鈥檛 willing to talk about how the church spent the money.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I have to disclose what 鈥 who contributes to our church or what it was for or anything else,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o I don鈥檛 have any interest in doing that.鈥
Sheffer hung up the phone as a reporter asked whether the money went toward attorneys fees, or other expenses.
鈥淚 have very little trust for your newspaper,鈥 he said in a text message after the phone call, accusing the newspaper of being biased.
Leara said, 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 direct what they had to do with it, but I think it helped them afford a lawyer with their case.鈥
Asked if the $5,000 went to legal fees, Leara said, 鈥淚 suppose it did. I don鈥檛 know, I just decided to make a contribution to help them out.鈥
鈥淚 know they had legal expenses and we just made a contribution to the church,鈥 he said.
鈥淭o tell you the truth, I was kind of upset because my church was unable to open,鈥 Leara said in explaining his motivation for making the donation. He said he doesn鈥檛 attend Church of the Word. 鈥淚鈥檝e been unable to attend my church.鈥
鈥淚 saw a church standing up for something and I thought that it was a good idea they fought the county over it,鈥 he said.
He said Gregory didn鈥檛 ask him to send the money to Church of the Word.
鈥淭here were other people in the community around here that were talking about it,鈥 Leara said. 鈥淩epublican clubs, that type of thing.鈥
The PAC has not reported raising any money since December.
Court records show Gregory moved to voluntarily dismiss the case on June 2. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk dismissed the case that day.