You Don't Mess Around With Jim

Remember that old Jim Croce tune? The one that goes:

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask of the old Lone Ranger
You don't mess around with Jim

In St. Paul, the Jim you don't mess around with is Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles. For almost 25 years, Nobles has earned and enjoyed the reputation of being a straight shooter and a tough auditor. I am hard-pressed to think of anyone who has tried to pull the wool over Nobles' eyes. Incredibly, it appears that DFL Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has tried to do just that.

The Star Tribune's Mark Brunswick has the scoop:

"In a letter Monday to the Legislative Audit Commission, Nobles said the admission changed the scope of his investigation. 'Mr. Ritchie's belated acknowledgment of personal involvement renders the information I received from his office on November 9 unreliable,' the letter said. 'Therefore, I have informed Mr. Ritchie that I intend to conduct an investigation into the allegation concerning the Secretary of State's office by interviewing Mr. Ritchie and his staff under oath.'"

For those who haven't followed the Ritchie saga, your best bet is Michael Brodkorb's Minnesota Democrats Exposed, where Brodkorb was the first to publish the story. In short form, Ritchie's office is using email lists acquired in official SOS work to send campaign fundraising solicitations. At first, Ritchie told Brunswick he didn't know how that happened. Then Ritchie said he personally transferred the lists from his state office to his campaign.

Ritchie is no political spring chicken. He came of age in the Watergate era where everyone learned that the cover-up is worse than the crime.

Except maybe this one, where the crime--using the SOS office for partisan gain--is exactly the charge he leveled against GOP Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer to beat her in 2006.