State Republicans are having a field day with the results of an investigation by State Auditor Susan Montee (a Democrat) into Attorney General and Democratic candidate for governor Jay Nixon’s use of a state vehicle for political purposes.

From the Missouri Office of Administration:

JEFFERSON CITY - Attorney General Jay Nixon owes Missouri taxpayers at least an additional $8,618.40 for the illegal use of his taxpayer-owned vehicle which he was caught using for politics. Following a request by Commissioner Mike Keathley, State Auditor Susan Montee found that Nixon underpaid the state by thousands of dollars for his illegal use of his state car, but added that the true amount owed by Nixon may never be known because Nixon’s office destroyed documents and did not keep adequate records of his political and personal use of state resources.

“Jay Nixon underpaid the taxpayers of our state by thousands of dollars and he should immediately pay what he owes for the political use of his taxpayer-funded vehicle,” said Rich AuBuchon. “Auditor Montee has provided a good review based on the limited information she acquired,” AuBuchon added.

After Nixon was caught using his state car for political fundraising and other political trips, Nixon conducted an internal audit without any independent verification of its accuracy, but officials in the auditor’s office who investigated the matter found his payment of $47,021.91 was inadequate.

State Auditor Susan Montee informed Commissioner Keathley that Nixon must reimburse the state an additional $8,618.40 after reviewing the reimbursement his campaign made to the state. Nixon’s campaign calculated that they owed the state $47,021.91 for Nixon’s inappropriate use of state resources to pursue his political campaign.

Nixon was caught using his state car for his political campaign and admitted using his taxpayer funded vehicle for campaign activities for at least three years even though his office told the State Auditor that his use of the car “was official use.”

State Auditor Montee told The Associated Press on October 12, that Nixon’s office’s “representation” during the audit was that Nixon used his car for official purposes only. Nixon admitted a year later that he was using his car for his political campaign. It is against state law (Section 29.250 RSMo) to withhold information from state auditors.

“We cannot conclude with certainty that the state was fully reimbursed for the non-official use of a state vehicle and office staff from November 2004 through October 2007,” the Auditor wrote.

“An exact amount cannot be determined due to inadequate records or lack of records. Although some of the assumptions used by your campaign staff to determine the reimbursement amount may be questionable, other methods may not produce results that are more reliable or acceptable because of lack of records,” the letter said.

Here’s a video (courtesy MOPNS.com) shot by a Republican-paid “candidate tracker” of Nixon allegedly using his official state vehicle to attend fundraiser in Columbia:

Here’s another one of Nixon purportedly arriving in the car at a fundraiser in Ladue:

Nixon’s campaign says a check for $8,618.40 has already been mailed to the Office of Administration and today released the following statement:

“We wanted to make sure the campaign properly reimbursed the state, which is why we asked the Auditor to conduct this review in the first place,” said Oren Shur, Nixon’s campaign spokesman.

“We received the Auditor’s letter a couple days ago and immediately put a check in the mail. We consider this matter closed and will continue to focus on the issues important to Missouri voters, like fixing the state’s health care crisis and turning this economy around.”

“What a difference a day makes,” says Democratic spokesman Jack Cardetti.

“Yesterday Missouri Republicans accused Montee, who audited Gov. Blunt’s office, of ‘using her office and taxpayer dollars to support Jay Nixon’s political campaign which is pathetic.’” [Click here to read our earlier report.]

“However, today Republicans praised Montee’s review of Nixon, saying ‘Auditor Montee has provided a good review…’ and that Montee did ‘a terrific job,” said Cardetti in an email to reporters.

What a difference a day makes, indeed.