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Craig Hosmer, Chairman of the MDP, speaking in Springfield, Mo. (PoliticMo Photo/Blake James)

(SPRINGFIELD, Mo.) The Missouri Democratic Party Thursday held a conference call for journalists calling on U.S. Senate candidate Congressman Roy Blunt to explain roughly $500,000 in legal fees covered out of pocket by Blunt and his campaign comittee.

Typically, general legal fees are covered by the House legal Counsel. The extra funds were troubling to state democrats.

Craig Hosmer, the Chairman of the MDP, said, “You don’t spend $500,000 in legal fees if you’re not hiding something.”

He said, “every time we turn around, we see another special favor for corporate special interest.” “Missourians need to know whether his delivery of a $1 million earmark for a California company was related to campaign contributions from that company’s executives.”

Blunt spent that between 2003 and 2008, nearly $250,000 in 2008, for what his spokesman called at the time called “greater scrutiny in response to new House ethics rules as well as costs the Missourian faced for legal work prompted by a lawsuit involving former defense contractor Brent Wilkes.”

Executives around Wilkes donated substantially to Blunt’s campaign around the same time of the vote.

Wednesday, in a similar conference call, Carnahan campaign manager Mindy Mazur addressed the Wilkes issue.

“One of the examples we touch on in the ad is the example of Brent Wilkes, the California defense contractor and lobbyist,” Mazur said. “Blunt – while he was there – helped whip the vote in favor of one of his companies.”

She said, “Eight days later, Congressman Blunt received $14,000 from people associated with Brent Wilkes.”

Andy Blunt, Roy Blunt’s campaign manager, took to Twitter.

“Until Robin Carnahan comes up with some reason that Missourians should vote for her, we’ll run our campaign and she can run hers,” he said.

Hosmer said while this isn’t new information, “a lot of people don’t know the whole story on Roy Blunt”

Hosmer, a long time Blunt constituent from Springfield, said “I think he started out his political life as a reformer, someone who wanted to change politics, and instead I think he’s been changed by Washington.”