Blunt's Curious Manner of "Severing Political Connections"

Matt Blunt has responded to claims that he's improperly interfered with the Missouri Housing Development Commission on behalf of campaign contributors by suggesting that he's broken ties with one particular developer-contributor.  Press accounts indicate the Guv has a funny way of doing so.

A June 3rd Columbia Daily Tribune story by the dean of Missouri political reporters, Terry Ganey, has Blunt swearing off involvement with developer Sam Hamra, who had written a letter to the Governor suggesting that he didn't get certain housing project tax credits despite hefty campaign contributions:

In a written response, Blunt called Hamra’s letter "the most offensive and improper communication" he had ever received in nearly eight years of state government. Blunt said Hamra’s letter was inaccurate and asked the governor to "do things I would never consent to do." And Blunt said that as a result of Hamra’s attempt to "manipulate the political process," he severed any political connections with Hamra.

Swift, unequivocal action from the governor, right?  Not so fast.  

Subsequent contributions, including a $5,000 check he sent to Blunt’s campaign last week, brought the total to about $400,000, Hamra said.

In case you haven't a calendar handy, "last week" in a June 12th story is a reference the week of June 3rd through June 9th.  That's after the previous Ganey story in which Blunt claims to have "severed" political connections to Hamra.

In other words, Matt Blunt believes "severing political connections" to a developer doesn't mean that he can't still accept $5,000.00 checks from that same developer. 

Maybe Blunt didn't mean that he'd stop taking money from Hamra, just that he'd stop giving Hamra what he'd previously been selling to him?

UPDATE, 10:40am: Below in comments, Monk has a great value-added post that includes a link to the original Blunt letter to Hamra.