UPDATE: Likely Candidate For Mo Governor Mum On Claims Of Former Penthouse Pet

August 10, 2011 1:00 PM

Peter Kinder and Tammy Chapman

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Entertainment, Local News, News, Politics, Syndicated Local

Election Returns

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Tammy Chapman, a former Penthouse Pet of the month in August ’92 and former exotic dancer, tells KMOX with her it was always professional, but Peter Kinder pursued a relationship with her.

In a story reported first by the Riverfront Times and Politico, Chapman claims she first met Kinder in the mid-1990s, when he was a state senator and she was an exotic dancer at the Diamond Cabaret in Sauget, Illinois.

Chapman says Kinder became a twice-weekly visitor to the club, seeking Chapman’s dances and “courting” her with brownies “from his grandmother’s recipe.”

“He was nice, for a while,” Chapman said.

UPDATE: Likely Candidate For Mo Governor Mum On Claims Of Former Penthouse Pet

Tammy Chapman

The alleged strip club meetings ended, Chapman claims, when Kinder “became too aggressive,” and she asked him not to return.

Fast forward — Chapman tells KMOX she ran into the Lt. Governor earlier this year when she was bartending at Verlin’s Bar and Grill, which advertises its “pantsless parties,” in which waitresses are clad in underpants. Chapman says Kinder told her he was “lonely” and allegedly offered to let her live in his Brentwood condominium. Chapman claims she was not aware at the time that the condo is campaign-funded.

Chapman says she declined the offer, because she had a girlfriend at the time, and she stressed that she was never romantically interested in Kinder.

According to records, the condo’s $1,555 monthly rent is paid by Kinder’s campaign committee.

Politico analyst David Catanese says this is the political death knell for Kinder.

“It’s really troubling, unseemly and makes him look un-gubernatorial and I would be surprised if you didn’t to see some party leaders really start to think seriously if they want him on the top of the ticket.”

According to published reports, Kinder’s spokesman, Jay Eastlick, referred all questions to the campaign committee. The spokesman for the committee, Jared Craighead, reportedly is not talking.

KMOX has been in frequent contact with Kinder’s campaign staff throughout the day seeking his reaction.

To hear the interview with Chapman, click below:

Kevin Killeen

Ripped1x

Nothing to see here, move along folks. He’s a heterosexual male hitting on a women who happens to have a sorted past as a stripper and a centerfold. My experience with strippers is they aren’t the most honest women in the world so I would take what she says with a grain of salt.

Joshua

I don’t think this story is about the moral credibility of strippers, but rather the ethical credibility of Lt. Gov. Kinder. Surely, Missourians would want to know where Kinder’s campaign funds are going. I can understand needing the condo because of his campaign efforts in the St. Louis area, but Kinder should not be opening up his condo to anyone on his donors’ dime.

Also, I think you meant “sordid past.”

hym yunkel

NICE RACK, and tammy isnt bad either
Ed in AZ

Hey, what’s the chance that Politico is run by the Dem’s and the DNCC and George Soros??? anything to tag a republican to gain more shots is in their sights. Although this guy seems to be a real a hole
Stating the Obvious

Seriously, she said he was aggressive and she asked him not to return? Why then would she snuggle up to him for a photo that was clearly taken by her? And if she was so scared of him, why would she approach him at the bar and voluntarily start up a conversation? None of it adds up.

This is a joke

Agreed.

That Guy

Reading this and then hearing her on the radio, I have to wonder how stable this woman is. She is holding the camera in a picture where she has snuggled up to a guy that was so awful in the past. She also claims that Kinder was the one that distributed the picture…makes sense. This is nothing but scared liberal reporters looking for ways to ding Kinder while Nixon performs poorly in the Governor’s mansion
Pork Chop

This sounds like a non-story, she just now remembers all these things he supposedly did 16 years ago? I think she needed money and saw her chance!
MissouriMom

I agree with Pork Chop. The timing is very suspicious and I’m saddened to see these underhanded campaign tactics being used in our state. We need to focus on the REAL ISSUES facing our state and how to get Missourians back to work. I could care less who these politicians meet at bars.
Card Fan

Are you people kidding. KMOX, home of Rush Limbaugh is not a liberal outlet. Kinder does not live up to the family values planks of the Republican Party.

jgibson233

And Mark Reardon is no Liberal either.

Bill Hannegan

Tammy’s job back in the 90s was to drive men who entered her establishment mad with desire. Maybe she succeeded particularly well with Kinder. Honestly, Kinder should never have set foot in her strip joint. But once there, no matter his religion or political philosophy, it is not surprising he fell under her spell. I really hate that she is trashing him at this point.
adam

A quick Google of “Tammy Chapman STL” will yield interesting information about the man she currently lives with whom was at one point…wait for it wait for it …Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in Missouri’s 2nd congressional district. So we have a a former stripper living with a former politician bashing another politician of an opposing party…. cmon man
http://blog.democraticgovernors.org/?p=981 RedGovWatch: Kinder Mum on Disturbing Allegations « Democratic Governor's Assocation Blog

[...] Penthouse Pet, Pantless Parties: What’s Next for Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder – KMOX Republican Lt. Governor Peter Kinder may be looking at a major set-back in his drive to be governor. Published reports in The Riverfront Times and Politico linked Kinder with a former Penthouse Pet…Chapman said Kinder would show up at the club every Monday night, bring her cookies and brownies and she would give him private “dances.” [...]
Bill Hannegan

So an unmarried Tea Party politician has a huge crush on an pretty Eastside dancer. He years later walks into a South St. Louis bar for a beer and some company. There he meets her again and shoots off his mouth by offering her a place to stay. Big deal!! I hope Kinder has the balls to shrug off this phony scandal and run for governor on the conservative philosophy he offers. His relationship with Chapman is a purely private matter that should never have become a public “scandal”.