By SCOTT CANON

The Kansas City Star

It began as a St. Louis television story about Barack Obama standing tough against unfair attack ads. It became a Republican accusation that he was bullying critics.

When Obama included prosecutors and sheriffs on his “truth squad,” the intent was to add integrity to debunking ads. But Republicans said the presence of law officers chilled legitimate Obama opposition and support for Republican John McCain.

The story probably reached its apex when Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, last week issued a statement from his gubernatorial office accusing Obama of “threats of prosecution and criminal punishment.” That helped charge the story’s circulation on the Internet and conservative talk radio.

Obama’s camp noted that every campaign uses local politicians to knock down false statements and that labeling the tactic a dirty trick is disingenuous.

“It’s preposterous,” said Justin Hamilton, a spokesman for the Obama Missouri organization. “The reason why we have a truth squad is because the McCain campaign has a history of leveling false … attacks.”

Presidential political campaigns like to enlist local politicians because voters are more likely to believe a familiar face.

It all started with a KMOV-TV report by John Mills, who said “prosecutors and sheriffs from across Missouri … will be reminding voters that Barack Obama is a Christian who plans to lower taxes on anybody making less than $250,000.”

Then he quoted two members of the “truth squad” on camera saying they would challenge unfounded attacks. He added that they would “respond immediately to any ads and statements that might violate Missouri ethics laws.”

The prosecutors deny mentioning anything about the state ethics laws, and objected to the tone of the presentation, including an anchor’s statement that the Obama’s camp wanted “ Missouri law enforcement to target” people for campaign lies.

Republicans labeled it intimidation, claiming the state GOP office fielded calls from people fearful of posting yard signs for John McCain or speaking out against Obama in public.

“This isn’t about whether they could or couldn’t prosecute,” said Tina Hervey, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Republican Party. “The unfortunate consequence of it was that it did intimidate people.”

Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver “Glenn” Boyer, a Democrat on the Obama squad, objected strongly to the charge.

“It infuriates me,” he said, “that anybody would accuse me of intimidation.”