Ethics committee dismisses complaint against Missouri speaker
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A panel of lawmakers dismissed an ethics complaint against Speaker Dean Plocher on Monday, breaking away from a Republican who alleged Plocher used his power as leader of the House of Representatives to block an investigation.
Members voted 7-2 to dismiss charges against Plocher of misusing taxpayer funds, using his influence to enforce an expensive contract with a company linked to his employer, and retaliating against employees who had filed complaints. One Democrat voted present.
“From the beginning of this investigation, I have maintained my innocence,” Plocher told reporters after the hearing. “The Ethics Committee ultimately came to the same conclusion that I offered to everyone in November, and they agreed with me.”
Plocher is running as a Republican for Missouri Secretary of State.
Republican Ethics Committee Chairman Hannah Kelly, who was appointed to the position by Plocher, sought to dismiss the case “due to the committee’s inability to complete its investigation as a direct result of obstruction of process and intimidation of witnesses by the defendant.”
Other committee members, led by Republican Rep. John Black, voted to remove Kelly’s addendum from the official report. Black declined to comment to reporters about his decision.
Another Republican lawmaker had filed the sweeping ethics complaint against Plocher in October, alleging he improperly accepted taxpayer money to reimburse business trips he had already paid for with his campaign finance.
Plocher admitted that he was improperly reimbursed for a business flight to Hawaii and other business travel expenses, and records show he reimbursed the House.
Plocher also faced claims that he used his influence as speaker to push the House to sign a contract with a company tied to the law firm where he worked, and that he retaliated against staffers who opposed the proposal resists.
Ethics committee members voted April 15 against a recommendation that the House send a letter to Plocher denouncing his conduct and directing him to hire an accountant.
Since then, Plocher’s lawyers have urged the Ethics Commission to close the case against him.
In an unusual move that appears to violate the House of Representatives’ self-imposed ethics rules, Republican Chairman Pro Tem Mike Henderson tried to force the committee to meet last week by scheduling an ethics hearing.
Kelly canceled the hearing but called for Monday’s meeting amid mounting pressure.
Only Kelly and Democratic Vice Chairman Robert Sauls voted against dismissing the case.
“My vote speaks for itself,” Kelly said before adjourning the committee.
A draft committee report released earlier this month that was voted down by members outlined the speaker’s attorney’s refusal to speak to an independent investigator, Plocher’s unwillingness to sign subpoenas for the investigation, and his refusal to approve payment for the independent investigator.
Plocher later withdrew, allowing the speaker pro tem to sign subpoenas.
In a report to the committee, the independent investigator wrote that she had never encountered “more uncooperative witnesses in any investigation” in my career.
“The level of fear expressed by a number of potential witnesses is a discouraging factor in completing this investigation,” investigator Beth Boggs wrote on March 2.
On Monday, Kelly attempted to read a letter she said she received from someone documenting retaliation for participating in the ethics investigation, but was silenced by an 8-2 vote.