Missouri House speaker facing allegations of hindering probe into his own alleged wrongdoing
Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher faces accusations of obstructing the investigation into alleged misconduct. Concerns were raised over witness intimidation and control of testimonies. The Ethics Committee struggled due to reported obstruction, making evidence collection challenging. The probe exposed internal rifts among Missouri Republicans. The investigation remains contentious amid challenges in gathering crucial information.
Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher has been accused of obstructing the investigation into him by bipartisan leaders of the state House Ethics Committee.
Some state legislators claimed witnesses did not testify because they feared the Republican leader would retaliate and that others could not be reached because Plocher controls who testifies, according to the Missouri Independent.
The committee’s report described the “absolute obstruction” of the investigation into Plocher’s alleged misconduct, which included falsifying years of expense reports, the circumstances regarding the firing of a former staffer, and his advocacy for a six-figure software contract.
The report concluded that the committee lacked direct evidence for the allegations, but that the “obstruction” made it difficult for them to unveil critical information. A lawyer hired to collect evidence said they have not “encountered more unwilling witnesses in any investigation in my career.”
The launch of the investigation highlighted the divide between Republicans in the Missouri legislature. Republican state Rep. Hannah Kelly heads the committee and voted in favor of the ethics report.
“I don’t know what the report says,” Plocher told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I’d love to read the report. I think this should have been done in November. I think it’s absurd it’s gone on this long.”
Ultimately, the committee voted down the report on a 6-2 margin, with one Republican voting “present.” Two other Republicans who voted “no” did so because they believed further debate was needed. The draft report became public knowledge because it was discussed in an open hearing, a setting Kelly wanted for the draft report.
“We have come to the end of this process,” Kelly told reporters after the hearing. “I have done all I can do … you do all you can, and then when you’ve done all you can, put everything on the table.”
If the report passed, the committee would’ve recommended a letter of disapproval for Plocher, that he hire an accountant to manage his expense reports, and that he refrain from retaliation against anyone who worked with the committee.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In the most serious of the accusations, which was that Plocher falsified expense reports, the speaker didn’t act to repay illegal reimbursements until weeks after they were discovered. He previously testified to the committee that they were an “accounting error” and a “lack of oversight on my part.”
The Ethics Committee was previously scheduled to meet Tuesday and Wednesday, but both meetings were canceled, leaving the aftermath from the report uncertain.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
