Current:Home > FinanceDraft report says Missouri’s House speaker stymied ethics investigation into his spending -FundPrime
Draft report says Missouri’s House speaker stymied ethics investigation into his spending
View
Date:2025-04-12 16:13:59
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri ethics panel is at an impasse over reported misconduct by the powerful state House speaker, who allegedly used his office to stymie an investigation into his actions.
A draft of the Ethics Committee report recommended that the House formally denounce actions taken by Republican Speaker Dean Plocher that “substantially impair public confidence in the General Assembly.”
Committee members voted 6-2 against the report but made it publicly available Monday. Another Ethics Committee hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Plocher did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on Tuesday.
At issue are complaints that Plocher last year tried to use his influence as speaker to get the House to contract with a company for a new constituent services program called Fireside.
Fireside’s parent company, FiscalNote, had hired Bardgett and Associates lobbyists in an attempt to win a $776,000 two-year contract with the House, independent investigator Beth Boggs wrote in a March 1 report. Plocher worked as a lawyer at the Blitz, Bardgett and Deutsch law firm.
Plocher also faces allegations that he improperly requested taxpayer dollars to pay for a business-class ticket on a flight to Hawaii and expenses for several other work trips dating back to 2018.
Plocher admitted he accepted reimbursements for the travel expenses both from the state and from his political campaign, which is against Missouri law. He has since repaid the state about $4,000.
The Ethics Committee struggled to investigate claims about Plocher’s dealings with Fireside.
Boggs in a March 1 letter to the committee said she hit a roadblock because witnesses, including Plocher, refused to speak to her.
“The level of fear expressed by a number of the potential witnesses is a daunting factor in completing this investigation,” Boggs wrote.
When the Ethics Committee sought approval from the speaker, Plocher, to force witnesses to testify through subpoenas, he refused, according to the report.
The draft report alleges that Plocher, as the speaker, has blocked payment of the independent investigator hired by the House to investigate him. In total, the investigation cost about $17,000 to complete.
Contractors have not been paid, according to the draft report, because the speaker’s approval is necessary.
Missouri lawmakers have about a month left of the 2024 legislative session.
veryGood! (965)
Related
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Trump Takes Ax to Science and Other Advisory Committees, Sparking Backlash
- Today’s Climate: May 21, 2010
- EPA Finding on Fracking’s Water Pollution Disputed by Its Own Scientists
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Catholic health care's wide reach can make it hard to get birth control in many places
- When does life begin? As state laws define it, science, politics and religion clash
- China, India Lead the Developing World in Green Building
- Sam Taylor
- Rachel Bilson Reveals Her Favorite—and Least Favorite—Sex Positions
Ranking
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Global Coal Consumption Likely Has Peaked, Report Says
- Cleanse, Hydrate, and Exfoliate Your Skin With a $40 Deal on $107 Worth of First Aid Beauty Products
- As Climate Talks Open, Federal Report Exposes U.S. Credibility Gap
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- There's a bit of good news about monkeypox. Is it because of the vaccine?
- SEC sues crypto giant Binance, alleging it operated an illegal exchange
- 10 Senators Call for Investigation into EPA Pushing Scientists Off Advisory Boards
Recommendation
Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
School Strike for Climate: What Today’s Kids Face If World Leaders Delay Action
China's defense minister defends intercepting U.S. destroyer in Taiwan Strait
Transplant agency is criticized for donor organs arriving late, damaged or diseased
This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
Are Antarctica’s Ice Sheets Near a Climate Tipping Point?
I Tested Out Some Under-the-Radar Beauty Products From CLE Cosmetics— Here's My Honest Review
Striving to outrace polio: What's it like living with the disease