“Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher and his allies complained for weeks that the ethics investigation into his alleged misconduct was dragging out unnecessarily.
As it turns out, the biggest reason for the delay may have been Dean Plocher himself. The Republican from Des Peres for three months refused to speak to an attorney hired by the House to collect evidence for the investigation, only agreeing to testify to the ethics committee in mid-March. His office three times over the course of March and early April refused to sign off on subpoenas requested by the committee to compel hesitant witnesses to come forward. While all this was taking place behind the scenes and out of the public view, Plocher was arguing to colleagues and the media that the committee was taking too long. The delays became evidence to his supporters that the investigation was political and illegitimate. The committee began looking into Plocher in October, after an ethics complaint filed by Republican state Rep. Chris Sander of Lone Jack that focused on the speaker’s advocacy for the House to enter into a six-figure software contract with a private company, his firing of a former staffer and his years of false expense reimbursement reports.” https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/17/dean-plocher-reportedly-delayed-ethics-inquiry-he-publicly-complained-dragged-on-too-long/ The Missouri House Ethics Panel has now dropped the investigation. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/29/missouri-house-ethics-panel-drops-probe-of-dean-plocher-after-blocking-pushing-to-release-evidence/ |