Ethics complaint dismissed against Missouri’s House Speaker

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher (R-Des Peres) briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on April 25, 2024 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Missouri’s GOP House Speaker says Monday’s House Ethics Committee vote to dismiss an ethics complaint against him vindicates him.

The Associated Press (AP) reports Monday’s committee vote was 7-2, with one Democrat voting present. Speaker Dean Plocher (R-Des Peres) tells Capitol reporters that he’s innocent. The Speaker had faced several allegations, including a software contract and also retaliating against staff members who raised complaints.

Speaker Plocher’s attorney, David Steelman, denied those allegations during a live mid-April interview on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri.” Counselor Steelman told listeners that the Speaker couldn’t give a software contract and that it would have to go to the state Office of Administration (OA) for bids and a request for proposal. Steelman also told listeners that the idea that a whistleblower was fired is “absurdly laughable”, citing an affidavit from a witness.

House Ethics Committee chair Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove) has issued a statement, saying her sole motive has been to uncover the truth. She says there have been relentless attacks from the Speaker’s supporters besmirching her name. Chairwoman Kelly’s statement also reads, quote: “This is simply a betrayal of trust, by the Speaker, his staff and the lobbyists fighting so hard to keep him in power for their political gain, and I am not a member of the good ol’ boys club.”