ethics

Court records show how former Missouri GOP chair Ed Martin and an ally urged online criticism of a judge handling a case he was involved in — which experts say is an ethical violation. Now he's the interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., where he targets Trump's critics with legal threats.

A new lawsuit alleges World Wide Technology, founded by a long-time Missouri political donor, was given preferential treatment — and a state employee was demoted for raising concerns about the arrangement.

In an extraordinary hearing, a federal judge testified Wednesday about a years-long case of two attorneys accused of ethical violations for watching and listening in on visits between inmates and their attorneys at Leavenworth. The first day of the hearing saw the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas City, Kansas, described as aggressive, unprofessional and doing “virtually everything they could to thwart this investigation.”

The nonprofit was used by Mayor Quinton Lucas’ predecessor primarily to bring speakers to Kansas City to talk about economic development. Lucas and his former chief of staff use it for Chiefs tickets, hotel stays, flights and dinners.

A complaint filed by a Republican state senator’s son accused Andrew Bailey of using the Missouri Attorney General's office for his own political gain. Bailey is running for re-election this year.

Missouri House Chief Clerk Dana Miller filed a lawsuit in May accusing Dean Plocher and his chief of staff, Rod Jetton, of harassment and intimidation. It stems from disputes that emerged last year over an alleged pay-to-play scheme involving a lucrative software contract.

Senators from both parties unveiled bipartisan compromise bill that would require all members of Congress, spouses and dependent children to stop buying or selling individual stocks, saying it will help restore confidence in Congress.

The committee voted to dismiss the ethics complaint, after removing language that blamed the result on “the inability of the committee to finish the investigation as a direct result of obstruction of the process and the intimidation of witnesses by” Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher.

The Missouri House Speaker is already being accused of obstructing the work of an ethics committee. Recently, lawmakers have raised concerns about whether the ethics rules in the House need to be reworked in cases where the chamber’s most powerful member is the focus of an investigation.

The report, which was voted down by the Missouri House committee, concluded the inquiry lacked direct evidence of ethical misconduct but alleged the speaker hindered the investigation’s efforts to get to the truth.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, faced criticism last year for unsuccessfully pushing the House to purchase a software system from a private company over the objections of nonpartisan legislative staff. Meetings his office helped arrange with an Oklahoma company last month are drawing comparisons.

Plocher’s hold on his speakership remains tenuous, and his campaign for lieutenant governor is now considered a longshot. His top legislative staff are gone, either fired or resigned in the wake of the scandals. But the impact of the ethics probe is playing out in more subtle ways in the Missouri House.