House Speaker Dean Plocher testified Tuesday evening before a bipartisan committee investigating him over allegations of ethical misconduct.
Appearing alongside his attorneys — Lowell Pearson and David Steelman — Plocher’s testimony took place behind-closed doors. House rules require proceedings of the ethics committee to be confidential, with none of the discussions, testimony or evidence gathered made public until a final report is issued.
After an hour and a half testifying, Plocher quickly left out of a side door of the hearing room and ignored questions from reporters as he boarded an elevator. He was late for a dinner he was hosting in the House Lounge with former speakers.
Plocher has been accused over the last few months of, among other things, pushing for the House to enter into a contract with a private company outside the normal bidding process; threatening retaliation against legislative staff who pushed back on that contract; improperly firing a potential whistleblower; and filing false expense reports for travel already paid for by his campaign.
The allegations sparked a formal investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which hired an outside attorney to lead the inquiry. He’s also faced calls for his resignation by several members of the GOP supermajority.
Pearson is a longtime GOP attorney who has represented the House Republican Campaign Committee. Steelman is a former lawmaker who also served several terms as a member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators.
Roughly an hour after Plocher left the hearing, state Rep. Dale Wright, a Republican from Farmington, showed up to testify. He is chairman of the House Administration and Accounts Committee, which is in charge of purchasing for the House.
‘Dark cloud’: Ethics investigation of Dean Plocher continues to hang over Missouri House
Plocher’s troubles spilled out into the public in September, when he was accused of engaging in “unethical and perhaps unlawful conduct” as part of a months-long push to get the House to award an $800,000 contract to a private company to manage constituent information.
A month later, The Independent reported Plocher had on numerous occasions over the last five years illegally sought taxpayer reimbursement from the legislature for airfare, hotels and other travel costs already paid for by his campaign.
As those scandals swirled, Plocher fired his chief of staff. According to the Kansas City Star, that got the attention of the House Ethics Committee, which began looking into whether the staffer was protected as a whistleblower when he was fired.
Plocher even garnered attention from federal law enforcement, with the FBI attending the September legislative hearing where the constituent management contract was discussed and voted down. The FBI, which investigates public corruption, also conducted several interviews about Plocher.
Since the ethics committee began its probe, Plocher has continued facing scrutiny.
In December, The Independent reported Plocher spent $60,000 in taxpayer money to renovate his Capitol office, including converting another lawmaker’s office into a makeshift liquor cabinet Plocher referred to as his “butler’s pantry.”
The Kansas City Star reported last month that Plocher was the only legislator in the past three years to be granted exemptions from House travel policies, allowing him to spend more than allowed to upgrade a flight to Utah and get reimbursed for a flight to a conference in Hawaii.
Soon after, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the annual payroll for the speaker’s office ballooned more than $250,000 since Plocher took over.
And Monday, The Independent reported on bipartisan criticism of Plocher after his office arranged a series of meetings in the state Capitol between GOP legislators and an out-of-state technology vendor.
This story was updated at 7:48 p.m. to note state Rep. Dale Wright’s arrival to testify.
Ameren workers across Missouri and Illinois are continuing restoration efforts across the East Coast, assisting crews in the Marion, Virginia, restoration group.
The crews continue to assist AEP Appalachian Power all throughout the southern Appalachian area following damage sustained from Hurricane Helene last week.
Ameren Missouri has worked to help restore power to the area, along with many other groups across the country.
Among the storylines for Missouri’s visit to Kyle Field, there’s the potential ratings bonanza of the only game Saturday between ranked teams; the rare brother-vs.-sister rivalry; and College Football Hall of Fame recognition of former Texas A&M and Cowboys cornerback Kevin Smith, or Pup, as he’s known around these parts.
Then there’s this, too: The 25th-ranked Aggies could officially present themselves as playoff contenders as well as Texas’ second-biggest roadblock.
Not as big of a problem for the Longhorns as Georgia, probably, at least not in talent, but bigger than Oklahoma.
Considering how poorly the Aggies started in Mike Elko’s ill-fated debut against No. 7 Notre Dame, this positioning ranks as a significant sign of progress in just five weeks. A win over the ninth-ranked Tigers would only further enhance the Aggies’ national prospects.
On one hand, Missouri seems like a stiffer test than the Fighting Irish. Brady Cook is a proven quarterback with a fine set of receivers led by Luther Burden III, a Deebo Samuel starter kit. The Tigers’ defense is top 10 nationally. They’re also coming off an 11-2 season punctuated with a 14-3 exclamation point made on Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
On the other hand, the Tigers’ four wins this season have come against the likes of Murray State, Buffalo, No. 24 Boston College and Vanderbilt, which required two OTs, no less.
Might explain why the Aggies go in as 2.5-point favorites Saturday.
Elko and Missouri’s coach, Eli Drinkwitz, go way back, no doubt a factor in some of the pals’ back-and-forth banter this week. After Elko listed Conner Weigman as a “game-time decision” at quarterback, Drinkwitz deemed it “semantics” during the SEC coaches call.
Citing the Aggies’ 3-0 record under Marcel Reed, Drinkwitz said, “I don’t see them going back.” Me, neither. Even before Weigman sprained the AC joint in his shoulder, he didn’t look anything like he did before he got hurt last year. Just the same, he’s a former five-star quarterback with considerable upside as a passer. Elko conceded after a less-than-artful win over Arkansas at JerryWorld that the Aggies need to get their passing game “unhinged.” Might even suggest an element of gamesmanship for Saturday.
Only Drinkwitz isn’t buying it, if that’s what Elko was selling. Drinkwitz noted that the Aggies’ offense is “a lot different” than it was against Notre Dame. Reid, he said, is a better fit for the new system.
“Our bread and butter,” Elko affirmed this week, “is running the football and being physical.”
Fortunately for the Aggies, they have the personnel to do just that. Besides Reed’s ability to get out of trouble, Le’Veon Moss can either run through or around you, makes no difference to him. The 6-foot, 215-pound junior has piled up 471 yards, only 13 fewer than he totaled last year.
He’s also supplied a motto for a program trying desperately to put the previous regime in its rear-view mirror.
Asked what he remembered about a long run against the Razorbacks last week, Moss said, “I don’t remember much. I just be ballin’, really.”
Remember that answer, fellas, next time someone asks about Jimbo Fisher.
Otherwise, the opposing coaches did enough talking for everybody this week, which was much appreciated.
Elko playfully took issue with remarks made by Cook when the Tigers’ quarterback was asked about the noise level at Kyle Field, roughly the equivalent of planes leaving DFW. Cook said he thought it was louder at Missouri’s practices, where speakers get in his face like Georgia defenders. On his coaches show, Elko called the characterization “a challenge to the 12th Man.”
Elko also jumped feet-first into the fun-filled familial rivalry between Reed and his older sister, Briah, Missouri’s associate director of on-campus recruiting. Elko joked that he’d hoped she could “get out to practice and find some secrets.”
For his part, Drinkwitz, who claims he didn’t even know Briah and Marcel were related until after the Aggies’ win over Florida, may or may not have been kidding when he said, “At the end of the day, that’s her brother and that’s her blood,” then pronounced the coaches’ offices and copy machine off-limits this week.
Turns out the joke is on both coaches. Rod Reed, father of Briah and Marcel, told KBTX-TV that the siblings “love each other to death,” but they’re accustomed to positions on opposing sidelines. They went to competing high schools back in Nashville. Briah was a cheerleader at Brentwood Academy; Marcel, a multi-sport star at Montgomery Bell Academy.
“They might not speak for a day or so after the game,” Rod said. “Maybe two days when Marcel and them won.”
Marcel has done nothing but win since taking over for Weigman. He’s getting a lot of help from an A&M defense anchored by edge rusher Nic Scourton, one of the best players from the portal this year. If the Aggies play Elko’s brand of defense against Missouri and Reed steps up as a passer, they can make a statement Saturday.
Like Texas should expect more than just Thanksgiving leftovers.
Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN
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/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25439572/VRG_TEC_Textless.jpg "Charter will offer Peacock for free with some cable subscriptions next year")
Charter will offer Peacock for free with some cable subscriptions next year
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