Profanities removed from Kansas legislative hearing audio

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An official recording of a Kansas legislative hearing has been edited to remove profanity directed toward a journalist. The comments from Justin Spiehs came during testimony Saturday on COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Spiehs has held daily protests outside Lawrence school district buildings for months. During his testimony, he began criticizing Sherman Smith, editor in chief of the Kansas Reflector. The testimony was initially publicly available on the Legislature’s live feed of the hearing but about 30 seconds including the profanities were later edited out. J.G. Scott, director of the Kansas Legislative Research Department, says the department is getting legal counseling on how to proceed with the audio.