Kansas chamber subpoenaed; ethics official briefly targeted

By JOHN HANNA
AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A powerful Kansas business group says it has received subpoenas from the state ethics commission for information about campaign finance activities. The disclosure Friday from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce came as Republican lawmakers pushed but then abruptly dropped a plan to oust the commission’s top staffer. A chamber spokesperson said in a statement that the Governmental Ethics Commission has launched what the chamber called “an extreme fishing expedition.” It declined to comment on the exact details. The statement came after GOP senators proposed setting new qualifications for the ethics commission’s executive director that would remove the current one. But Republican state Sen. Rob Olson of Olathe later said the idea was dropped.