D.C. group blasts state ethics commission, refiles complaint against senator

A Washington, D.C.-based group refiled an ethics complaint against a Missouri state senator, questioning the state’s ethics commission’s decision to drop the first one.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, or FACT D.C., called the decision by the Missouri Ethics Commission to decline an investigation into Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R – Columbia) an “unusual” one. The MEC notified FACT D.C. on April 25 that it did not have “primary jurisdiction” over some of the allegations the group wanted the MEC to look into, such as public corruption and conflict of interest. They, instead, referred them to local prosecutors in Boone and Cole County, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas City.

The complaint asked these groups to investigate whether or not Schaefer, a candidate for Missouri Attorney General, pressured the University of Missouri Board of Curators into changing its leave policy for employees vying public office. Schaefer will run against Josh Hawley, a University of Missouri law professor. According to FACT, Schaefer may have broken the law when he contacted administration about the policy requiring unpaid leave of employees running. Curators voted in July 2015 to move up the effective date employees would take unpaid leave, which FACT said was a result of the board fearing Schaefer’s position as Senate Appropriations Committee chair, and in charge of the system’s state funding.

In his refiling of the complaint Monday, FACT executive director Matt Whitaker said, “it appears the Commission is taking the unusual act of simply not accepting a complaint because it does not wish to investigate Kurt Schaefer.” James Klahr, executive director of the MEC, told ABC 17 News last Friday that the commission sometimes refers complaints it receives to agencies better suited to investigate criminal activity, like prosecutors and police.

FACT general counsel Kendra Arnold told ABC 17 News Tuesday that the MEC was wrong in saying they had no authority to investigate some of the allegations.

“They gave no legitimate reason under the [law] for them to not accept it,” Arnold said. “And so it does seem to odd to us that they wouldn’t.”

The MEC wrote on April 25 that FACT’s allegations “appeared to be criminal in nature,” and they did not have “primary jurisdiction” over criminal offenses. However, state law says the commission “shall receive any complaints” that break certain sections of “conflict of interest law.” FACT’s complaint cites two sections of the law that Schaefer may have violated, meaning MEC’s acceptance of it would be, as Whitaker wrote, “mandatory, not discretionary.”

“If something is going on here, we think the citizens have the right to know, and the right to have the MEC do the appropriate response and investigate,” Arnold said.

FACT also sent a Sunshine request to find any ties Schaefer may have to the Commission, and see if the group was pressured in any way to not investigate. Whitaker also noted that Schaefer himself was “copied” on the letter informing FACT they would not investigate.