MOScout Daily update: House Ethics Outlines Allegations Against Price - Gross Launches Dem Group - PubDef on Death Penalty Costs - McDowell vs DHSS and more....
Ethics Committee Reports on Price
The House Ethics Committee released its report on Rep. Wiley Price. See it here. The report outlines allegations that Price had sex with an intern, sought retribution against a staffer who reported it, obstructed the Ethics Committee’s investigation and committed perjury.
From the report…
· Witness 1 stated “The next day when he got to work, we went into his office and he closed the door and that’s when he told me that he had sex with [the intern] the night before.”
· Witness 1 stated “[Respondent] told me that he had contacted [the intern] and that he had told her to delete his phone number, delete their text messages, and that she wasn’t supposed to contact him anymore.” Witness 1 stated that Respondent said “It was consensual. There’s nothing wrong with what I did. You’re the one that messed up by telling [Witness 2].” Witness 1 stated that Respondent urged her “to say that [Witness 2] misspoke or I misspoke and that he didn’t do anything and it was all wrong. And it was my mess and I had to clean it up.” Witness 1 stated that Respondent said that “if I didn’t back his play or back his idea that I was going to lose my job.” Witness 1 stated Respondent told her “where I come from, people die for doing s*** like this”, referring to Witness 1 revealing the contents of her conversation with Respondent as a mandated reporter, and Witness 1 not vouching for Respondent’s narrative of the events.
· The testimony of Witness 2 was consistent with the testimony of Witness 1. Also, Witness 2 stated that in the past Respondent had told her on two separate occasions with whom he had previously had sex.
· The cell phone transaction records received in response to the House subpoena contained seven phone calls and 26 text messages between Respondent and the intern. Some of these communications were initiated by Respondent and some initiated by the intern. The first call originated from Respondent on January 23, 2020 at 12:40AM. The final communication was a phone call originated by Respondent in the evening of January 26, 2020 lasting 42 minutes. These phone records clearly indicate Respondent and the intern had each other’s cell phone numbers and had communicated, which contradicts their testimony to the investigator, and part of Respondent’s testimony under oath to the Committee.
The Ethics Committee recommended censure and “payment of $22,492.25 to the House of Representatives in costs related to the investigation of this complaint,” and until the House considers a resolution to censure:
· Respondent shall have no service from or supervision over any intern for the remainder of his membership in the House. Any legislative employee assigned to Respondent for the remainder of his membership in the House shall be under the direct supervision of the Chief Clerk, who should monitor the Respondent’s contact with House employees as appropriate;
· House Speaker and Minority Floor Leader remove Respondent from any committee assignments;
· House Speaker and Minority Floor Leader withhold from Respondent any of the privileges of office that the Speaker or Minority Floor Leader deem appropriate;
· Respondent not be allowed to hold any leadership position;
What’s Next
The mighty Jason Rosenbaum reports that Price plans an appeal. I suppose that is to the full House.
And
· Minority Leader Crystal Quade issued a weak statement making no condemnation of any of Price’s actions. “Now that the House Ethics Committee investigation is complete, the next step will be for the full House to evaluate the evidence and determine the appropriate action. We expect that process to be conducted in a swift and fair manner when the legislature reconvenes in January.”
· That infuriated one building source who worries she’s making the work environment less safe for future employees: [The Ethics Committee] is as much hers as the speaker’s. It’s five/five [partisan make-up.] The speaker didn’t approve subpoenas unless both Rs and Ds requested them. There were times when he didn’t because the Ds were on board. She is not standing by her committee. I get it. Ethics shit sucks and it is hard, but you have to make choices for what is good for the chamber. Why would staff people come forward and do the right thing if you are going leave them screwed like this?
Take Back MO Launches
Democrat Elad Gross announced the launching of “Take Back Missouri, a community effort to find local solutions to local issues, hold the powerful accountable, and engage more Missourians in our government than ever before… Take Back Missouri is organized as a transparent continuing committee regulated by the Missouri Ethics Commission. We are funded by members of the public.” See the website here.
What It Means
Gross’ initiative is an indication of widespread dissatisfaction with the Missouri Democratic Party’s outreach and organizing. Gross just happens to be the sort of guy who will try to do something rather than simply complain.
More on Death Penalty Costs
Commenting on HB 50 which would abolish the death penalty, Missouri’s public defenders say it would reduce their costs…
Missouri State Public Defender devotes significant resources to the defense of capital cases. Those resources could be diverted to trial and appellate offices which are unable to provide effective assistance of counsel to all eligible applicants because of case overloads. Those resources would include 17 FTE that are currently used for attorney positions and 12 support staff FTE. The Missouri State Public Defender System is currently providing legal representation in caseloads in excess of recognized standards and has consistently requested additional FTE to be able to provide the required constitutional representation. The transfer of these FTE from representation in death penalty cases to representation in trial and appellate offices would make a significant difference.
DHSS Twitter Fights With McDowell
On Twitter, the official account for the Department of Health and Human Services tussles with former Republican auditor candidate Saundra McDowell over the “ingredients” in the COVID vaccine. (McDowell also ran against Governor Mike Parson in the gubernatorial primary last summer). See it here. One of the points of contention is that McDowell insists that Pfizer vaccine is made through use of an “aborted fetal cell line.” DHSS says that’s not true.
What It Means
DHSS is going to be aggressive in pushing back against misinformation about the vaccine. There’s a serious information war at hand to try to keep false rumors from spreading and depressing the vaccination numbers.
Shepard for Senate?
I had written yesterday that Sen. Scott Sifton appears to have the field to himself if he decides to take on Roy Blunt in Missouri’s 2022 Senate race.
Tipster on the western side of the state says that “there is a prospective Dem US Senate candidate, Timothy Shepard, who is making the rounds in KC…”
Indeed, he even has a website. See it here. See his LinkedIn profile here.
Shepard does not have a traditional political background, and would most likely run a “grassroots” campaign.
eMailbag: 2022 Outlook
I'm also not sure the conventional wisdom on 2022 being a typical strong year for the out-of-power -party will prove out. By that time, the economy may well be roaring back as vaccination has hopefully vanquished most of the virus. The other wildcard is Trump: if he continues to dominate the GOP, he may help keep Dem turnout up while turning off additional traditional Republicans. The flip side is if he fades, many of those Trump-engaged voters may stay home… Even if this pans out, though, it will take more than one cycle for the Dems to again be broadly competitive in Missouri.
Lobbyists Registrations
Sharon Geuea Jones added PROMO.
Steven Isaki added Lundbeck LLC.
Angela Lyn Nelson added AAA Auto Club of Missouri.
Matt Troesser added Sheet Metal, Air, Rail And Transportation (SMART Transportation Division).
Steven Tilley and Thomas Robbins added MoCann Trade; and deleted Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association.
Travis Brown deleted MoCann Trade.
$5K+ Contributions
Missouri Democratic State Committee - $6,000 from MDP Federal Account.
Together KC - $25,000 from JE Dunn Construction Company.
Together KC 0 $25,000 from Lockton Management LLC.
Together KC - $15,000 from Thomas McDonnell.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Kristian Starner, Talibdin El-Amin, Sam Komo, and Barney Joe Fisher.