JEFFERSON CITY — An attorney attempted to crash a closed-door meeting Wednesday of a special committee investigating the top member of the Missouri House.
Attorney Lowell Pearson, who has been hired to represent embattled House Speaker Dean Plocher in the scandal, was turned away from the meeting Wednesday as the panel met for the fifth time behind closed doors to review allegations against the Des Peres Republican.
Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, who chairs the House Ethics Committee, refused to allow Pearson to stay in the hearing after the bipartisan panel voted to close their deliberations to the public.
“Gentleman, you will have your day before this committee,†Kelly told Pearson, who was seeking to remain in the hearing room.
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“I’m just asking to listen so I can understand the report,†Pearson said as reporters began exiting the meeting.
Kelly later decried the “theatrics†and said the panel must be given the time and latitude to complete its inquiry.
The interaction marked the first time that Plocher has been publicly linked to the work of the House Ethics Committee, which began its secret deliberations last year after Plocher admitted falsely billing taxpayers for travel to conferences in Hawaii and elsewhere.
Plocher, who is attempting to run for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, also is accused of allegedly pressuring House staff to hire an outside software vendor to oversee an estimated $800,000 constituent management services without going through proper bidding channels.
Lawmakers also could focus on the abrupt firing of his chief of staff and the departure of two other top staffers in the wake of the scandal.
Plocher, a former municipal judge serving his final year as speaker, has rejected calls for his resignation.
Pearson, a public policy lawyer from Columbia who served in former Gov. Matt Blunt’s administration, told Kelly he was seeking to listen to the committee’s review of a report compiled by an investigator who has been interviewing lawmakers and House staff in connection with the allegations in recent weeks.
After Kelly rejected the request, Pearson left the meeting without incident but declined to discuss the case with reporters.
The report, which has not been publicly released, is expected to form the basis of a formal response from the ethics committee, which can recommend sanctions to the full House.
Under House rules, the committee investigates complaints of ethical misconduct by members of the House. The harshest punishment the panel can recommend is the expulsion of a member. They also can issue lesser sanctions, such as a letter of reprimand.
While all of the committee’s work has been behind closed doors, a public window into its work could be coming soon. House rules allow the subject 21 days to respond to findings, putting the probe on track to continue into April.
Lawmakers are scheduled to be in session until mid-May.