JEFFERSON CITY — An investigation of the leader of the Missouri House appears to be focused on his efforts to steer an $800,000 state contract to a software vendor.
Meeting for the seventh time since launching a probe into House Speaker Dean Plocher, the House Ethics Committee was expected to take closed-door testimony Wednesday from a handful of aides and advisers.
If Plocher appears, it would mark his second time before the bipartisan panel, which has hired an investigator to conduct interviews and help prepare a report outlining any findings.
Among those on the schedule is Rod Jetton, whom Plocher hired as his chief of staff last year as the scandal was unfolding. Jetton told the Post-Dispatch Wednesday he was not sure what information the committee wanted from him.
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After serving as speaker from 2005 to 2009, Jetton was probed by the FBI for bribery and was facing jail time for felony assault. He shut down his political consulting business and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in 2011.
Also expected to appear before the panel is David Barklage, a political consultant and registered lobbyist. He pleaded guilty in 2021 to filing a false tax return. He was ordered to pay $151,843 in restitution, serve three years of probation and participate in 120 hours of community service.
Along with advising Plocher, Barklage in 2023 was a paid consultant for a number of campaigns, including the political action committee aligned with gubernatorial candidate Mike Kehoe, St. Charles County Executive Steve Elhmann and Sen. Karla Eslinger, who has been hired to become the next state commissioner of education.
Others who could appear before the bipartisan panel include John Bardgett, a powerhouse lobbyist who represented Fireside, a subsidiary of California-based FiscalNote.
Bardgett, who also represents the City of ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Anheuser-Busch and the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals under the Capitol dome, had enlisted Plocher to help him sell Fireside’s constituent management program to the House, despite the presence of an in-house system.
The committee, which has been meeting since October, has already heard testimony from House Clerk Dana Rademan Miller, who raised red flags about the Fireside deal, and Rep. Dale Wright, R-Farmington, who oversees House purchasing.
Plocher, a Republican from Des Peres, has largely brushed off the scandal and filed last month to run in August for the GOP nomination for secretary of state. The accusations against him exploded after he fired top aides and admitted he had falsely claimed $4,000 in reimbursements for trips he had paid for with his campaign account.
The push to purchase the Fireside software was jettisoned by the committee overseen by Wright after members said Plocher was trying to use political connections to help a company win a state contract rather than going through the normal bidding process.
Soon after, the company and Bardgett severed ties, according to a filing with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
In addition to calling the proposed contract an unnecessary duplication of what lawmakers already are being offered, Miller also expressed concern that a feature on the Fireside program would allow lawmakers to export data obtained within their official capacity as a state representative to the campaign side of their jobs.
She also said under the current system data is stored on an internal database with its own unique internal security credentials and which is not connected to the web server to avoid this data being vulnerable to hacking.
Plocher, a former municipal judge serving his final year as speaker, has rejected calls for his resignation as he navigates the legislative session and attempts to run for statewide office.
He has hired a longtime Republican attorney to represent him before the committee.
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.
Rep. David Evans, R-West Plains, recently stepped down from the committee. He has been replaced by Rep. Mike McGirl, R-Potosi.
In addition to meeting Wednesday, the committee also is scheduled to convene Thursday.