Ethics complaint against state senator dismissed

The Missouri Ethics Commission says it has found no evidence that Republican state Sen. Kurt Schaefer improperly used his authority over state spending in an effort to keep an opponent out of the Republican primary for attorney general.

Former U.S. attorney Matt Whitaker, who is from Iowa and created the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, had filed a complaint against Schaefer, alleging that Schaefer improperly used his position as Senate Appropriations Committee chairman to influence former University of Missouri System president Tim Wolfe over faculty leave policies in a bid to block law associate professor Josh Hawley from entering the primary race.

Whitaker’s complaint was partially based on a letter Wolfe wrote in January that allegedly included claims that Schaefer pressured him to try and stop Hawley from running for the attorney general position.

“The investigation of the complaint determined that, while you did have conversations with officials at the University of Missouri regarding its leave policies, there was no evidence that those conversations were had with the intent or effect to personally benefit you or your family, or with the intent or effect on the performance of your duties as a public official,” commission executive director James Klahr wrote in a letter dated Aug. 15.

Schaefer lost to Hawley in the Aug. 2 primary. Hawley will face former Cass County prosecuting attorney Teresa Hensley in November.