Based on credible reporting and records received by the Missouri Independent, House Speaker Dean Plocher must step down as a state representative, resign his position as speaker and quit his statewide race for lieutenant governor. Furthermore, Missouri’s state representatives and senators should support an ethics inquiry immediately.

As reported October 23 by the Missouri Independent, on at least nine occasions since 2018, Plocher spent campaign money on travel and conference expenses. THEN, Plocher sought reimbursement from the legislature despite declaring he had used personal funds to pay for the trips. Seeking double reimbursement could violate state and federal law and shows Plocher has a pattern of unethical behavior. This coupled with earlier reporting that Plocher threatened a state worker who sounded the alarm on his push for a potentially dangerous and prohibitively expensive private communications software – garnering attention from the FBI – makes it clear Plocher has no regard for the law, has lost the trust of Missourians and should no longer represent them.