Ethics complaint against Missouri state senator dismissed

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Ethics Commission said it has found no evidence 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.

Schaefer found out about the decision in a letter from commission executive director James Klahr last week, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported.

Former federal prosecutor Matt Whitaker, who is from Iowa and created the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, had filed a complaint against Schaefer, alleging 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 partially was based on a letter Wolfe wrote in January that allegedly included claims 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," Klahr wrote.

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