Jason Hancock
Politics and Policy Reporter | The Missouri IndependentJason Hancock has spent two decades covering politics and policy for news organizations across the Midwest, with most of that time focused on the Missouri statehouse as a reporter for The Kansas City Star. A three-time National Headliner Award winner, he helped launch The Missouri Independent in October 2020.
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Democrat Elad Gross and Republican Will Scharf are hoping to replace Andrew Bailey, a Republican running for a full term in office after being appointed to the job by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson in 2022. -
In an emailed statement, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey did not mention the court’s decision to dismiss the case, instead declaring that his office will continue to pursue evidence of social media censorship by the federal government. -
With the Kansas CIty Chiefs’ current lease at Arrowhead set to expire in January 2031, the issue could ultimately fall into the lap of whoever is elected as Missouri's next governor. -
The ethics committee dropped its investigation of Dean Plocher last week. But allegations of witness tampering linger as the legislative session nears its end. -
Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office says three Republican lawmakers were acting in their official capacity when they made false social media posts about a Kansas Chiefs fan, and are protected by 'legislative immunity.' -
The GOP chair of the Missouri House committee was thwarted in her attempt to livestream the hearing and include allegations of obstruction in a motion to dismiss the investigation of Speaker Dean Plocher. -
A rejected report from the House ethics committee suggested transferring subpoena power automatically to another member of House leadership — the speaker pro tem — if the speaker or anyone on his staff are subject of an inquiry. -
Asked why Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher didn’t recuse himself from the start, or at least when subpoena requests started showing up to his office, one of his attorneys said Plocher recused himself “when it mattered.” -
The closest Plocher came to commenting on the investigation during a Sunday interview was when he, once again, declared that he felt the investigation took too long. -
Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher and his allies complained for weeks that the ethics investigation into his alleged misconduct was dragging out unnecessarily. But, it turns out the delay may have been the Speaker himself. -
The report, which was voted down by the Missouri House committee, concluded the inquiry lacked direct evidence of ethical misconduct but alleged the speaker hindered the investigation’s efforts to get to the truth. -
The two seven-figure checks are the biggest individual donations to a candidate or affiliated PAC this election cycle and nearly equal the amount of cash on hand reported by both candidates and their PACs reported in January combined.
