Dean Plocher is accused in whistleblower lawsuit of attempting to “mislead the court.”

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher's arguments for dismissing a whistleblower lawsuit filed against him earlier this year do not stand up to scrutiny and are an attempt to “mislead the court,” attorneys for District Attorney Dana Miller wrote in a motion filed this week.

In her lawsuit filed in May, Miller accuses Plocher and his chief of staff, Rod Jetton, of retaliating against her after she raised concerns about his alleged mistreatment of women and misuse of government funds.

Plocher had tried to have himself dismissed from the proceedings last month, arguing that the allegations of misconduct amounted to “little more than internal political disputes.”

He also argued that Miller was not a whistleblower and that any alleged threats to her job had been leaked to her by third parties and were therefore hearsay. And he invoked a provision in the Missouri Constitution that states that members of the General Assembly “shall not be questioned on any statement or debate in either House.”

Miller's attorney, Sylvia Hernandez, objected to Plocher's motion in writing, arguing that the speaker's alleged actions met the definition of retaliation.

He allegedly attempted to change the House's hiring and disciplinary policies to outmaneuver Miller, all of which “can be viewed as a reprimand, reassignment of duties, refusal to work and possible demotion,” Hernandez wrote.

Plocher also wanted to fire other bipartisan staffers in revenge, Hernandez wrote, and circulated a memo containing allegations against Miller in an attempt to persuade the House of Representatives to fire her.

All this happened, Hernandez wrote, after Miller disclosed violations of House policy: “gross waste of money or abuse of power, squandering of public resources, mismanagement, and endangering public safety.”

By justifying his conduct solely with “political differences of opinion,” Hernandez said, Plocher is attempting to “mislead the court” by applying constitutional protections of free speech during debates in the House of Representatives to conversations that took place behind closed doors.

Plocher, who finished fourth in the Republican primary for secretary of state last week, was embroiled in controversy last September when he was accused of “unethical and possibly unlawful conduct” as part of his months-long effort to get the House of Representatives to award a private company an $800,000 contract to manage voter information.

A month later, The Independent reported that over the past five years, Plocher had repeatedly unlawfully demanded reimbursement from Parliament for flight, hotel and other travel expenses that his campaign team had already paid.

In November, a complaint against Plocher was filed with the Missouri House Ethics Committee, which launched a four-month investigation that ended without a formal reprimand. However, the Republican and Democratic lawmakers who led the investigation said Plocher obstructed the committee's work by pressuring potential witnesses and refusing to issue subpoenas.

Plocher has denied any wrongdoing.

Miller claims in her lawsuit that problems with Plocher began before his time as speaker, when she confronted him in May 2022 with several complaints about his treatment of female Republican lawmakers, including one woman who said she was considering filing an ethics complaint against him.

When she raised these concerns with Plocher, according to Miller, he responded, “Stupid Republican women… they're an invasive species.”

Tensions escalated, Miller said, during Plocher's efforts to replace the House voter management contract in 2023. When Miller protested, another lawmaker who worked with Plocher told her that the speaker had repeatedly threatened to fire her.

Miller claims that Plocher pushed for privatization of voter administration because it would have meant large donations for his national campaign and access to communications with the House of Representatives for campaign purposes.

In retaliation for her resistance, Hernandez wrote, Plocher threatened Miller that he would “start a vote” to remove her from her post as senior secretary, “a warning of possible dismissal.”

The Secretary of State is a nonpartisan official elected by the House of Representatives.

Plocher also fired his first chief of staff, Miller says in her lawsuit, because he “failed to stop Danagate” and allegedly sent Jetton to her to tell her to “back off” if she wanted him to “let the matter go.”