Kansas Republican leader wants to target Ethics Commission amid ongoing investigation
Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson wants to reopen discussions about the scope and management of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission as the commission’s director pursues an investigation into campaign finance violations involving Republican officials.
“There’s a lot of unrest with it,” said Masterson, an Andover Republican. “I think there’s a sense he’s a bit of an activist in the role instead of just trying to keep the trains on the tracks.”
Masterson did not provide details on what action would be pursued but he said that under previous directors lawmakers looked to the commission for guidance and cannot anymore.
Although the commission is an independent body that has jurisdiction to investigate lawmakers, Masterson said legislative efforts to change the commission were appropriate.
“I kind of hope it has a chilling effect if it’s the guilty until proven innocent model and legislators aren’t comfortable asking questions,” Masterson said when asked if he was concerned legislative action would create a chilling effect on the agency meant to hold elected officials accountable.
The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission is an independent body designed to enforce Kansas campaign finance and governmental ethics rules.
Republicans in the Kansas Senate last year briefly sought to oust commission director Mark Skoglund by adding a last minute policy to another bill requiring the director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission to be an attorney in good standing. Skoglund had let his law license lapse because it wasn’t a requirement of the job.
Last year the commission issued wide ranging subpoenas seeking communications among party officials and activists. Court records from a handful of current and former Johnson, Shawnee and Sedgwick County Republican officials challenging the subpoenas reveal the commission was seeking communications with a wide range of Republican officials including Masterson, his communications director and Jared Suhn, a political consultant.
Court records allege Suhn, a highly connected consultant, is the target of an investigation into campaign finance violations between 2018 and 2020.
Suhn, who runs Game Changer Strategies, has worked for a long list of Republican officials and was the consultant for the political action committee run by Kansas Republican House leadership in 2020 to elect Republican members.
While some of the Ethics Commission’s court filings are not publicly available, court filings from subpoenaed individuals ask a Shawnee County judge to dismiss the subpoena because the commission identified Suhn as the subject of the investigation and claims to hold a “smoking gun” against Suhn.
“What interest does the KGEC have to demand that the defendant — who the KGEC takes great pains in calling a ‘witness,’ not a ‘target,’ and who has no alleged ties to Suhn whatsoever — turn over all his communications with everyone he associates with politically?” Chet Compton, a Wichita Attorney, said in several filings on behalf of county party officials who were subpoenaed, including former Johnson County Republican Party Chair Fabian Shepard.
In a court hearing on Shepard’s subpoena Thursday in Topeka, Skoglund said the commission possessed text messages sent by Suhn indicating that specific PACs would donate to county party committees if those committees passed the money onto the state GOP.
Ryan Krieghauser, an attorney for Suhn, said the commission had placed a target on Suhn’s back and then violated its own policies by not ensuring the court cases operated under seal. Last month, a judge denied the commission’s request to retroactively place the case under seal after the commission argued its policies required it.
“Our client is being dragged into the public as the target of an ethics investigation with no formal complaint filed. Just from a due process standpoint this is unacceptable,” Krieghauser said.
“It seems like they picked a target and now they’re just trying to find something to get ‘em with.”
Though full details of the commission’s investigation are not public it is believed the probe involved a broad scope of elected officials in the statehouse. The Kansas Chamber of Commerce confirmed last year it received a subpoena and accused the commission of undertaking a “fishing expedition aimed at silencing political speech.”
Skoglund told The Star Wednesday he couldn’t comment on or confirm the existence of an investigation but he warned against efforts to undermine the commission.
“Any effort to undermine the Ethics Commission either in its capabilities or its leadership would obviously be an effort to undermine the work of the commission and would be a direct shot at the ability of the public to be able to trust governmental decision making in Kansas,” he said.
Despite Masterson’s intention to continue efforts to change the commission’s power or its leadership, Sen. Elaine Bowers, the Republican chair of the Senate Ethics Committee, said Wednesday she believed Skoglund was a good director.
“I’m content with his operation,” Bowers said.
In a finding of facts filed by the commission filed on the same day as the subpoenas in February outlines alleged violations of Kansas’ limits on campaign finance contributions and ban on donations made on behalf of other individuals.
The document outlines a series of contributions to and from Republican PACs and party committees made between 2018 and 2020, some of which came with preconditions that the funds should go to the Kansas Republican Party if requested.
Ultimately, the document says, $34,000 was contributed to the Kansas Republican Party earmarked for specific legislative races that originated from the Kansas State Leadership Committee but passed through various other PACS to get there in violation of Kansas law.
Krieghauser, Suhn’s attorney, said the commission adopted a new interpretation of the law barring donations on behalf of another person. Suhn, he said, didn’t make or accept any donations, he just made suggestions.
He said Suhn was being targeted for practices that are common in fundraising in both parties.
“What level of control do you need over money before you violate the statute?” he said. “There was no secret donor that gave this money and tried to avoid being reported. That’s the thing that astounds me. All this was reported.”
In Thursday’s court hearing, Skoglund said the interpretation of the campaign finance law was standard. He suggested the challenges to the subpoenas were part of an attempt to delay the Ethics Commission investigation of the pass through scheme and in a second related investigation.
This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
