By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Former Missouri House Speaker Jim Kreider's lawyer says his client is not personally being investigated for alleged ethics violations.
Attorney Wally Bley says Cole County prosecutor Bill Tackett told him a campaign committee is the focus. Tackett has declined to discuss the case.
The prosecutor in Jefferson City didn't return a call seeking comment on Tuesday. Ethics Commission director Robert Connor was out of his office.
At issue is a flier mailed to voters just before the August 2002 primary attacking Dan Clemens, a Republican candidate for a state Senate seat from southwest Missouri.
Kreider, of Nixa, was the likely Democratic nominee. He later lost that race.
The flier was financed by the Ethical Missouri Committee, which the Republican Party alleges was formed illegally and controlled by Kreider.