THE EGGLESTON REPORT – CENSURE FOR PRICE
On Wednesday, January 13, the Missouri House made history. For the first time ever in our 200-year existence, the Missouri House censured one of its members for ethical misconduct, and I led the investigation.
In January of 2020, Democrat Wiley Price, who represents a district in inner city St. Louis, was accused of sleeping with a college intern who worked at the House; then told colleagues about the experience, spreading gossip about the intern and ruining her reputation. He also allegedly berated a staff member who reported the incident, as she was required to do, to the point that she feared for her safety. I was chair of the Ethics Committee and in charge of leading the investigation into this matter. Not only did the yearlong investigation reveal the allegations to be true, he also lied to the Ethics Committee under oath about the allegations, committing perjury.
While the vast majority of members I have served with have been fine, upstanding people, there have been a few guilty of sexual harassment or ethical misconduct. All of them, once exposed, have had the good sense to resign…but not the member in this matter. Instead of taking ownership of his actions, he blamed his accusers despite calls for his resignation from other House members, newspapers, and interest groups.
Much like a prosecuting attorney, it was up to me to build a case to prove to the House that this member should be punished. The two forms of punishment entertained by the Ethics Committee were censure and expulsion. Censure is a public humiliation of the member coupled with a list of recommended loss of privileges. With expulsion, he would lose his seat and get kicked out of the House.
I then had to present the case before the whole House, which was filed as House Complaint 1. The debate lasted about two hours, and in the end we successfully voted 140-3 to censure Price for his transgressions. There was also a motion to expel Price instead of censure him, that I supported, which received 91 votes. Unfortunately, it needed 109 votes, and so failed largely because Democrats defended him by saying that what he did to the intern and the staffer was not bad enough to deserve expulsion, and voted against the motion to expel. I find it atrocious that they would downplay the abuse he heaped upon the two women, but that’s what they did. A thorough article on this matter can be found at tinyurl.com/y6hlapba. A TV news report is at tinyurl.com/y6flxdcy. And the video of our debate is at tinyurl.com/y6aj4xr2, Day Six, beginning at 11:46AM.
It has been an honor to be identified as someone with the character and integrity to lead this investigation. I thank my fellow committee members, five Democrats and four Republicans who are equally upstanding, for their service in this matter and the courageous people who reported it. We have made a safer work environment for our staff and interns, and hopefully we will never have to deal with an issue like this again.
Until next time, health, happiness and prosperity to you and your family.
