Complaint: Kansas agency probing GOP broke open meetings law

By JOHN HANNA
AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas ethics commission is accused of violating the state’s open meetings law by two defense attorneys who also question the fairness of a yearlong investigation into Republican campaign activities. Kansas City-area lawyers Ryan Kriegshauser and Joshua Ney filed a complaint Thursday with Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office. They said internal documents show the commission had illegal serial communcations in April 2022 when commission members and staff used emails to decide how to counter a short-lived effort by lawmakers to oust the commission’s executive director. That ouster attempt came after the commission subpoenaed Republican Party officials. The commission says it reported the open meetings issue to the local district attorney and had open meetings training in October.