(Will be updated as warranted)
The state ethics commission has released a key GOP political consultant from a subpoena issued three years ago, saying he was no longer part of a wide-ranging investigation focused on the Republican Party apparatus in Kansas.
Republican political consultant Jared Suhn, whose name surfaced publicly in court proceedings stemming from the investigation, was released from the subpoena, according to a letter from the agency’s new interim executive director.
The letter said that Suhn is no longer part of the investigation. A similar letter was sent to Mike Pirner, spokesperson for the Senate president, although it is believed that others got similar letters releasing them from their subpoenas as well.
The letter from Kaitlyn Bull-Stewart – dated Friday – notified Suhn and the other officials that they were released from all obligations of the subpoena that was among many that were delivered to various officials in the early days of 2022.
“The commission will not seek to enforce the 2022 subpoena and withdraws the same,” Bull-Stewart said in the letter to Suhn’s lawyer.
“It is possible that, as the investigation progresses, we determine that there is information we need from your client,” she wrote.
“If that scenario occurs, we will issue a new subpoena, if appropriate,” the letter said.
“As of today, Jared Suhn can consider himself not part of this investigation.”
Many subpoenas – believed to be “dozens” – were served on state officials in early 2022, exposing an investigation that captured the attention of political observers across the state and ignited conversations about reworking the state’s ethics and campaign finance laws.
Court records indicate that subpoenas were served on interns, political consultants, party officials, nonprofit organizations and elected officials, as well as unsuccessful political candidates.
It is impossible to know for sure how many subpoenas were served because state ethics officials are not allowed by law to discuss ongoing ethics investigations publicly.
So, it is possible that others have been released from their subpoenas as well.
“We are coming to the end of a three-year political witch hunt intent on destroying the conservative movement in Kansas and empowering the left,” Suhn said in a statement.
“Successfully defending the Republican supermajority was due to great candidates, smart strategy and lots of hard work by a dedicated and tenacious group of Republicans,” he said.
“It wasn’t unethical. Those who have participated in trying to perpetuate the notion it was unethical are simply agents of the leftist opposition,” he said.
The letters come about a month after Mark Skoglund stepped down as the executive director of the Kansas ethics commission, following a turbulent three years in which he came under scrutiny as he carried out the investigation.
The composition of the ethic commission also is significantly different from three years ago when the subpoenas were issued.
Seven of the nine members of the ethics commission have been on the panel since 2023 after the investigation first came to public light.
In recent months, the ethics investigation has suffered legal setbacks in its probe into whether political action committees allegedly gave money to county Republican parties that was in turn relayed to the state Republican Party to skirt campaign finance limits.
The investigation focused on whether there was a violation of a state law barring someone from making a campaign contribution in the name of another. The law also prohibits someone from knowingly taking a contribution made in the name of another.
At one point, court documents indicated that the ethics commission had labeled a communication from Suhn to a county party official as “smoking gun” in the case.
Shawnee County District Judge Teresa Watson threw out two subpoenas issued by the ethics commission as part of its investigation.
She dismissed one issued to Matt Billingsley, chairman of a political action committee that supported Republican candidates, and another issued to the chief of staff of former House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr.
A district judge has awarded Billingsley about $86,000 in legal fees after successfully fighting a subpoena issued to him as part of a broad campaign finance investigation.
The Billingsley case is on appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court.
At one point, lawyers for Billingsley accused the ethics commission of carrying out a broad investigation of campaign finance in public view, playing favorites with Democrats and issuing subpoenas that were “staggeringly broad.”
They accused Skoglund and ethics staff in court documents of “personally marching through the Capitol serving subpoenas during the Kansas legislative session” killing any possibility of a confidential investigation from the start.
