Report: Dean facing ethics investigation in Missouri House

Missouri state Rep. Jeremy Dean, D-Springfield, has been removed from his committee assignments and is facing an ethics investigation related to an obscene text message he sent to a Republican colleague, according to reporting today by the Missouri Independent. 

House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, removed Dean from his committee assignments, according to the report, and the House Ethics Committee is looking into the matter. The text message was reportedly sent during redistricting debate. In an email this morning, Aune confirmed that she removed Dean from his committee assignments related to the text, but she declined to comment further.

The Missouri Independent reports that "the message included a description of an oral sex act with the president and questioned how Republicans could talk while engaged in it."

Dean could not be reached for comment by deadline.

“Because of ongoing safety concerns stemming from death threats directed at me, I cannot provide a detailed comment on the allegations,” Dean told the Missouri Independent.

Dean was elected to the District 132 seat in November 2024, according to past reporting.