JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri Ethics Commission says it has found no evidence that Republican state Sen. Kurt Schaefer improperly used his authority over state spending in an effort to keep an opponent out of the Republican primary for attorney general.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that the commission told Schaefer about the decision in a letter dated Monday.

Former U.S. attorney Matt Whitaker, who created the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, had filed a complaint against Schaefer, alleging that Schaefer improperly used his position as Senate Appropriations Committee chairman to influence former University of Missouri System president Tim Wolfe over faculty leave policies in a bid to block law associate professor Josh Hawley from entering the primary race.

Schaefer lost to Hawley in the Aug. 2 primary.