A few weeks ago, a sitting senator committed a heinous crime – a burglary into a family member’s home in the middle of the night that resulted in a felony. This was unprecedented news, and it has cast a shadow over the Senate and completely altered the course of our work.

After news came out about Sen. Mitchell’s felony, Senate Republicans took action. Many, like myself, called for her immediate resignation. We also filed a dissent letter, condemning the Democrats’ attempts to use Sen. Mitchell’s vote as the tie-breaking vote to get all their controversial bills across the finish line. This is an abuse of power, clear as day.

Not only was Sen. Mitchell allowed to take votes on controversial bills, she was also allowed to vote against motions that would hold her accountable for her actions. We tried to push for an expedited Ethics hearing regarding her actions – she voted against that. We tried to file a motion that would have directed the Secretary of the Senate to prepare a formal request for her resignation – she voted against that. This is wrong. Senators are held to a higher standard. She should not be voting when she is being charged with a felony. It’s an abuse of power, and Minnesotans should be disgusted by this.

We are sent here to work on behalf of the public, but Democrats paused that work until Sen. Mitchell got back because they knew they needed her vote to pass their partisan legislation. This is proof that they are clearly playing political games. They are banking on this issue going away, so that Sen. Mitchell can be their deciding vote on numerous controversial bills. This is incredibly wrong and does a disservice to the sanctity of the Senate, and it undermines the trust of those that elected us to serve here on their behalf.

Sen. Mitchell’s actions betray public trust. The natural course of action would be to either have her withhold from voting until a formal ethics hearing can be held, or to simply resign. She already admitted to wrongdoing in her police report, so she knows her actions should have consequence. It’s disgusting that Democrats are defending and protecting someone who admitted to breaking the law.

Sen. Mitchell’s preposterous statement that came days after her arrest cannot be reconciled with sworn information provided by local enforcement in the criminal complaint that charged her with a felony. Mitchell must explain to Minnesotans why her ludicrous public statement is at such odds with the criminal complaint, which was signed ‘under penalty of perjury’ by local law enforcement officials. Unless Sen. Mitchell can immediately clarify why her public statement and the criminal complaint are at such variance, she should be held accountable… That means not voting until the issue is resolved or resigning immediately. Minnesota deserves better.