ST. PAUL, MN –Today Senators Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids), Mike Goggin (R-Red Wing), John Jasinski (R- Faribault), Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks), Mark Koran (R-North Branch), Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton), and Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson) released the following statement following the conclusion of the first hearing of the Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct:

“We did not make the claim of an ‘endorsement’ by Somali TV, contrary to what Sen. Fateh and his counsel said, nor is this complaint about campaign finance board violations. This is about a quid pro quo relationship between Sen. Fateh and Somali TV. To that end, Sen. Fateh has not proven he made proper payments for the advertisement in question, and we still have questions about the conflict of interest with Somali TV after seeing the provided Cash App receipts from ‘Sayid’ to Somali TV on his campaign’s behalf.

“Furthermore, we still have a discrepancy between Sayid Salah’s sworn statement that the ad was paid for by Sen. Fateh, and his comments to the press that the ads were free.

“We are pleased the subcommittee also desired to learn more regarding this complaint and will continue the hearing next week.

“Additionally, we have not even started discussing the second complaint regarding individuals named in a federal investigation into voter fraud that also worked for Sen. Fateh. We look forward to the subcommittee reconvening so we can discuss this issue as well.”

Watch the June 8 hearing

The subcommittee did not vote to make a determination of probable cause, choosing to continue the hearing before making that determination. The subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, June 15 at 9 am to resume their work.