Sen. Lucero Co-Leads Complaint Against Sen. Mitchell at Ethics Hearing

The Senate Subcommittee on Ethics met May 7 to consider the complaint filed against Sen. Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) after her arrest and subsequent charge of first-degree felony burglary. Sen. Mitchell is accused of breaking into her stepmother’s home in the early morning hours of April 22.

Sen. Eric Lucero (R-St. Michael) and Sen. Karin Housley (R-Stillwater) were the co-leads in the hearing to present information and answer questions pertaining to probable cause that Sen. Mitchell violated Minnesota Senate Rules of ethical standards.

The complaint is signed by 11 members of the Senate, all Republicans. Sen. Lucero and Sen. Housley were the only two who spoke on behalf of the complainants.

“It is never easy to stand in judgment of a colleague, however, our responsibility requires us to make difficult decisions. We are not asking the Ethics Committee to serve as a court of law. We are asking them to uphold the integrity of the Senate and restore public trust,” Sen. Lucero said. “The reason we work so hard to uphold the public’s trust and abide by ethical conduct the public should be able to rely on what their representatives say to the media. If the Ethics Committee doesn’t trust what Sen. Mitchell and her attorneys have said to the media about what happened on April 22, then I believe we have our answer as to whether her conduct upholds the highest standards of trust and transparency to the public.”

Sen. Mitchell never spoke and her attorney, Bruce Ringstrom, Jr., stated plainly Mitchell would not answer any questions. Ringstrom invoked Sen. Mitchell’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on nearly every question asked. Neither Mitchell nor her attorney provided any evidence of Mitchell’s innocence to the committee.

Following the presentations and questioning, Democrats would not vote to find probable cause to continue the investigation into Mitchell’s behavior and refused to take up the issue again until June. Republicans pressed for immediate action, citing the short time left in the legislative session.

After the hearing, Sen. Housley said, “Sen. Mitchell was silent before the ethics committee, her colleagues, and her constituents. It’s clear the most important thing to her is being the 34th vote on the Democrats’ agenda.”

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