Today the Senate Subcommittee on Ethics met for the first time since a complaint was filed against Sen. Nicole Mitchell (D- Woodbury) after her arrest and subsequent charge of first-degree burglary. She is accused of breaking into her stepmothers’ home to retrieve sentimental items from her recently deceased father.
Sen. Mitchell never spoke and her attorney, Bruce Ringstrom, Jr., stated plainly she would not be answering questions. In addition, Ringstrom invoked Sen. Mitchell’s Fifth Amendment right on nearly every question asked, whether it was related to her court case or not. Neither Mitchell nor her attorney provided any evidence of her 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. Republicans would not vote to defer proceedings until after the criminal complaint is finished, citing the short time left in the legislative session.
The first motion to garner four votes was when all members of the committee voted against Sen. Mathew’s motion to find no probable cause. After another failed motion, the Ethics Committee went into executive session, a non-public meeting. Following executive session, Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (D- Minneapolis) made a motion to return on June 12, 2024, or earlier if something of substance is made available to the committee. That motion passed with 3 votes.
“It is never easy to stand in judgment of a colleague, however, our responsibility requires us to make difficult decisions. We are not asking you to serve as a court of law. We are asking you to uphold the integrity of this institution and restore public trust.” Sen. Eric Lucero (R- St. Michael) said in his closing statement. “The reason we work so hard to uphold the public’s trust and abide by ethical conduct is because the public should be able to rely on what we say to the public through the media. The public should be able to rely on what our representatives say to the media. If this committee doesn’t trust what Sen. Mitchell and her attorneys have said to the media about what happened on April 22, then I believe you have your answer as to whether her conduct upholds the highest standards of trust and transparency to the public,” he concluded.
After the hearing Sen. Housley (R- Stillwater) 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.”
The complaint was signed by 11 members of the Senate, all Republicans. Sen. Lucero and Sen. Housley were the only ones who spoke on behalf of the complainants.
The subcommittee deferred action on a different complaint against Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen (R- Glencoe) until the following day.