Friends and neighbors,

Near the end of this year’s session, the Minnesota Senate finds itself in unprecedented, uncharted waters. By now you have probably heard that State Senator Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) was arrested on the morning of Monday, April 22, and charged with first-degree felony burglary. This offense carries a sentence of anywhere from six months in jail or a county workhouse to 20 years in prison.

According to the criminal complaint and 911 transcript, Senator Mitchell is accused of breaking into her elderly stepmother’s home, dressed in all black, at 4:45 a.m. on April 22. She allegedly stole items that she wanted since her father’s death, and police found her hiding in the basement. The police report, 911 transcript and general facts of this matter are very egregious and troubling.

While we do not yet know all the details, the state and members of its Senate are shocked by the news of Senator Mitchell’s arrest. The public expects its legislators to meet a high standard of ethical conduct, and her actions betray the trust of the constituents she was elected to represent. Yet Senator Mitchell has been defiant, and she refuses to resign.

Under Article IV, Section 7 of the Minnesota Constitution, the Senate is given the power to punish its members. It states: “Each house may …  punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a member; ….”   

At the time of this writing, I would like to share several of the important steps taken by Senate Republicans to uphold the integrity of the Senate and the state of Minnesota.

Last week, Senate Republicans filed an ethics complaint against Senator Mitchell. The complaint outlines what we do know and seeks to defend the integrity of the Senate. During a recent floor session, we also made a motion to immediately launch an investigation into Senator Mitchell’s conduct based on the ethics complaint. Democrats, however, voted down our efforts to immediately begin this investigation.

This pattern of Democrats choosing to protect Senator Mitchell–instead of protecting the integrity of the Senate–is extremely troubling. Unfortunately, we saw Democrats come to her defense again this week when she returned to the Capitol and voted in person.

This week, Senate Republicans made several efforts to prevent Senator Mitchell from voting until her legal and ethical issues are resolved. Allowing Senator Mitchell to vote, while charged with a crime of violence, is unacceptable. Her deciding vote on consequential or extreme legislation calls into question the legitimacy of any legislation we pass moving forward. Democrats, however, rejected each of those attempts, with Senator Mitchell casting the deciding vote.

In any other public service profession, such as teaching, law enforcement, etc., she would be placed on administrative leave, and that is essentially what Senate Republicans were asking to be done. An argument that Democrats keep using is that Senate Mitchell is entitled to “due process,” and therefore, she can keep working and voting.

However, the Senate DFL did not exercise any “due process” last Saturday, April 27, when they unilaterally moved to strip her of any committee duties and excluded her from their Caucus meetings. We’re seeing a clear double standard going on in the Senate right now. Most people I talk with believe that administrative leave is the minimum that should be happening in this situation.

Though we have not seen Democrats take meaningful action against Senator Mitchell, some Democrats are now starting to call for her resignation while others are trying to remove her from being a co-author on their legislation. I am urging more DFL members to stand up and condemn Senator Mitchell’s crime of violence—first-degree felony burglary.

As your state senator, I take this situation very seriously. The Senate Ethics Subcommittee is set to meet on Tuesday, May 7 to discuss the complaint against Senator Mitchell, and I will continue to share updates as this situation progresses.

This is a rare and unprecedented situation our Senate institution finds ourselves in. It’s time for Democrats to cooperate with Republicans and focus on passing bipartisan legislation instead of the extreme agenda items they have been pushing.

Sincerely,

Senator Torrey Westrom