Today, Senate Republicans filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Nicole Mitchell (D- Woodbury) for her arrest and subsequent charge of first-degree burglary on Monday, April 22. Senate Democrats refused to ask for her resignation or remove her from committee positions, forcing Republicans to defend the integrity of Senate and seek answers for the public.
“This is not something we take lightly,” Senator Minority Leader Mark Johnson (R- East Grand Forks) said. “Given the lack of action by Senate Democrats to acknowledge the severity of Sen. Mitchell’s actions, we are compelled to protect the integrity of the work we do here, and to preserve the reputation of the legislature.
“Until this morning, we were expecting to take up changes to the permanent rules and several bills, along with a Rules Committee hearing after session to process paperwork. All that has been pulled from the calendar and we are just meeting for a paperwork session. Since there is now plenty of time available in the day, I expect the Rules Committee will take swift action on the complaint,” Johnson concluded.
The complaint was filed with Senate President Bobby Joe Champion (D-Minneapolis) shortly before session. It documents three different rules Sen. Mitchell has broken:
56.1 Members shall adhere to the highest standard of ethical conduct as embodied in the Minnesota Constitution, state law, and these rules.
56.2 A member shall not publish or distribute written material if the member knows or has reason to know that the material includes any statement that is false or clearly misleading, concerning a public policy issue or concerning the member’s or another member’s voting record or position on a public policy issue.
56.3 Improper conduct includes conduct that violates a rule or administrative policy of the Senate, that violates accepted norms of Senate behavior, that betrays the public trust, or that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor or disrepute.