Auditor to examine allegations against Minn. AG’s office
"MN Attorney General"03/29/2008
ST. PAUL - Minnesota's legislative auditor will launch a preliminary investigation into allegations of ethical and legal lapses in Attorney General Lori Swanson's office before deciding if a full-scale probe is warranted.
Auditor Jim Nobles agreed to take on the review Friday after a nearly two-hour discussion by a legislative panel about the need for, scope of and political undercurrent surrounding such an inquiry. The Legislative Audit Commission declined to formally vote to make Nobles conduct an investigation.
"We will not engage in a broad-ranging fishing expedition," Nobles assured the lawmakers.
Among other things, Swanson and some of her top aides have been accused of pressuring lawyers to give bad advice to state agency clients and to find defendants to fit lawsuits on high-profile topics. They are also accused of encouraging lawyers to falsify timesheets and post positive comments about the office on blogs while on the clock. She has denied the allegations, most of which have been made anonymously.
There was no immediate comment from Swanson's office on the action. She has initiated some outside reviews of her own, including a request this week to have the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility look into the allegations. She also enlisted Thomas Mengler, the dean of the University of St. Thomas law school, to conduct a review.
Swanson, a first-term Democrat, has chalked the allegations up to saber-rattling by some lawyers in her office that are trying to unionize. She argues state law doesn't permit a union among the attorneys.
Nobles said his inquiry won't delve into the union organizing dispute or other employee management issues in Swanson's office. He said he won't hesitate to use his power to subpoena information, protect the identity of people who come forward voluntarily or compel testimony under oath.
The usual partisan battle lines were blurred during the commission's discussion about how to proceed. The strongest call for Nobles' involvement came from Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-St. Louis Park. Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, voiced reluctance to go that route.
Simon is a former assistant attorney general who worked three doors down from Swanson when she served under then-Attorney General Mike Hatch. He said ethics are paramount for the state's leading public law office, and the allegations that have surfaced were "unsettling" to him.
"Corner cutting, winking and nodding is simply not appropropriate," he said, adding later, "These allegations are very, very serious and very, very grave, if true."
Hann and Sen. Ann Rest raised doubts about the probe, questioning if it could be adequately tailored to matters of legal or ethical breaches.
"It invites employees to air their gripes," said Rest, DFL-New Hope. "We just need to be really, really careful about not doing a fishing expedition."
Most of the lawyers raising the concerns have refused to put their names behind them because they said they fear retaliation. One attorney who went public, Amy Lawler, is on an indefinite, paid suspension for not taking her concerns through the proper channels. Lawler, one of the union drive leaders, laid out the accusations in a lengthy letter.
Nobles said he would end his probe if he fails to detect credible evidence of actions that are illegal, improper or unethical.
"Sometimes this work needs to be done because a controversy has been created and somebody needs to step forward to clear the air," he said.