Johnson facing ethics filing

03/23/2006

Republicans claim DFL Senate majority leader repeatedly lied

BY RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER
Pioneer Press

Minnesota Senate Republicans filed an ethics complaint against embattled DFL Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson on Wednesday over recorded comments he made about the 1997 law that defines marriage as one man and one woman.

The complaint means that the week-old Capitol controversy over Johnson’s remarks will live on at least until the Senate ethics panel makes some decision on the matter.

The Republicans’ complaint says that “Johnson has repeatedly lied or misled” regarding the 1997 law and should be disciplined. The chief sponsors of the complaint said they also believe that Johnson should resign his leadership post while the complaint is being decided.

At a pastors’ meeting two months ago, Johnson said he had talked to several members of the Minnesota Supreme Court and they told him they would not ‘’touch’’ the marriage law. The strength of the law is important because amendment supporters fear the 1997 law could be overturned by the courts.

Johnson has since said he embellished those conversations. He said last week he only had one passing conversation with one justice and received no assurances about the fate of the law.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Russell Anderson has adamantly denied that any member of the court had any conversation with Johnson about the law.

Johnson said Wednesday he takes the ethics complaint very seriously and will excuse himself from any committee work regarding the matter.

“We look forward to sitting down with the ethics committee and telling our story and hopefully it will be a swift and judicious verdict and we move on,” Johnson said. He said it would be inappropriate for him to express an opinion about the substance of the complaint.

He said he has learned in leadership that “there’s always someone trying to shoot you … and those shots are political in nature.” Just after the complaint was filed he told the reporters the complaint amounted to “political shenanigans.”

As he has before, Johnson on Wednesday apologized for being inaccurate in his previous comments. “I erred in my ways. I’m human,” he said.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, said this week that Johnson should be granted forgiveness.

“He has asked for forgiveness and a second chance. I think we should give it to him, and we should move on,” Pawlenty said Tuesday.

But the Senate Republicans said they cannot move on yet.

“(Pawlenty’s) position, as governor, is laudable but we still have to hold our own members accountable,” said Eagan Sen. Mike McGinn, one of the Republicans who brought the complaint.

According to Senate rules, the ethics subcommittee, made up of two Republicans and two Democratic-Farmer-Laborites, must act on the complaint in some way within 30 days. The committee has many options, including disciplining Johnson, launching an investigation or dismissing the complaint.

Ethics complaints are not uncommon at the Capitol. Two years ago, DFL Sen. John Hottinger filed a complaint against Republican Sen. Michael Jungbauer over an inappropriate e-mail Jungbauer had sent from his Senate office. As a result, Jungbauer had to send a letter to all senators apologizing for the incident.

The filing against Johnson appears to be the first such Senate ethics complaint against a majority leader, but it’s not the first time ethical questions have been raised about a leader.

In 1996, then-Majority Leader Roger Moe was brought up on ethics charges in front of the Ethical Practices Board, which became the state’s Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, by a former staffer who said she had done campaign work for the Erskine DFLer out of his state office. The board found that Moe probably violated campaign rules. A Ramsey County grand jury indicted him on similar charges later that year, but a district court judge dismissed the charges.

Moe went on to lead the Senate Democrats until 2002, when he retired and ran for governor.