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Capitol View®
Elizabeth Dunbar

Ethics complaint filed against Sen. Gretchen Hoffman

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An ethics complaint was filed Friday against Sen. Gretchen Hoffman, R-Vergas, over something she wrote about a DFL colleague on Twitter.

Hoffman wrote this about Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights earlier this week:

"Sen Goodwin just called people with mental illness- idiots and imbeciles- while debating HHS bill #offensive #mndfl #mnsrc #mnleg"

But it's not what Goodwin said. Goodwin was talking about the history of developmental disabilities and mental illness in Minnesota during a debate over the Health and Human Services budget bill.

Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, officially filed the ethics complaint today. Here's the complaint:

May20 Complaint

During the floor debate this week, Goodwin stood up to demand an apology from Hoffman.

Hoffman later released a statement through a spokeswoman, and Republicans released video of the comments they say Hoffman was concerned about.

Goodwin's full comments are here.

And here's the previous Capitol View post from Tom Scheck.

UPDATE: After the ethics complaint was filed, Hoffman issued this statement this afternoon:

On Wednesday, May 18, Senator Barb Goodwin referred to people with mental illnesses as idiots and imbeciles in the Minnesota State Senate floor. As a registered nurse who has worked with patients with mental illnesses for many years, I was offended by her remarks. I shared Senator Goodwin's remarks with my Twitter followers.

Until the Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct completes their work, I have no further comment.