Legislative ethics probe begins on 2 lawmakers

Utah House members will meet soon to start ethics investigations on two of their own — Reps. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, and Phil Riesen, D-Salt Lake.

The issues are seen by some fellow lawmakers as an ugly tit-for-tat that could harm real efforts of legislative ethics reform in the upcoming 2009 Legislature.

Hughes has been accused in a letter by former GOP House member Susan Lawrence, and in a formal ethics complaint signed by Riesen and two other House Democrats, of offering Lawrence tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in 2006 if she would switch her vote on the controversial private school voucher issue.

Hughes is also accused of telling lobbyists they had better contribute to a pro-voucher political issues committee he set up to fight last year's anti-voucher citizen referendum, and of trying to discourage the candidacies of two anti-voucher GOP candidates who were to challenge conservative Republican House members who voted for the main voucher bill, HB148, in the 2007 Legislature.

The Democrats' complaint also says Hughes, who if re-elected next month could be the House Rules chairman, has told lobbyists that if they continued to take part in anti-voucher activities, House Rules could kill bills they support.

The Democrats ask for a special prosecutor to investigate Hughes, saying they don't know if the Legislature's own staff attorneys can do it. They also say that if any other lawmakers — members of GOP House and Senate leadership belonged to Hughes pro-voucher PIC — are found to be involved, they should automatically be investigated.

Hughes denies any wrongdoing by himself or others and says the Democrats' ethics complaint is political "character assassination."

In turn, Hughes and two GOP legislators accuse Riesen, a member of House Democratic leadership, of unethically leaking a possible ethics complaint against Hughes to the media earlier this week, and doing so just five weeks before the 2008 elections. Riesen also is accused of using outside attorneys to draft ethics documents and not listing those in-kind contributions on his financial disclosure statements.

Both ethics complaints can be viewed by clicking the graphic links on this story (above right).

Harsh words are flying among legislators from various sides, with some believing any "collegial," bipartisan feelings in the 75-member House are severely damaged.

Even so, House Majority Leader Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, says that real ethical reform will come in the 2009 Legislature and was on its way before the accusations against Hughes even surfaced.