For the last week, Bluestem has chonicled letters and comments in the Fergus Falls Daily Journal, in which Senator Gretchen Hoffman's supporters paint the Vergas yarn seller as the victim in the self-induced social media ethics scandal that was officially closed yesterday.
Despite the unanimous decision of the bi-partisan ethics panels led by Republican President of the Senate Michelle Fischbach, which found Hoffman in the wrong and called for her apology along with other remedial action, the chorus in Fergus Falls maintains that Hoffman did nothing wrong.
A letter appear today that takes the discussion into Senator Hoffman's office. Danielle Saul of Fergus Falls interned in Senator Hoffman's office during the spring semester (see screen shot). And while a call to Senator Hoffman's office revealed that Saul's internship "ended at the end of the school year," it looks as if the learning process itself is still very much ongoing.
As is Ms. Saul's contact with Hoffman's legislative aid, Kimberley Balega. On June 17, Saul tweeted that she was at the RightOnline conference in Minneapolis with the Senate employee:
@DanielleRSaul Danielle Saul
Ms. Saul writes in The political double standard must end (published June 21):
If you watch the video of Senator Goodwin’s speech, the real video not the cut down and edited video, you can see for yourself that Senator Hoffman did nothing wrong. Goodwin started off by saying, “This is how far we’ve come: the way state institutions used to be — they were called ‘Institutions for Idiots, Imbeciles and the Insane,” however, she later added, “We might not have the 10 state ‘Hospitals for the Idiots and the Insane and the Imbeciles’ like we used to”.
Senator Hoffman did not tweet anything mean-spirited. She merely tweeted what was said on the floor. . . .
Apparently, learning about the ethics process didn't come up while Saul traveled the road from Hoffman's office to Senate floor. Or perhaps, the MSUM college student was so blinded by the light Hoffman's brilliance that she missed the spirit with which the ethics committee decreed that Hoffman had indeed done something wrong.
Along with Senator Hoffman, Danielle Saul is listed as a speaker for the budget rally next Tuesday in Fergus Falls, sponsored by the Otter Tail County Republican Party.
Did Saul invent the argument in her letter, as presumably bright college students are on occasion known to do? Looked back on the history of the Hoffman-Goodwin tweet episode, I think not.
Rather, the Senate Majority Caucus itself posted a video of Senator Goodwin's remarks with the thought that somehow Hoffman's tweet would be justified; there were few takers, and the Republicans on the ethics committee, along with their DFL colleagues, found that Hoffman had indeed been wrong in misrepresenting the floor statements.
Hoffman apologized. Her supporters should move on.
Perhaps Hoffman can use the occasion of Saul's letter as a teachable moment. The younger woman hopes to enter politics as an operative and someday run for office herself. Should Hoffman--and perhaps Amy Koch, Michelle Fischbach and Kimberly Balega--educate Saul about the integrity of the ethics process, she (and Minnesota's political discourse in general) would be greatly served.
The ethics committee found that the facts about the tweet are not in dispute. Hoffman has apologized. She might remind her supporters of this, especially those who are young and impressionable.
Screenshot: from Gretchen Hoffman's contact page today.
Related posts: Tales of Hoffman: Rally in Fergus Falls on June 28; secret DFLer Bill Ingebrightsen invited
Tales of Hoffman: Kvetchin' Gretchen apologizes; local GOP bulldog takes up her cause
Lawyers, puns and money: on doing the right thing, and moving on
Shiny news object: Minnpost headline rewrites state's legislative social media ethics history
Tales of Hoffman: Vergas yarn seller's "sensitivity" defense unravels, forced to apologize
Tales of Hoffman: Senate Ethics Committee to workshop freshman pol's tweet on Monday
Tales of Hoffman: Vergas yarn peddler slapped with ethics beef; local editorial jeers her tweet
Tales of Hoffman: Unsweet tweet may meet ethics complaint fate
Tales of Hoffman; or, Newman off-shores Minnesota job-killing tax blame game
Tales of Hoffman: Attention gay Raelians! Schedule your next skeet shoot in Fergus Falls!
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