Lindner Ethics Complaint of The 83rd Minnesota Legislative Session - Ethics Complaint Is Filed

Ethics Complaint Is Filed

Ellison, one of only two African-American state lawmakers at the time (the other being Rep. Neva Walker of District 61B), became the spokesman of the DFL group that filed with the Ethics Committee against Lindner. Besides Ellison the group consisted of Representatives Karen Clark, Frank Hornstein (whose mother is a Holocaust survivor), Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Neva Walker, Lyndon Carlson, Ron Latz, and House Minority Leader Matt Entenza. The complaint held “that when Lindner expressed his belief that homosexuals may not have been persecuted during the Nazi Holocaust, his conduct violated ‘accepted norms of House behavior’ and that his comments ‘bring the House into dishonor or disrepute.’” Ellison stated that they sought “censure of Lindner and his removal as chair of the Economic Development and Tourism Division of the House Commerce, Jobs, and Economic Development Policy Committee.” Ellison’s group exhibited letters from out-of-state residents who said they cancelled vacation plans in Minnesota after learning of Lindner's comments. Ellison stated “There’s a question mark hanging over the State Office Building. The question is ‘Do the people of the state of Minnesota and the legislators that represent them share the viewpoint that people who were victims of Nazi persecution were in fact not victims of Nazi persecution?’ Mr. Lindner has insulted not only the House but members of the community at large.” The Session Weekly reported “‘The fact of the matter is his conduct calls for discipline,’ said Ellison, who added that a censure penalty does not prohibit Lindner from saying what he believes. ‘It would just be a denunciation, a condemnation, of what he said.’” Ellison told Minnesota Public Radio "That question mark sitting over this building is whether we represent all the people of this state or not. And whether or not an elected official, a person who holds an election certificate can spout bigoted language, mean-spirited, untrue statements designed to injure members of the community and members of this body. That is the issue."