Sen. Gretchen Hoffman faces ethics hearing over bogus mental health tweet
It's too early to tell whether GOP Sen. Gretchen Hoffman will actually face some sort of reprimand for smearing DFL Sen. Barb Goodwin via Twitter from the state Senate floor a few weeks ago. But at least the Senate Ethics Committee is going to hold a hearing on the matter.
Sen. Barb Goodwin demanded an apology, but didn't get one.
Here's the tweet that landed Hoffman in hot water, sent during debate on funding cuts to mental health programs:
#Sen Goodwin just called people with mental illness- idiots and imbeciles- while debating HHS bill #offensive #mndfl #mnsrc #mnleg
Gretchen Hoffman
Gretchenmh
The tweet was amplified when Republican Senate staffer Michael Brodkorb re-tweeted Hoffman's fiction:
RT @Gretchenmh: #Sen Goodwin just called people with mental illness- idiots and imbeciles- while debating HHS bill #offensive #mndfl #mnsrc
Michael B. Brodkorb
mbrodkorb
But video from the Senate floor proved that Goodwin said nothing of the sort [VIDEO HERE].
"The way these state institutions used to be, they were called 'institutions for 'idiots, imbeciles and the insane,'" Goodwin actually said. "That's what it said right on the hospital, 'idiots, imbeciles and the insane.'"
Goodwin was disgusted when she learned of the smear job. "This is an ethics violation in my opinion, and I expect a public apology."
She didn't get one.
Here's the ethics complaint. The hearing is next Monday.
Previously:
Sen. Gretchen Hoffman's bogus tweet about mental health "idiots and imbeciles" [VIDEO]
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