Senator Moe cleared of ethics charges
William Wilcoxen, 10/1/96

Minnesota Senate majority leader Roger Moe has been cleared of political misconduct charges. A Ramsey County Judge yesterday (Tues) dismissed charges that moe had illegally used his legislative staff for campaign purposes. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen has more...

 A Ramsey County Grand Jury indicted Moe on two counts of political misconduct in June. The case stemmed from a complaint that Moe and his Chief of Staff Vic Moore ordered Senate Staff to do work related to an exploratory gubernatorial campaign. But Judge Donald Gross threw out both charges against moe and two of the three charges against Moore. In his ruling, Judge Gross wrote there was no evidence specific enough to convict moe under Minnesota's political misconduct law. John Lundquist, one of Moe's attorney's, says the ruling clears Moe of wrongdoing...

Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, whose office prosecuted the case, did not quarrel with the judge's ruling. She said it is very difficult for a prosecutor to meet the standards for specificity required under Minnesota's law...

During this campaign season, Republican legislative candidates are reminding voters of the assortment of DFL lawmakers who committed legal and ethical violations during the last session. even though the charges against Moe were dismissed, state Republican party chair Chris Georgacas nonetheless argues Moe is too willing to use state resources for political purposes...

Moe himself says he's happy with the judge's ruling, although he's concerned it was allowed to proceed as far as it did. he says the case has been a burden to his staff and has left him with hefty legal bills. Moe has suggested the case was motivated by politics but now says he doesn't want to talk about the politics of the episode until after the election. nor will he describe how he might change the way his staff or the party caucus function...

Moe indicated DFL candidates will not be defensive about ethics violations in the current campaign. He says the party is focusing on other issues...

County Attorney Gaertner says she will ask Judge Gross to drop the remaining charge against Moe's aide Vic Moore. A whistleblower lawsuit filed against the state by former Moe Secretary Mary Hennesey is still pending in civil court. I'm W.W. MPR News.