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Eye On Boise

Loertscher: ‘We want to do this by the book’

Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, is chairing the House Ethics Committee looking into the conduct of Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol. (Betsy Russell)
Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, is chairing the House Ethics Committee looking into the conduct of Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol. (Betsy Russell)

This morning's first meeting of the House Ethics Committee will focus mostly on procedure, said Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona. Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane will brief the committee on the process, and Loertscher said the committee will then assign the Attorney General "to do an investigation of what we tell him to do." Then, after the initial investigation into the conduct of Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, Loertscher expects the committee to hold a full meeting meeting in late July.

As for this morning's gathering, at which three of the seven committee members, including the chairman, will participate in person and the other four by phone, "I don't think we'll be here terribly long - it just depends on how many questions the committee members have," Loertscher said. "We want to do this by the book."



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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