The Idaho Democratic Party has responded to Sen. Monty Pearce's charge that an ethics complaint against him from Senate Democrats is "political" and a partisan-motivated attempt to sully his reputation. "There is nothing political about insisting that our statesmen act like statesmen and follow the rules," the party said in a news release today. "It is past time that they hold themselves to a high ethical standard." Click below to read their full statement.
The Democrats also released a copy of Pearce's Nov. 4, 2011 lease to Snake River Oil and Gas, along with a copy of a redacted lease from Bridge Energy, another company, for comparison; the Snake River lease says Pearce will get 1/8 of the oil and 1/8 of the gross proceeds of the revenues from natural gas pumped from 288 acres of his Payette County property.
News release from the Idaho Democratic Party
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: March 16, 2012
As The Story Unfolds
The attached copy of Monty Pearce’s land lease shows that contrary to his statement on the floor of the Senate that he had land leases going back 30 years, this lease was just signed in November of 2011 and filed with the county in December of 2011. That is an awfully short period of time to forget something that has the potential to be a lucrative investment.
We are thankful that a Senate ethics committee has been called and hopeful that they act quickly. However, previous efforts at self-regulation have proven ineffective and it is highly suspect that Pearce will receive anything but a slap on the hand.
There is nothing political about insisting that our Statesmen act like statesmen and follow the rules. It is past time that they hold themselves to a high ethical standard. If we had meaningful ethics reform and an independent ethics commission we would be able to ensure that are public servants weren’t self servants first and letting the people of Idaho come second.
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.
