Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
After today's House Ethics Committee deliberations, Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, said, "Well, I still think they're looking for their allegation that shows that there is bona fide violation of Rule 76. ... They're still empty-handed."Asked what he hopes happens next, Hart said, "I'm hoping that…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Starr Kelso, attorney for embattled Rep. Phil Hart, said after today's House Ethics Committee meeting, "What I can say is that the legislative process is a fluid and complex process where politics and due process meet. And so, I guess it was reasonable that they…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, says his conversation with Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, at the Legislature's organizational session wasn't confrontational. "I did approach him and I did say, 'Eric, if you need to get together or if you see a need for us to get…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
House Speaker Lawerence Denney said today that Rep. Eric Anderson's removal as vice-chairman of the House State Affairs Committee - shortly after Anderson had filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Phil Hart - was merely an oversight, but also said he'd warned Anderson of "fallout"…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on today's House Ethics Committee meeting on Rep. Phil Hart, in which the panel voted 6-1 to launch a full investigation into the latest ethics complaint against Hart and reconvene in January, rather than dismiss the…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
The motion passed 6-1, with just the chairman, Rep. Tom Loertscher, voting against it. "You know, as legislators we all have something in our past," said Loertscher, R-Iona. He said he doesn't feel that the "constitutional rights to exhaust our remedies ends the day we…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
"We have before us a copy of the minutes of our last meeting," Rep. Tom Loertscher said as the ethics committee came back into session. "On page 6, on the last page, Rep. Raybould moved that the committee dismiss the complaint of misuse of constitutional…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
During the Ethics Committee's break, over the speaker system is coming a muffled conversation by Rep. Phil Hart, talking at his lawyer's office, and strains of music.
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Rep. Eric Anderson said children have asked him how the courts could repeatedly say Hart was wrong, but he could continue to say he's right. Rep. Tom Loertscher, Ethics committee chairman, asked Anderson, "Is Rep. Hart denied the opportunity to challenge ... in any court…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, told the House Ethics Committee, "It could be an array of things that cause ethics issues to rise up. ... I don't know why we have an oath if it's not going to be enforced." He said he believes Hart…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said after reviewing Rep. Eric Anderson's complaint, there was no mention in it of the silver issue. Therefore, he said, he apologized to the committee and it shouldn't even be discussing it. Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, asked if under state laws…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
A half-dozen Hart supporters in the audience, who are wearing white paper cut-out hearts in support of Phil Hart, are grumbling loudly, "This is a circus" and other complaints about the Ethics Committee proceedings.
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Rep. Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg, said if the Ethics Committee is going to proceed further "on this silver coin issue," it needs a lot more information about the organization, the bill Hart introduced in 2010, and more. He said he didn't think that was what the…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
After Rep. Bill Killen, D-Boise, pressed repeatedly, attorney Starr Kelso finally conferred with his client, Rep. Phil Hart, and said Hart was not involved with the NORFED Liberty Dollars organization after 2006 or 2007. When he introduced legislation in 2010 regarding silver medallions as currency,…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, asked whether Hart had proper permits to sell NORFED or Liberty Dollars. Starr Kelso responded, "That issue, to the extent it was raised, was discussed in the original hearing." He said the question of whether Hart paid sales taxes on the…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
After Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, said of the timber issue, "I believe that there's some merit there, that we should look into this further," Ethics Committee Chair Tom Loertscher R-Iona, said, "The thing we should consider is if Rep. Hart used his office as a…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said there are three points in the ethics complaint: Theft of logs from state endowment lands, claiming that state and federal income taxes are unconstitutional, and personally benefiting from silver legislation. "We dealt in our last meetings about these items having…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Ethics Committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, opened the ethics committee hearing this morning saying, "The purpose of our meeting today is to make a determination as to whether or not there is merit enough on this complaint to go further. This is not a hearing…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
This morning's House Ethics Committee meeting will be broadcast live on the Internet; you can listen in by going to the Legislature's website and clicking on the link under "Announcements."Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, has submitted letters of support from GOP central committees in Boundary, Bonner…
Mon., Dec. 13, 2010
Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, who filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, that's the topic of a House Ethics Committee hearing later this morning, says Hart confronted him over it during the Dec. 2 organizational session of the Legislature, and Anderson subsequently…
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