Noble denies ethics breach

Wed., Feb. 23, 2005

Chuck Oxley Associated Press

BOISE – State Sen. Jack Noble appeared before the Senate Ethics Committee on Tuesday and denied he violated ethics rules when he sponsored a bill that critics say would have benefited his convenience store by making it eligible to sell liquor.

Noble attacked the news media for stories suggesting that he may have violated ethics rules.

“There has been some very slanderous, very inflammatory stuff that’s been written. I believe in my mind that it’s crossed the line. There’s politics we all play, but this has gone too far,” the two-term Republican from Kuna said. “The damage done by these insinuations and outright lies damaged me in ways it’s going to be hard to measure.”

Noble said the Rules of the Idaho State Liquor Dispensary prohibit liquor distributors from holding any partisan state political office.

“I think that’s very close to being clear,” Noble said. “No matter how bad I may have thought I wanted to or whatever … there is no way that I could receive a liquor license,” he said in sworn testimony. “I believe it is a non-issue. I believed all along it is a non-issue. It is a dead issue.”

But lawmakers were interested in probing further, particularly to determine what Noble believed at the time he introduced the bill Feb. 4. His taped remarks to reporters as recently as Friday indicate Noble had no idea such a rule even existed.

“If the question is did I need a bill to get a liquor license, the answer is simply no,” Noble said Friday. “Would I have a pecuniary benefit? No. The statute … is not required, not needed, if I should decide to get a license.”

Noble refused to talk to reporters after Tuesday’s hearing, so he did not have a chance to explain the discrepancy between his statements last Friday and his statements at the hearing.

However, additional information about the situation came to light from written testimony provided to the committee.

Even if Noble did not obtain a liquor license himself, his property would be more valuable if it were eligible for a license.

His store, Jacksmart, is for sale.

Sen. Brent Hill, chairman of the special Ethics Committee, asked Noble a series of written questions before Tuesday’s hearing.

Noble was asked, “Do you have an agreement to sell your business that is located near the school, or are you in negotiations to sell such business?”

“Yes (This is sensitive),” he responded.

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