‘You have two courts: Legal, and public opinion’

As the Senate Ethics Committee continued discussing the definitions of conflict of interest and Senate disclosure rules this morning, Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d’Alene, said, “Most of the time we try to err on the side of making sure that we do disclose rather than not, even though it’s a bit of a stretch in terms of personal conflict.” Kane said that’s not uncommon. “You have two courts, and I may be able to get you a win in the legal court,” he said, “but that does not equate to a win in the court of public opinion, as you have identified.”