Hoffman ethics complaint dropped

The Senate Ethics  Committee has dismissed a complaint against GOP freshman Sen. Gretchen Hoffman over a tweet she sent out about DFL Sen. Barb Goodwin in the midst of a heated health and human services debate.

GOP Senate Ethics Chair Michelle Fischbach issued a letter Tuesday saying Hoffman has fulfilled the requirements set by the committee and the complaint has been dropped. Last Monday the committee ruled that Hoffman must issue a written apology to Goodwin, delete the original tweet, and post the committee resolution on her Twitter account.

Hoffman angered DFLers when she tweeted that Goodwin had “just called people with mental illness- idiots and imbeciles- while debating HHS bill” on the floor in May. Goodwin was referencing the fact that state institutions for those with mental illness used to be called “institutions for idiots, imbeciles, and the insane,” and asked Hoffman to apologize on the floor. When she did not receive an apology, DFL Sen. Ann Rest filed an ethics complaint.

Hoffman sent a written apology late last week and removed the original tweet from her account, but further angered DFLers by closing her old account and tweeting the report link on a new account with no followers.