Senate Ethics Committee urged to resume investigation into complaint regarding Sen. Jeff Hayden

Voting public deserves to know whether Hayden personally profited from improper expenditures of tax dollars and lied under oath about misconduct

(St. Paul, MN…) Senate Republican Leader David Hann renewed his call for the Ethics Subcommittee to reconvene and finish hearing his complaint against DFL Senator Jeff Hayden regarding Hayden’s actions as a board member for Community Action Minneapolis (CAM). The subcommittee voted in November 2014 to reconvene when the Commerce Department was finished with their investigation. Since then:

  • The Commerce Department submitted an audit report to the court in June 2015, citing thousands of dollars of “unusual board expenses” and “inappropriate allocation of board expenses” while Sen. Hayden was a board member.
  • The court-appointed receiver reimbursed the Department of Commerce over $200,000 from the remaining assets of CAM.
  • Sen. Hayden reimbursed CAM $2,750 for “improper expenditures” including plane tickets, hotel stays, and spa services for him and his wife.
  • Former CAM CEO Bill Davis pleaded guilty to 16 counts of fraud and theft after a FBI investigation.
  • Jordan Davis was convicted by a federal jury of six counts of aiding and abetting mail fraud and conspiracy to misuse taxpayer funds.

“Democrats are using their political power at the capitol to hide their Deputy Majority Leader’s illegal and unethical actions. It has to stop,” said Sen. Hann (R-Eden Prairie). “We waited a year and a half for the dust to settle on Community Action Minneapolis, and now we know all the facts. Sen. Hayden received benefits improperly; he admitted it when he reimbursed CAM $2,750. It’s time to for the Subcommittee to deal with this matter once and for all.”

In a letter to Sen. Sandy Pappas, Chairwoman of the Senate Ethics Subcommittee, Sen. Hann wrote:

“There has been a cloud of suspicion hanging over Sen. Hayden and the Minnesota Senate for almost two years. That cloud of suspicion now also hangs over Commissioner Rothman and the DOC. Moreover, as voters head to the polls this November, Sen. Hayden’s constituents deserve to know if he was involved in unethical, and potentially illegal, activity as a board member of Community Action of Minneapolis.”