Leaders of the House Ethics Committee are meeting Monday afternoon to determine who will be called as witnesses in dueling complaints filed against Reps. Greg Hughes, R-Draper and Phil Riesen, D-Salt Lake.

They will also decide what to do about the latest filing in the battle that began last week, a request by Riesen that the committee dismiss the ethics complaint brought against him by Hughes and two other Republican representatives.

That complaint accuses Riesen of leaking information about the charges he and two other Democratic lawmakers later filed against Hughes, including that Hughes offered former GOP Rep. Susan Lawrence a $50,000 campaign donation to vote in favor of school vouchers.

Riesen's attorney, Pat Shea, said he hopes the committee will quickly dismiss what he characterized as "a retributive ethics charge" so members can focus on the allegations against Hughes.

Shea said the complaint against Riesen could set a "dangerous precedent" that could have a chilling effect on the First Amendment rights of lawmakers seeking to file ethics charges.

But Hughes' attorney, Thomas Karrenberg, said Hughes' complaint against Riesen is "more serious" than the one filed by Riesen against Hughes. He said that was an attempt "to try to blindside somebody with nothing but a political smear campaign."

The committee meets as a whole for the first time on the complaints this Wednesday.

But committee co-chairman Rep. Todd Kiser, R-Sandy, said today it may take more time for the legislatures's legal counsel to come up with a recommendation on the request for dismissal because of the technical nature of the legal arguments involved.

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"I'm uncomfortable to say what we are going to put first on the agenda right now," Kiser said. "This may not be the first thing reviewed because I'm not sure they have adequate resources and time to be able to move that quickly on this."

Kiser said the committee is already moving faster than he would like on the initial complaints.

"We're meeting Wednesday because of the election implications," he said, a reference to every House seat being on the Nov. 4 ballot. "We wish we had more time. We don't. Hopefully, we're not moving too quickly."


E-MAIL: lisa@desnews.com

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