Senate Ethics Committee adopts findings, adds statement that witnesses were credible

The Senate Ethics Committee voted unanimously to adopt its committee report as amended, adding a sentence that "the committee found all witnesses who testified at the adjudicative hearing to be credible," after members debated whether portions of a legislative auditor's memo should be included or summarized in the factual findings.

The committee, led by Chairman Mandeville, spent the meeting reviewing staff edits and several conceptual amendments proposed by Senator Smith and others. Senator Smith said he sought a document limited to factual findings and cautioned against inserting legal conclusions: "I have been very clear here that my goal is a factual finding. I've been very clear that I do not want this document to include legal conclusions," he said. Counsel proposed…