Republican Senate Leader says DFL is Protecting Unethical Senator

Minnesota’s Senate Minority Leader, David Hann, is calling for a hearing to determine whether a ranking DFL senator should keep his job after Hann says he illegally took money from a Minneapolis charity.

Hann (R) of Eden Prairie wants the Senate’s Ethics Subcommittee to hold a hearing on Senator Jeff Hayden’s involvement with Community Action Minneapolis. The charity closed in 2014 after an FBI raid uncovered the its CEO Bill Davis was stealing money for personal use. Davis plead guilty earlier this month to sixteen counts of fraud.

Hayden served as a board member of Community Action Minneapolis. Hayden reimbursed the organization for nearly three thousand dollars for “improper expenditures” including plane tickets, hotel stays, and spa services for he and his wife.

Senator Hann is asking the President of the Senate and Chairwoman of the ethics subcommittee Sandy Pappas to hear his complaint against Hayden, explaining that the Deputy Majority leader unethically and illegally took money from Community Action Minneapolis, stating, “As the investigation went forward it was proven without a doubt that Senator Hayden took money from this organization, improperly, illegally.”

Hann believes the DFL party in MN is protecting one of their own, explaining “I think there are a number of red flags that have been raised along the way that the DFL Party has decided to just turn a blind eye to in order to protect their own.”

Senator Pappas, who decides whether or not the ethics subcommittee will meet over this complaint, has declined to comment to Alpha News. If they do meet and find Hayden violated Senate rules, he could face anything from a fine to removal from office.  Senator Hayden could not be reached for comment.

Bill Davis and his son Jordan, who was also convicted of stealing state funds, are awaiting their sentencing.