BOISE SWAMP: Ethics Chairman in HUGE Conflict of Interest
by Shari Dovale
It is getting exhausting for the average Idaho citizen to try to keep up with all the shenanigans that our GOP leadership is putting us through from Boise.
First we have the fake-offended ladies that whined to the Speaker about an elected representative talking Truth-to-Power. We call it such because a big part of Christy Perry’s complaints were that she was cowering in fear of this representative because she carries a gun.
Oh, Horror!
She neglected to mention that she (Perry) not only carries a gun herself but she (Perry) owns a gun store!
Next, we have the Speaker seeming to placate these butt-hurt women by stripping this representative of her committee assignments. However, it seems quite obvious to those of us that have been paying attention that the Speaker’s actions were really about quashing the ‘Liberty’ movement and candidates.
After all, we cannot have the people believing that the elected should be taking orders from the citizens, can we? The Freedom Agenda is a greater threat to the establishment than ever anticipated.
Moving on, we have the Majority Leader Mike Moyle getting involved by talking out of school and implying that a certain representative’s punishment is actually a done deal, and they will be ousted, or rather “jettisoned”, by the establishment bullies.
He then takes it even further and apparently intimidates at least one witness in this whole swampy mess, trying to push them into supporting his “Hail, Mary” effort to get out of trouble.
Whew… Are you ready for the next chapter?
[Redacted Name] wrote an apparent draft letter to Rep. Ron Nate. However, before he sent this letter, he emailed it to Rep. Van Burtenshaw, R-Terreton, to get his “thoughts” concerning the comments.
I don’t know if Burtenshaw replied with his thoughts first, but I do know that he forwarded this email to the Speaker of the House, Scott Bedke, presumably to get his (Bedke’s) thoughts as well.
The letter is important because of the language used and the content discussed.
The email included the following statement:
Heather Scott made some stupid comments and those comments had the same effect of trying to get ahead as “spreading her legs”.
So we now have the Speaker and the Rep. Burtenshaw sharing, discussing and using the exact same language that they are punishing Rep. Scott for using. The Speaker has removed her from her committees, and the Majority Leader Mike Moyle has threatened to “jettison” her from her elected seat.
The citizens that elected her are not considered. 55,000 people are left to be stripped of their representation on the Speaker’s whim.
This letter is dated January 17, 2017. This date is also important because of what transpired after.
There was a caucus just a few hours after this letter went from Burtenshaw to Bedke. This was when the Speaker chose the Chairman of the Ethics Committee, which results were announced the next day during the regular session.
So, Rep Burtenshaw took an ethics complaint and forwarded it to the Speaker for his input, all while knowing he was on the short list for the Ethics Committee and the Chairmanship.
This makes for a HUGE Conflict of Interest for Rep. Burtenshaw as well as for Speaker Bedke. Was the Chairmanship a reward for loyalty, as it seems?
It also seems this Good Old Boys Club has got their own personal ethics squirreled away in some obscure location.
Rep. Christy Perry had an adulterous affair with a colleague, Sen. Jim Guthrie. They both admitted to this affair. This behavior is not just immoral, it is illegal and listed as a felony. I don’t really care that this is a crime that the establishment blows off as not worth prosecuting. That Boise Swamp attitude just tells me more about their lack of a moral compass if they refuse to discipline an admitted felon.
However, the leadership in the Capital has chosen to “look the other way” and not even refer her to the Ethics Committee, as it should have been. There have been complaints from citizens about Rep. Perry’s behavior, yet these complaints were ignored by leadership…again.
Instead, she also received … wait for it …. a Chairmanship.
Our lawmaking leadership certainly does not hold themselves to the same standards as they do the rest of the state.
The views, opinions, or positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions of Redoubt News. Social Media, including Facebook, has greatly diminished distribution of our content to our readers’ newsfeeds and is instead promoting Main Stream Media sources. This is called ‘Shadow-banning’. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you. Please support our coverage of your rights. Donate here: paypal.me/RedoubtNews
And Burtenshaw had an exchange of money with Perry during campaign season which Burtenshaw never reported on his sunshine report. Public viewing at sos.idaho.gov/elect/finance/2016 And Perry was quite generous with her war chest too giving to campaigns of Hormon, Burtenshaw, and Moyle. Of all the people Bedke gave to Perry was his top recipient at $1500. Strange bedfellows indeed.