Attorney general's office to be scrutinized

The state legislative auditor is launching an investigation into allegations of ethical misconduct in Attorney General Lori Swanson's office, which has been wracked by months of turmoil and turnover.

Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles said the preliminary probe could take weeks, after which he will decide whether to conduct an in-depth inquiry.

He announced the investigation at a Legislative Audit Commission meeting after assuring members of the bipartisan panel that he wouldn't conduct "a broad-ranging fishing expedition" dealing with mere labor grievances.

Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-St. Louis Park, called on Nobles to pursue allegations that assistant attorneys general were pressured to begin investigations without merit, sue prematurely and file incorrect information in affidavits.

But other DFLers on the commission expressed uneasiness with voting to investigate the attorney general, also a DFLer, and the panel instead encouraged Nobles to use his own authority to launch a probe.

Nobles stressed that Swanson shouldn't take the absence of a vote as "any diminishment of my authority" to conduct a thorough probe.

Swanson issued a statement Friday saying she welcomed "review of the matter by the legislative auditor, which will hopefully shed light on these murky allegations."

In recent weeks, Swanson dismissed discontent in the office as a result of a union organizing effort. And she accused one organizer, Assistant Attorney General Amy Lawler, of violating attorney disciplinary rules by failing to bring her allegations of ethical lapses to the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility.

Employee dissatisfaction

Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, and Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, were hesitant to ask Nobles to conduct a probe, characterizing many problems in the office as mere employee dissatisfaction.

"Everything that I've seen so far, it seems to me that this has been an internal employment issue," Betzold said.

However, Simon, an assistant attorney general from 1996 to 2001, and Rep. Michael Beard, R-Shakopee, cited Lawler's allegations of ethical misconduct as a signal that something more serious might be occurring.

Beard said, "I've never seen anybody go over the top like that on behalf of a unionization effort."

Lawler has complained that Swanson last year told her she wanted to sue mortgage foreclosure consultants and asked her to find cases within a week or two.

"It seemed clear to me ... that it might be difficult to ethically file lawsuits within the proscribed amount of time, and that it was questionable to decide to file a lawsuit before even locating a defendant," Lawler wrote a Swanson deputy.

Lawler said the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility told her it couldn't investigate her ethics complaint because the attorney general represents the professional panel.

Ultimately, Lawler said, she filed meritorious lawsuits against defendants in December.

Simon said he didn't know whether the complaints against Swanson were valid, but added, "The stakes are very, very high. That person, and that office, has to be held to the highest possible ethical standards."

Pat Doyle • 651-222-1210