(TNS) — A Democratic state senator is making the rare call for an ethics investigation into fellow senator Doug Mastriano’s efforts to try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Sen. Art Haywood, D-Montgomery/Philadelphia counties, said on Tuesday he intends to file a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee to determine whether or not Mastriano, a Republican from Franklin County, should be disciplined for actions taken and statements made that sought to keep former President Donald Trump in office for a second term despite his loss to President Joe Biden.
Mastriano provided a reaction to Haywood’s anticipated ethics complaint against him on his Facebook page in a post that concluded: “This stunt will not intimidate or silence me.”
The call for an investigation met with criticism from a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana County.
“It is unfortunate we are seeing the new year start with political gamesmanship,” said Pittman spokeswoman Kate Flessner.
Haywood, who announced his plans at a Capitol news conference, cited a collection of incidents documented in public record that he believes warrants Mastriano’s conduct to be reviewed by the chamber’s ethics committee.
He said Mastriano needs to be held accountable for organizing and speaking at rallies to promote the idea that votes cast in that election were illegitimate, organizing a hearing at which unsworn testimony proven to be false was offered by Trump advisors, and among other allegations, being present on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol.
“All three branches of the federal government have referred to the events of January 6 as an insurrection and the participants in such events as insurrectionists,” Haywood said. “These are serious actions and conduct and statements, so serious that they require an investigation by the Senate of Pennsylvania to whether these actions violate Senate ethics rules and whether the consequences of such action warrant the highest consequence of expulsion or reprimand or censure.”
Mastriano, who previously was criticized by other Democratic senators for being in attendance at the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., that day, has said when lawlessness broke out from rioters storming the Capitol, he walked away.
Pointing out that Mastriano swore to uphold the constitution as a member of the military as well as when he took office in the Senate, Brie Sparkman, policy council for the Washington, D.C.-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, applauded Haywood for pursuing the investigation into whether Mastriano acted in contravention of those oaths.
“Countless courts including every court that’s considered this issue have now concluded that [Jan. 6 attack] was in fact an insurrection and Senator Mastriano is instrumental in that effort,” Sparkman said. “If the very fabric of our democracy is to hold, the constitution must be enforced and accountability must be pursued against those who engage in an insurrection against it.”
About that, Mastriano said in his statement, ““I do not need a lecture on the U.S. Constitution. I volunteered to defend it while serving our nation for over 30 years as an officer in the U.S. Army.”
Sparkman’s organization, which led the effort to have Trump disqualified from serving as president had barring his name from appearing on Colorado’s 2024 presidential ballot that is now being challenged, aided Haywood in researching and collecting evidence to present to the ethics committee.
According to Senate rules, the ethics committee comprises six members – three from each party – appointed by the Senate president pro tempore. The committee reviews a complaint and determines within 30 days whether the matter warrants further investigation. Much of this committee’s work is done in private unless the senator who is the focus of the probe requests it be done publicly.
If the majority of the committee finds the senator committed an ethics violation, a report is presented to the full Senate for a vote to adopt the committee’s finding and determine whether a sanction should be issued.
Haywood said given the allegations documented in the record he is providing to the ethics committee, “I’m confident they will come up with a conclusion that’s consistent with the facts.”
Mastriano responded to the call for an ethics investigation into him by attacking Haywood and Sparkman’s organization in his statement.
“One would think that the long time senator for the Fourth District of Pennsylvania would start out the New Year by helping people and improving quality of life in his own district which is suffering from record crime rates and an epidemic drug overdose that is cutting down so many of his constituents in the prime of their lives,” he stated..
“Sadly, the senator is focused on a partisan PR stunt. What is truly unethical is a Senator using his bully pulpit to attack the freedom of speech of those he disagrees with. The Senator should tread carefully with this new precedent. Some could construe that his inflammatory anti-law enforcement rhetoric and actions led to the deadly and destructive riots across our commonwealth during the Summer of 2020.
“The senator further embarrassed himself by justifying his specious ethics complaint with a report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). CREW is a well-documented far left activist organization founded by a Democrat operative and uses a DNC vendor (Act Blue) to solicit donations from left-wing donors.”
