Based on Britt Robson’s article, I’d say that the fur might start flying inside Lori Swanson’s office. Here’s what Mr. Robson wrote that has me thinking that:

Workers in the Minnesota Attorney General’s office have alleged under oath that current AG Lori Swanson and her predecessor, Mike Hatch, may have illegally diverted federal monies meant to investigate Medicaid fraud, and that a legal settlement negotiated by Swanson and Hatch financially benefited a nonprofit organization that later endorsed Hatch’s campaign for governor.

I posted yesterday that the ACORN revelations with regard to the Capitol One case were troubling but that the potential misuse of federal monies was potentially explosive. That was before I was aware of these alleged affidavits. That takes it to a totally different level. If those attorneys are effective witnesses, which I’m betting they are, then Mike Hatch isn’t the only person who should be sweating right now. I’d have to think that Lori Swanson’s stomach, deservedly, would be tied in knots at this point, too. Here’s what I wrote yesterday about the possible Medicare/Medicaid charges:

Separately, Nobles said he is reviewing the office’s spending from a federal Medicaid account in response to allegations that a small amount was improperly diverted to employee travel. Swanson’s office disputes that money from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit budget was misused.

This could be explosive. If someone steps forward and testifies that money was used on something other that Medicare/Medicaid items, then that’s potentially the basis for a criminal investigation.

If Mr. Robson is right and there are seven affidavits charging the Hatch and Swanson regimes with misuse of federal monies to investigate Medicaid fraud, then that has the potential of launching a federal investigation well outside Hatch’s and Ms. Swanson’s sphere of influence. Hatch’s and Swanson’s approach in dealing with adversity (this certainly qualifies as adversity) is through threats and intimidation. They can do that in Minnesota because they can potentially blacklist attorneys who speak out against them from practicing in the Twin Cities.

Let’s remember that the Legislative Auditor can compel Ms. Swanson’s and Mr. Hatch’s testimony through answering questionnaires about these allegations. Filling out those questionnaires isn’t optional but they are done with the understanding that their answers are under oath. Therefore, they’re subject to perjury laws.

Let’s not be under any illusions: Ms. Swanson and Mr. Hatch thrive on playing political hardball. They don’t hesitate about hitting their opponents with threats and intimidation. That’s their turf. Nonetheless, let’s not underestimate the impact of this paragraph from Mr. Robson’s article:

Nobles did say that when the OLA does its normal audit of the AG’s office early next year, it definitely will “go out and pursue” allegations that the Attorney General’s office had misused federal monies earmarked to uncover Medicaid fraud. According to the legislative auditor, some of the sworn testimony claimed that as far back as 2005 some of this federal money had been instead been “siphoned to other, more headline-grabbing” areas of investigation in the AG’s office.

If it’s verified that federal monies were “siphoned to other, more headline-grabbing” investigations, then no amount of political hardball will help Ms. Swanson and Mr. Hatch.

Another thing that’s noteworthy is the important things that Rep. Steve Simon, (DFL-St. Louis Park), has brought to light:

The specifics of those sworn allegations against Hatch and Swanson may have remained under wraps were it not for detailed questioning from Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-St. Louis Park). Simon, an attorney and former employee in the AG’s office, was one of the legislators instrumental in getting Nobles to launch his preliminary assessment of potential wrongdoing in the office. His first question to Nobles was front-loaded with information about allegations that had been relayed to him. He then offered a legal rationale on why Nobles did not act on this information—and, then asked Nobles if his assumption was accurate.

Specifically, Simon spoke of an employee who said he had been approached by Hatch (who, after Hatch’s gubernatorial defeat and Swanson’s AG victory in the 2006 elections, was serving as Swanson’s deputy) to create a blog post favorable to Swanson, a post Hatch had already composed for him. The employee said he refused to do this, but that Hatch posted it under the employee’s name anyway—and then wanted the employee to falsify his vacation time to cover the period when the blog post was made. Simon surmised that Nobles believed this matter lay outside his purview because the vacation time in question belonged to the employee, not the State of Minnesota, and thus could not be seen as misusing public funds. Nobles then replied that Simon’s account “was an accurate reflection of the testimony under oath,” and one corroborated by other sources. But, Nobles added, “We just put the whole story on the record,” and wondered what else about it would require further investigation—especially since the employee never changed his vacation time card.

All Minnesotans should find this type of corruption appalling and unacceptable. If Lori Swanson won’t leave voluntarily, then she needs to either be convicted of misappropriating monies intended to investigate Medicare fraud or Minnesota’s voters should run her out of office in 2010.

As for Mr. Hatch, I’d love nothing better than to see him convicted for misappropriating federal monies and for him to be disbarred. Anything short of that will feel like Minnesotans got cheated. Mr. Hatch is a bully who’s had other run-ins with the courts. If I recall correctly, he’s the only sitting AG that’s had the State Supreme Court investigate corruption charges.

Let’s make one other point perfectly clear. Mike Hatch was the DFL’s endorsed candidate for governor in 2006. He was a disgusting, unethical person then. The DFL shouldn’t have endorsed him, much less supported him as heartily as they did. The fact that he came within 20,000 votes of defeating Gov. Tim Pawlenty is testimony that the DFL doesn’t mandate ethical behavior from its endorsees. It’s a far cry from being the party that Paul Wellstone loved.

In fact, I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that Sen. Wellstone would call for a federal investigation into the Medicare allegations if he were still alive.

Technorati: Mike Hatch, Lori Swanson, Corruption, Medicare Fraud, Investigations, Jim Nobles, Legislative Auditor, ACORN, Steve Simon, Sanctions, Federal Investigation