Minnesota House ethics complaints dismissed: 3 lawmakers accused of drinking, DWI, lobbying

3 MN lawmakers face ethics committee, all 3 dismissed

Three Minnesota lawmakers faced the ethics committee and all three were dismissed. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard has the latest.  

Ethics complaints against Minnesota lawmakers led to a rare hearing but ended without any disciplinary action.

Lawmakers face ethics complaints over drinking and lobbying

What we know:

Democrats filed a complaint against Republican Reps. Elliot Engen and Walter Hudson, accusing them of leaving a committee meeting to drink alcohol, then returning to the Capitol for votes. 

Onlookers said they saw the lawmakers drinking hard liquor and photographed them with beers while the committee continued its discussion of teacher retention and student absenteeism.

Engen later received a DWI several hours after leaving the committee meeting. He told police he was acting as a sober cab for Hudson and another passenger. Democrats also questioned whether Hudson was armed and above the legal limit for permitted carrying when he and Engen returned from the bar and spoke on the House floor.

"In no other job is it acceptable to leave in the middle of the workday to go drinking. And it should not be acceptable at the Capitol either," said Jamie Long, a Democrat from Minneapolis. Long also said, "The public deserves better, our colleagues deserve better, and this institution deserves better."

"Having had a single beer, it did not in any way, shape, or form change my duties or my actions," said Engen. "My contention is that the conduct of myself and Representative Engen on March 26th in relation to official business was not a violation of the established norms that are consistently and uniformly enforced in this house," said Hudson.

Hudson was dismissive of the complaint, while Engen argued he is a hard-working legislator and there is no honor in the House, so he could not have brought dishonor.

The committee hearing was the first time in 17 years that House ethics complaints were considered.

The other side:

Republicans filed a complaint against Rep. Alex Falconer, accusing him of lobbying from a legislative office. Falconer was a registered lobbyist for Save the Boundary Waters until about a month before he joined the legislature in 2025 and remains a senior advisor for a wilderness advocacy group.

Falconer said he cleared everything with nonpartisan staff and believes the GOP is trying to distract from the complaints about Engen and Hudson.

Ultimately, the committee unanimously rejected all three complaints.

The backstory:

The ethics complaints stemmed from actions on March 26, when Engen and Hudson left a committee meeting before it ended. The incident was followed by Engen's DWI later that night. The complaints brought rare attention to ethics enforcement in the Minnesota House, as it had been 17 years since the last ethics complaints were heard.

The committee's decision not to take action means the lawmakers will not face further consequences of these complaints.