Virtual File - Item

Text: August 28, 2019

Representative Matt Grossell
State Office Building, office 227
St. Paul, MN 55155

By email to rep.matt.grossell@house.mn and hand delivery to SOB 227

Dear Representative Grossell:

I am writing to let you know that as a result of the conduct you engaged in and decisions you made on May 4, 2019, that I have elected to remove you from your committee assignments on the Public Safety and Judiciary Committees.

I have reviewed the police report pertaining to your conduct on May 4, 2019 that resulted in charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing. While I understand that you have agreed to participate in a diversion program in order to avoid the potential imposition of a criminal penalty, the police report documents behaviors that are in conflict with the expectations we have for members of the Minnesota House of Representatives.

I do not reach this decision lightly. In addition to reviewing the police reports in this matter, I also reviewed records from the Minnesota House of Representatives summarizing past incidents of member conduct that involved allegations of misconduct, alcohol-related violations of the law, and past ethics complaints to determine the appropriate consequence for your conduct.

Serving in elective office as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives is a public trust, an honor, and a privilege. House Rule 6.10 states:
A complaint may be brought [to the Committee on Ethics] about conduct by a member that violates a rule or administrative policy of the House, that violates accepted norms of House behavior, that betrays the public trust, or that tends to bring the House into dishonor or disrepute.

While I am concerned about all of the incidents described in the police reports, including the altercation at the hotel, your conduct at the hospital, and the manner in which you behaved during your arrest, the conduct that most concerns me was your entry into police headquarters at 5:40 am, after your discharges from the hospital, and more than five hours after the initial police response to your conduct. On page 24 of the attached PDF of the police reports from that evening, it states that:

Grossell came into HQ at 0540 hours. He told Officer Everett that he was a State Representative for District 2A and a retired Clearwater County Sheriff. He told Everett that he was arrested and he does not know why. Grossell told Everett that "it will be hell to pay." Grossell told Officer Everett to call the Chief. He left the building at 0546 hours.

In my judgement, this conduct is an abuse of the office you hold as an elected official and a consequence and sanction is appropriate. I have determined that the appropriate sanction for your implied threat to law enforcement by calling attention to your elected office and stating that "it will be hell to pay" is your removal from the committee work that most directly shapes legislation that affects members of our law enforcement community.

I wish you the best as you seek treatment and recovery.

Sincerely,
Melissa Hortman
Speaker of the House

cc: Minority Leader Kurt Daudt
Majority Leader Ryan Winkler
Chair Carlos Mariani
Chair John Lesch
Chief Clerk Patrick Murphy

[responses to Hortman letter included in file attachments]