April 22 - Senator Champion asks for ethics advisory opinion after Senate GOP files a conflict of interest complaint

The Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct hears a request for an ethics advisory opinion from Sen. Bobby Joe Champion after Senate Republicans filed a conflict of interest complaint.

Sen. Sandra Pappas, DFL-St.Paul, temporary replaces Sen. Bobby Joe Champion as chair of the Senate t on Ethical Conduct after Senate Republicans filed a conflict of interest complaint against Sen. Champion until the matter is resolved.

Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Mpls, left and his attorney David Zoll, right, are sworn in before testifying on Sen. Champion’s request for an advisory opinion by the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct.

Sen. Bobby Joe Champion holds up a binder that he used to explain any of the events that led up to the conflict of interest complaint filed by Senate Republicans.

Champion supporters filled the committee room for the hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct.

Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, denied any wrong doing that he directed $3 million in state grants to Rev. Jerry McAfee’s nonprofit, during an unusual question and answer period between he and his attorney David Zoll before the subcommittee.

Sen. Jeromy Miller, R-Winona, left, and Sen. Andrew Mathews, R-Princeton, right, had doubts on whether the subcommittee could make an advisory opinion on a two year old happening on a current conflict of interest complaint.

Rev. McAfee’s nonprofit Salem Inc. received $3 million during the 2023-24 legislative session and a request for another $1 million grant to 21 Days of Peace, a violence prevention group headed by McAfee during this legislative session. The latest request is not presently in any omnibus bill.

Sen. Bobby Joe Champion tells the subcommittee once again, “I did nothing wrong then, and I did nothing wrong now.”

Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, left and his attorney David Zoll chat after the subcommittee adjourned. Another hearing of the subcommittee will be held on Thursday, April 24 and a hearing on the Republican conflict of interest complaint is set for May 5.

THURSDAY, April 24 - Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct hearing.

The Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct concluded that Sen. Bobby Joe Champion had no financial conflict for nonprofit pro bono work in 2022 & 23 and from a spending bill introduced in the 2025 session. There was no decision of a conflict of interest on a funding bill for a nonprofit authored by Sen. Champion in 2023. The committee

also recommended disclosure of a mere conflict of interest is important not only for Sen. Champion but also for all members of the Senate. The subcommittee is expected to hear the Republican conflict of interest complaint still on May 5.