Politics & Government

Bragdon Cleared on Three of Five Ethics Allegations

Legislative Ethics Committee will request former state Senate president to respond to two "informal requests of consent."

New Hampshire’s Legislative Ethics Committee cleared former state Senate President Peter Bragdon, R-Milford, of three of five ethics complaints in connection with his recent appointment to lead the Local Government Center.

The committee held an initial public hearing at 10 a.m. on Jan. 27, and then went into non-public session for more than two hours to discuss the charges that were brought forth by state Rep. Rick Watrous, D-Concord.

The three allegations that Bragdon was cleared of were done so based on lack of evidence, according to the motions and votes. Those charges were, that he knew or believed he was being recruited to assist the organization based on his position as a state Senator and Senate president; that he used his official position to obtain the employment; and that he used his position to better his chances of getting the job by appointing state Jeanie Sen. Forrester, R-Meredith, to a study committee looking at possible changes in state law in the wake of a ruling against the LGC.

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Two of the allegations, whether or not Bragdon’s acceptance of employment was a violation of guidelines since he knew that he would be interested in legislation and whether or not his salary should be considered a “prohibited gift,” were sent to “informal resolution” but also deemed “inadvertent” on the part of Bragdon.

All the votes were unanimous, 7-0.

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Bragdon will be sent a letter requesting action on the two informal resolution items and will be expected to respond.

Martin Gross, the chairman of the committee, said that a written report about the investigations that explain the committee’s conclusions would be released in the next week or so. Bragdon’s “consent is necessary” to concluding the investigation, he said. If he does not consent, the committee will go back into session and deal with the two issues.

The report will include specific text from Bragdon and request a response from him and “will have some conditions and require some actions on his part,” according to Gross.

“We have not dismissed those,” he added, “they are out there floating.”

Gross said he didn’t think Bragdon would ignore the issues since the charges were still open.

In an email, Bragdon said he would only offer comment on the dismissals, since he hadn’t seen the informal consent requests yet and stated that he didn’t think he was in conflict.

“I have said all along that I have tried to follow all ethics rules and guidelines in my conduct during the hiring process and as executive director of HealthTrust,” Bragdon said. “I am relieved to find the Legislative Ethics Committee has agreed by dismissing the charges.”

Bragdon has said he would rescue himself from any votes connected to the organization. The job led to his resignation from the Senate presidency in August 2013.

Gross said that after meeting in October 2013, the committee requested and received correspondence from Bragdon about the charges. Watrous offered counter-correspondence in November. In late November, before the hearing about Medicaid expansion in New Hampshire, Bragdon offered more clarification and disclaimers, according to Gross, and the committee collected more information in December and January, leading up to the committee’s meeting on Jan. 27.


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