INDIANAPOLIS – Wednesday marked the 100th day since a formal request for an investigation into Speaker Brian Bosma’s conduct was filed with the House Statutory Committee on Ethics. In 2014, the last time a request for an investigation was filed with the committee, it took just six days for an answer. Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody believed the inaction highlighted a culture of cronyism creeping into the Statehouse.

“The longer Statehouse Republicans bury this investigation, the more it looks like a political cover-up and an attempt to protect a powerful political ally,” said Zody.

The investigation is the easy part. Incoming Committee Chairwoman Sharon Negele will have to defend Republican committee members’ partiality after each signed a letter proclaiming Bosma’s innocence.

“How can taxpayers trust the results if half the investigators have already publicly sided with the subject of the investigation?” said Zody. “I don’t blame Hoosiers if they think the whole thing is rigged to protect politicians. This kind of irresponsible behavior from the Ethics Committee does nothing to assuage taxpayers’ perception that Statehouse Republicans just don’t think the rules apply to them.”

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