Former DFL representative convicted of fraud

A former DFL representative, Loren Jennings, was today convicted of fraud for using his position as a legislator to pass a law that enriched a business that he had dealings with. His lawyer said that they will appeal.

I haven't been following this story too closely and I don't know all the details, but the information I have seen sure makes it look bad. Minnesota is a pretty clean state when it comes to these kinds of conflicts of interest, but it doesn't take much before we end up looking like Ohio. These kinds of conflicts of interest are pretty obvious, so there is no reason why legislators should not divulge them and recuse themselves from voting on these issues. We need to keep a tight lid on these kinds of shenanigans lest they quickly get out of control.