ST. PAUL, Minn. — The head of the Democratic Party in Minnesota, Ken Martin, denounced Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn on for heavy spending on taxpayer-financed mailings to his constituents and called for the House Ethics Committee to investigate. Martin said that Hagedorn was using his tax dollars to prop up his failing campaign.” Hagedorn is in a tight race for re-election. Said Martin: “Congressmen are not allowed to use tax dollars to line their pockets, or the pockets of their cronies, or the pockets of their staff members. And clearly Jim Hagedorn did that” Martin cited emails that the Minneapolis Star Tribune had unearthed between Hagedorn and his staff. The emails, Martin said, show that Hagedorn was personally involved in decision-making about the mailings. Hagedorn has blamed staff for exhausting around a fifth of his $1.4 million official office budget on mailings alone in the first three months of the year. He fired his chief of staff, Peter Su, in mid-June over the issue.
