Ethics Probe Sought Against U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA)

An ethics complaint was filed against Sen. Mark Warner for his role in trying to dissuade a Democrat state senator from resigning in the middle of a legislative battle.

The Republican Party of Virginia filed a formal ethics complaint Friday against Sen. Mark Warner (D) for “brainstorming” about jobs for a state senator’s daughter as he tried to dissuade the legislator from quitting in the middle of a bitterly partisan Medicaid battle.

Warner called the state senator’s son to discuss job options for the senator’s daughter, including a federal judgeship.

Puckett, a Southwest Virginia Democrat, abruptly resigned the state Senate in June amid job talks with Republicans, throwing control of the evenly divided chamber to Republicans in the middle of a standoff over whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. When word of Puckett’s planned departure began to leak, Warner was one of many high-powered Democrats who urged him to stay. Warner called Puckett’s son, Joseph, and discussed potential job options for the state’s senator’s daughter, including a federal judgeship and private-sector work.