Top House Democrat: Speaker Should Explain Settlements

ST. PAUL (AP) - The top Democrat in the Minnesota House says Speaker Kurt Daudt should answer questions about the way some personal debts were settled.

Daudt, a Republican from Crown, has been sued three times in the past year over thousands of dollars in credit card charges. One case of more than $9,000 in credit card debt was settled just as a court hearing approached on Monday.

House DFL Leader Paul Thissen says Daudt needs to disclose what's in a settlement he reached involving a law firm that has "significant lobbying ties" at the Capitol.

Thissen also says Daudt should say who paid his legal costs in the matter.

He also says Daudt is showing hypocrisy by asking for empathy for his personal financial troubles when he hasn't reached a deal to extend relief to miners and others out of work on the Iron Range.