Panel Doesn’t Act on Complaint Tied to Bachmann

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A state Senate ethics committee has opted not to act on a complaint filed against a Republican senator that accused him of taking improper payments from Rep. Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign.

During a Wednesday meeting, committee members voted to take no further action unless they get additional information on the complaint filed Jan 28 by former Bachmann aide Peter Waldron against Sen. Kent Sorenson. Waldron says Bachmann for President tried to conceal payments to Sorenson by running the money through a political action committee with ties to the Minnesota congresswoman.

The Senate has an ethics ban on paid employment with political campaigns. Sorenson has called the claims "baseless."

Davenport Democratic Sen. Joe Seng voted against the move, saying he'd prefer to ask the Iowa Supreme Court to appoint an investigator.

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