LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — A seven-week investigation into actions of former State Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte has concluded that his behavior was “boorish, brainless and bizarre,” but not illegal.
Groene, who had served six years in the Nebraska Legislature, resigned in February shortly after allegations surfaced that he had taken allegedly sexually inappropriate photographs of a female legislative aide.
Senator apologized
Groene, an often outspoken populist, denied the photos were sexual in nature. But he said he did apologize to the aide, Kristina Konecko, for taking pictures of her in his legislative office without her permission.
On Wednesday, the executive summary of an investigation undertaken by a Lincoln attorney hired by the Legislature was read to fellow senators by State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln, one of three senators appointed to look into the matter.
The attorney, Tara Paulson, interviewed 10 legislative employees and state senators after being hired Feb. 28, Wishart said, to determine whether Groene’s actions were “unlawful sexual discrimination or harassment.”
No evidence photos were shared
Paulson concluded, according to Wishart, that Groene took the photos without the knowledge or consent of his aide, but found no evidence that he shared the photos with others.
Paulson described the senator’s action as “boorish, brainless and bizarre” and something that, in the private sector, would have resulted in some sort of reprimand, up to termination.
But the attorney concluded that while what Groene did was “wholly unprofessional and inappropriate,” it did not break any laws.
If the 66-year-old senator had not resigned, he would have faced a “reprimand, censure or expulsion” by his colleagues, Paulson said.
Paulson added that the Nebraska State Patrol is conducting a parallel investigation that is looking at evidence she was not permitted to view or evaluate. Because of that, she said, she reserved the right to reopen her probe and “re-ealuate my conclusions.”
‘Objectifying and demeaning’
Konecko had first verbally complained Feb. 4 about Groene’s actions, after discovering the photographs on his laptop computer.
She had described the photos as “objectifying and demeaning” to reporters and said some were “zoom-closeups of provocative body parts with explicit subject lines.”
Wishart said once the chairman of the Legislature’s Executive Board, Sen. Dan Hughes, learned of the complaint, he immediately launched a confidential investigation. Once the news media reported the complaints and Konecko’s name became public, Hughes asked the aide to file a formal complaint.
Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.
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