A pair of ethics complaints in the Minnesota House of Representatives were dismissed in unanimous votes by lawmakers. One of those complaints was filed after an Alpha News report about DFL Rep. Alex Falconer’s relationship with an environmental group.
In April, Alpha News reported that Falconer carried legislation in 2025 that was supported by Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness (NMW), a group that lobbies state lawmakers. In a financial disclosure from January of 2026, Falconer said he worked for NMW.
Campaign finance and other public records show that Falconer received income from NMW in 2025. Falconer was also an NMW lobbyist before taking office and is currently described as “federal government relations manager” for Save the Boundary Waters.
Save the Boundary Waters is an ongoing campaign to oppose mining around the boundary waters area. NMW leads that campaign and is intimately involved in its operation.
Following Alpha News’ report, Republicans filed a complaint saying Falconer violated House norms by carrying bills supported by his employer. The complaint also said Falconer’s role with Save the Boundary Waters appeared to violate a ban on legislator lobbying.
At a Friday hearing of the House Ethics Committee, Falconer said he started working for NMW in 2015 but takes a “leave of absence” when the Minnesota Legislature is in session. Falconer was first elected to the House in 2024 and took office in January of 2025.
Falconer said he does not perform job duties associated with NMW when the legislature is in session, but noted that those duties resume after session. Falconer said he has used paid time off from NMW during the legislative session in the past.
In his most recent financial disclosure, Falconer described his NMW role as “senior advisor,” and his legislative webpage says he is a “nonprofit manager.” On Friday, he said he has had six titles during his time with NMW and would describe himself as a “nonprofit generalist.”
When questioned about his job duties at Friday’s hearing, Falconer said it was difficult to distill his responsibilities with the group because he does so much. Falconer said he trains staff and does communications, purchasing, presentations, and organizing.
Falconer was a registered lobbyist for NMW before taking office. On Friday, both Falconer and his attorney said he is not currently a registered lobbyist at either the state or federal level. Falconer said he had not done any lobbying since he was sworn in.
Since first becoming a legislator in 2025, Falconer has authored bills that were publicly supported by NMW. Those bills included legislation to modify mining restrictions in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness as well as several wild rice-related bills.
Speaking to the Ethics Committee, Falconer said the Boundary Waters are his passion, he campaigned on protecting the Boundary Waters, and his knowledge of the Boundary Waters makes him the best person to carry that bill.
Falconer and his attorney argued that lawmakers naturally influence the policy areas where they have the most experience and knowledge. They gave examples which included nurses working on healthcare issues and police officers voting on public safety matters.
“None of those examples are an ethical problem, and I don’t believe mine is either,” Falconer said. “It’s actually what makes this place work best for the people of Minnesota, and it’s how I plan to continue legislating should voters agree that I return next year.”
Regarding the wild rice bills, Falconer said he carried those bills because of conversations with various groups and his own passion for wild rice. Falconer said NMW did not influence his work on the bills and he did not know NMW supported them prior to the ethics process.
The Ethics Committee is comprised of two voting Republican members and two voting DFL members. Ultimately, the four lawmakers voted unanimously that there was no probable cause for an ethics violation in Falconer’s case.
Complaint dismissed against Elliott Engen and Walter Hudson
Before the committee considered the complaint against Falconer, the group of lawmakers heard an ethics complaint filed against Republican Reps. Elliott Engen and Walter Hudson.
That complaint was brought by DFL legislators and accused Engen and Hudson of violating “the public trust and accepted norms of the House” by leaving a House Education Finance Committee meeting “to go drinking instead.”
According to the complaint, Engen and Hudson left a committee hearing on March 26 and went to Burger Moe’s in St. Paul where they were seen “consuming alcohol.” Engen was arrested on a DWI charge early the next morning with Hudson in his vehicle, but the ethics complaint was “squarely focused on the actions taken during a legislative committee hearing and on the floor.”
The complaint said Engen and Hudson’s conduct violated the public trust and House norms because legislators are expected to attend committee meetings. Additionally, the complaint questioned whether the lawmakers were inebriated during a floor session later that day.
At Friday’s committee hearing, Engen and Hudson vociferously rejected the complaint. In their remarks, the lawmakers said they were there for lunch and each consumed one beer.
However, the two Democrats on the committee asked repeated questions about whether leaving a legislative meeting to go drink was a violation of the public trust.
Engen and Hudson noted that they both participated in the committee meeting and they did not miss any votes when they left. In fact, Engen said he left after the meeting turned into a presentation where the Minnesota Department of Education requested more money.
Both Engen and Hudson noted that legislators commonly step out of committee meetings for many different reasons. Hudson argued that the complaint against the pair amounted to nothing more than an effort to penalize them for not having perfect attendance.
Chris Madel, an attorney representing Engen, pointed out that other state legislators have partaken in bipartisan lunches where beer was consumed. Those lunches, which have been celebrated in the media, have also occurred during this legislative session.
🚨WATCH: Fiery moment as attorney Chris Madel calls out Minnesota Democrats for their hypocrisy during ethics hearing
Madel represents Rep. Elliott Engen, a Republican who was recently charged with a DUI.
"Brion Curran, still sitting on that committee. No repercussions… pic.twitter.com/rYIOChvMKW
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) May 1, 2026
Madel, who has also represented Alpha News, excoriated the proceedings as “nonsense” and said the complainant had no evidence that Hudson or Engen were impaired during the House floor session later that day.
Like the Falconer case, lawmakers on the Ethics Committee unanimously found that no probable cause existed for an ethics violation. However, the committee read a statement which said, among other things, that “House members are expected to attend assigned committees unless excused.”
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
