Lawyer: Meredith will honour ethics committee invite to appear
The lawyer for embattled Sen. Don Meredith says his client will honour an invitation to appear before the Senate ethics committee.
However, Bill Trudell says it’s not clear what form Meredith’s appearance on April 4 will take, adding it could be via video or teleconference.
Trudell says he has concerns about the senator’s health.
Meredith is on sick leave following a damning report by the Senate ethics officer on his sexual relationship with a teenager.
The report found he had abused his position as senator.
The notice of invitation to Meredith gave no further details of the April hearing.
“The Senate (committee) announced this morning that they’ve invited him to appear,” Trudell said Tuesday. “He will be honouring the invitation, but in what form is to be determined given concerns, shared by me, about his health.”
The Senate ethics committee is set to meet in camera on Wednesday to consider the report on Meredith.
The committee formally invited Meredith to attend the meeting next week to “provide him with an opportunity to be heard by the committee,” according to a public notice.
Since the report earlier this month, Meredith has spoken publicly only once and has otherwise dropped out of sight.
Several senators and other politicians have called on the senator to resign or be fired on the grounds that he has disgraced the office – although it’s not completely clear whether the Senate has the authority to give him the boot as at least one lawyer close to the case has said it does.