Sen. Mark Warner
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Republican Party wants the U.S. Senate to investigate whether Democratic Sen. Mark Warner violated federal law when he discussed possible job opportunities for a former state senator’s daughter. GOP Party Chairman Pat Mullins sent a letter Friday to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics asking it to investigate Warner. He was part of a group of Democrats that tried unsuccessfully to prevent former state Sen. Phil Puckett from resigning last summer. Puckett’s resignation gave Republicans control of the state Senate. Warner has acknowledged he “brainstormed” with Puckett’s son about possible job opportunities for Puckett’s daughter but did not make any explicit job offers. Federal prosecutors indicated in December their investigation into Puckett’s resignation was closed. A Warner spokesman called the GOP complaint a “pathetic partisan attack.”
