MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Three ethics complaints filed against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin over her firing of a top-level staff member have been dismissed. Baldwin on Thursday released a letter from the Senate’s ethics committee notifying her that the complaints related to the firing of her former deputy state director Marquette Baylor had been dismissed. Baylor, the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust earlier this year had requested an investigation into Baldwin’s handling of abuse allegations at the Tomah Veterans Affairs hospital and Baylor’s firing in January. The committee told Baldwin in a letter dated Aug. 14 that the complaints lacked substantial merit. Baylor’s attorney Todd Graves did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Baldwin spokesman John Kraus calls the complaints frivolous and “nothing more than political smears.”
