Senator Morgan Carroll, Chair of the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee appointed to investigate John Morse's hard work pay per diem abuse, is what George W might call "the Decider" on whether the ethics complaint gets due and fair consideration.
We were pleasantly surprised to hear she was the one selected to head the panel, as she has made transparency and good government a hallmark of her campaigns.
Carroll has been a good government person both on the campaign trail and during her time in the House and Senate.
But it's very easy to be a good government aficionado when all you are doing is pursuing Pinnacol or pushing tax dollar transparency rules.
Your true colors come out when you have to investigate someone on your own team.
That's why we will be watching very closely to see if Senator Carroll gives due consideration to the fact that Morse has done virtually nothing to document his claim to almost $40,000 in untaxable income in 2009. Other than to say he signed a document saying he was owed it.
Dropping the complaint because Morse claims it's not written in enough legalese, without his having disproved the claims against him, would be a move of weakness under partisan pressure.
It's well known in the Capitol that Senator Carroll is an ambitious pol with future political aspirations. This case will allow us to find out if, for her next campaign, she will be running on a record of standing up to corruption, or whether she'll be known as complicit in corruption when it involves her political pals.