The General Assembly ethics committee that’s investigating Del. Dan K. Morhaim’s work with a medical cannabis company has hired a lawyer to assist with the review.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who on Friday disclosed the hiring of the special counsel, said the action underscores the serious nature of the investigation.
“It’s very, very unusual,” Miller said. “It means we take the case very seriously.”
Morhaim’s attorney disputed that, saying he was specifically told that the hiring of an outside counsel did not mean the investigation was being given greater scrutiny than others.
“We were told repeatedly this is no reflection of the seriousness or lack of seriousness, or lack of gravity or gravity of the situation,” said Timothy F. Maloney, a Greenbelt-based attorney who is representing the Baltimore County Democrat.
Maloney said he was told the special counsel was needed because the ethics committee’s staff had a potential conflict of interest: They advised Morhaim on how to handle his relationship with Doctor’s Orders, a company that applied for, and won, preliminary licenses to grow and distribute medical cannabis.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Pamela Wood over at the Baltimore Sun