South Dakota Senate censures, reinstates suspended lawmaker

By AMANCAI BIRABEN and STEPHEN GROVES
Associated Press

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Senate has censured and reinstated a Republican senator who was suspended last week. Republican Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller was accused of harassing a legislative aide during an exchange about childhood vaccinations and breastfeeding. The Republican-controlled Senate overwhelmingly approved a report from an investigative committee that concluded Frye-Mueller had harassed a staff member of the Legislative Research Council. The aide filed a complaint last week detailing how Frye-Mueller told the aide her child could die from vaccinations and graphically discussed breastfeeding while her husband was in the room. Frye-Mueller and her husband have denied much of the aide’s complaint. But Senate lawmakers made it clear they believed the aide.