A bi-partisan group of former legislators and candidates wrote a letter to the King County Prosecuting Attorney Friday calling for a further investigation into the King County ethics breach by Scott White (D-Seattle).

White was recently found in violation of the King County ethics code for doing campaign work on county computers while he was an employee at the Department of Transportation. White claims that it was a mistake stemming from a synched telephone, but an independent technology expert hired by the county debunked White's claims. 

Former state Reps. Toby Nixon (R-Kirkland) and Mike Todd (D-Auburn), as well as former 46th District Republican candidate Keith Ljunghammar used the letter to display their commitment to open government and protecting the public trust. 

"It is vital that our County show the public that such violations of the Ethics Code, which undermine public trust in government, are taken seriously," they write. 

The politicians also call for consequences for White's actions. They cite sections of the county ombudsman's report that indicate White lied under oath during the investigation, and caused thousands of dollars of unnecessary costs to the county.

"Please initiate a review of whether White engaged in fraud and abuse, perjury, or obstruction of an investigation; and, take appropriate action on the documented multiple violations of the County Ethics Code for campaigning on County time, the letter concludes. 

Nixon and Todd have both endorsed White's opponent, Gerry Pollet (D-Seattle), and Ljunghammar has stopped short of an endorsement of Pollet, but has recommended that voters elect him.

Nixon is currently running for state Representative in the 45th Legislative District and sits on the board of the Washington Coalition for Open Government along with Pollet.  

Pollet, meanwhile, has written his own statement on the ethics flap. Read it below.

"Scott White has been found to have violated the County Ethics Code. 
 
"White's fitness for office is further brought into question by the Ombudsman's Report quoting his testimony under oath denying that he used his County computer to ever open or work on campaign files, while the physical evidence conclusively established that he did so.  White continues to deny responsibility and make an excuse to the press, which the Ombudsman and an independent computer forensic expert found to be false. His actions violated the fundamental trust that the voters need to place in every elected official and political appointee: that they will not use the taxpayers' resources for their own campaign or partisan purposes. This is a question of fitness for public office. 
 
"The bottom line is that the County Ombudsman found that White was conclusively found to have repeatedly used County resources for his campaign and having worked on his campaign computer files while at his County office. 
 
"White's claim that campaign files appeared on his County computer by synching his phone was found by the Ombudsman to have been false, and impossible. I urge voters and reporters to read the Report (posted at www.gerrypolletforstaterep.org). It found that the last time White synched his phone was weeks before some of the campaign documents, including one named "Campaign Plan" were "modified" on his County computer. White persisted in making this impossible claim - costing County taxpayers thousands of dollars to have an independent computer forensic expert establish that White's synching his phone had nothing to do with White's campaign files having been modified on White's County computer.
 
"White should repay the taxpayers for the costs he forced the Ombudsman to incur to demonstrate that White's hypothesis was not credible. He needs to take responsibility and stop denying. 
 
"White sought to delay this investigation and Report from coming to light before the election - which is established in the Report. Voters need to know about White's violation of the fundamental public trust."

The "top two" primary, in its inaugural year, allowed both Democrats to move on to face each other again in the general election. White outpolled Pollet the first time around.