Cline planning a rally in protest of ethics complaint

Washington County Commissioner Jeff Cline says he is holding a rally in protest of an ethics complaint that is now heading to the Washington County Ethics Commission alleging that he leaked “personnel and confidential and inaccurate information” to the press and other county employees.

Shortly after Herald-Mail Media released a story reporting that the County’s Ethics Commission “was contacted Thursday” and asked to “set up a meeting” to review the findings of an “independent investigation” of leaks, Cline posted the update below to his personal Facebook page:

When reached for comment today, Cline said he wants to hold the protest rally sometime next week.

The report produced by an “independent investigation” that claims to have found Cline as the leaker is not available to the public.

Members of the Ethics panel will be provided “a portion of the commissioner’s Oct. 3 announcement identifying Cline as the alleged source of leaked information,” according to Herald-Mail Media.

Cline told A Miner Detail Thursday that he intends to fight back and called the ethics complaint “revenge politics.”

About the Author

Ryan Miner
Ryan R. Miner, MBA is the founder, editor in chief, and senior reporter of A Miner Detail, the Maryland investigative journalism publication he launched in April 2015. He hosts the A Miner Detail Podcast, distributed across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and seven other platforms. A native of Hagerstown, Maryland, Miner holds a B.A. in political science from Duquesne University (2008) and an MBA from Mount St. Mary's University (2020). He teaches at Frederick Community College. He is also the founder of Sentinel Silver, LLC, Maryland's first older adult technology institute, and the publisher of The Senior Soup, a Maryland senior advocacy platform. His longer story is at ryanrminer.com. Reach him at Ryan@AMinerDetail.com or (240) 244-7075.