Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson will not file criminal charges against former District 42 Nebraska State Senator Mike Groene over photographs of a female staffer found on Groene’s laptop. A spokeswoman for AG Peterson said Thursday that prosecutors in the office had reviewed the results of a Nebraska State Patrol investigation into allegations that Groene took inappropriate photos of the staffer without her knowledge and shared them with others. “It has been determined that there is insufficient information to warrant a criminal prosecution,” said Suzanne Gage, the spokeswoman.
Groene resigned in February after admitting he had taken photos of the staffer, Kristina Konecko. She discovered the photos in the course of her work. He stepped down after media reports made the allegations public. On Thursday the Omaha World Herald reported that Groene said he had been vindicated by the attorney general and by Tara Paulson, an attorney hired by the Legislature to look into the allegations. Earlier this year, she reached conclusions similar to those of the attorney general’s. “I did nothing wrong, nothing illegal,” he said. “I never stalked anybody. I never harassed anybody. I did no improper behavior in the workplace.”
In an April report, Paulson said Groene’s conduct was inappropriate and would have warranted him being disciplined or even fired in a private-sector job. If he had not resigned, she said, he likely would have faced consequences “such as reprimand, censure or expulsion” in the Legislature. But she said the conduct did not constitute unlawful sexual discrimination or harassment or violate the Legislature’s workplace harassment policies. “Mr. Groene’s actions can best be described as boorish, brainless and bizarre, especially for the workplace,” Paulson said. In her legal analysis, she said she did not consider Groene’s actions as unlawful sexual discrimination or harassment for two primary reasons. One, because Konecko did not receive any tangible benefits through Groene’s behavior. Two, because Konecko was unaware that Groene was taking photos of her, so it did not create a hostile work environment.
On Thursday, the Omaha World Herald reported that Groene said he regretted resigning from the Legislature and did so only because he got bad advice from Gov. Pete Ricketts, who urged him to resign, and from Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers and Sen. Dan Hughes, the Executive Board chairman. Groene said he was scared of what they could do to him and “wasn’t ready for another fight” in the Legislature. He also claimed that Hilgers and Hughes had bowed to the “me, too” crowd and the “mean girls” of the Legislature. “I’ve been politically assassinated, cut off at the knees,” he said. Also Thursday, Groene said to the Nebraska Examiner that he has been “vindicated.” He said his ordeal was “trumped up, over-exaggerated” and the result of a rush to judgment “because of pictures I took in public.” “It was a kangaroo court,” Groene said. “I was like Jesus Christ. I couldn’t fight it. You asked if I regret anything. I regret resigning. I should’ve stood toe-to-toe.”
The staffer has said that while she was working on the senator’s laptop, she discovered about 50 photos of herself in his email. One was labeled “legs.” Another was labeled “rear tight.” Groene has said in previous interviews that he had apologized to his then-aide, Kristina Konecko, for taking pictures of her without her permission. He also said he had deleted the photos. On Thursday, he said he hopes Konecko loses her job in the Legislature. He argued that she went through his private email without permission, although Groene and Konecko have previously told the Nebraska Examiner that she did have his permission.
Senator Hughes said Thursday he never encouraged Groene to resign but believes he did the “right thing” by stepping down. He said Groene had broken the trust with his staff. “Groene just did something really stupid,” Hughes said. “I never thought he did anything criminal.”
According to Paulson’s report, part of her job as Groene’s administrative aide was to update his work laptop and make sure his computer desktop was clean. Groene gave Konecko permission to access his laptop, the report said. The report said Konecko first found photos of herself on Groene’s work laptop on Jan. 3. She didn’t report the incident until she found more photos — some dating as far back as 2018 — on Jan. 31.
