Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, pointed to a clause in the proposed new Senate ethics rule that would make it a violation of the rules of the Senate to disclose "any information that is confidential concerning the preliminary investigation ... or ... the disclosure of any information, preliminary investigation or written complaint."

"What we're doing is we're gagging every senator," Werk said. "As you and I know very well, rumors run quick. And if you remember from the ethics investigation we just had, the only people that were complaining weren't a set of senators. We had emails firing off at us pretty quickly. So everything is going to be swirling, most likely, and then we'll be expected to somehow not say anything, with a violation of the ethics rules, the rules of the Senate, hanging over us."

Werk said, "What we need to be favoring is the public. ... This will not instill public confidence, it will erode public confidence."