Ethics investigation dropped against former GOP legislator

A Virginia House panel has dropped a probe into whether Phil Hamilton, a powerful former delegate, broke ethics rules by steering state dollars to a university teaching center while pursuing a job there.

The once-influential GOP lawmaker resigned earlier this month from his Newport News seat after losing a bid for re-election. Hamilton’s departure leaves the House Ethics Advisory Panel without the ability to investigate him, members of the panel wrote in a letter to House Speaker William Howell. Hamilton’s conduct is still the subject of a federal investigation.