A DFL legislator wasn’t violating state ethics rules when he accepted a paid fellowship at the University of Minnesota earlier this year, according to an independent investigation released Monday.

The hiring of Rep. Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, for a $50,000 temporary position with the U of M’s Institute on the Environment, drew scrutiny after internal documents suggested Long got preferential treatment in the hiring process for the fellowship. Long and former state Sen. Ellen Anderson had discussed the position months before it was posted, the Star Tribune reported. At the time, Anderson was the executive director of the institute’s Energy Transition Lab, and she hired Long for the fellowship.

Long resigned from the position in September, but denied doing anything wrong.

On Tuesday, the Star Tribune reported an investigation by the Ballard Spahr law firm found Long’s “conduct in seeking and accepting a position … and his subsequent employment in that role were consistent with state laws and rules governing legislator conflicts of interest and lobbying activity.”

“It is what it is,” Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, said of the investigation findings. Swedzinski was the state representative whose public records request earlier this year helped lead to the investigation.

Swedzinski said Tuesday that he hadn’t yet had a chance to go over the investigation findings in detail. However, he said the situation was a reminder to all Minnesota representatives that they should be careful about their conduct.

Swedzinski said the House it was important that the House take a look at the possibility of violations of state ethics rules. And, he said, “Obviously the University of Minnesota felt there were some issues there.”

When Long resigned from the U of M position, university leaders returned grant money for the position, and reassigned Ellen Anderson, the former state senator who hired Long. At the time, University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel said the incident “put at risk a core value” of the institution, the Star Tribune reported.

Swedzinski said he didn’t think there would be further action on the investigation unless House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, called for it. As of Tuesday, Swedzinski said he hadn’t heard anything from Hortman’s office about that.