Oklahoma House set to hear evidence in staff allegation of lawmaker’s ‘improper behavior’

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma House Republican leaders have blocked off three days next month to look into allegations of misconduct against a member of their own party. 

Rep. Mike Osburn, who chairs the House Rules Committee, said lawmakers will meet behind closed doors  Sept. 8 to discuss the allegations made by House staff against Republican Rep. Danny Williams, as well as the outcome of related investigations ordered by House staff.

Details of the allegations have not been made public. The committee’s actions could range from determining Williams was innocent of the accusations to recommending expulsion or sanctions.

Williams, R-Seminole, did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday as of publication. He previously told a KFOR reporter that he was told not to publicly discuss the allegations, and that he didn’t remember what all the claims were. Williams said they weren’t sexual in nature and denied any wrongdoing.

Osburn, whose committee has been tapped by House Speaker Kyle Hilbert to lead the legislative probe, said Thursday that he has not yet seen the reports from the investigations, and that he was not sure exactly what the hearings will look like. 

The public will be allowed to attend at some point, Osburn said, but the first day will not initially be open because the House does not want to jeopardize the privacy of anyone who made allegations against Williams. Osburn said the committee may also meet Sept. 9 and 10 if more time is needed. 

“This is uncharted territory, and we are going to build the plane as we’re flying it, I think,” said Osburn, R-Edmond. 

In an email to House lawmakers in July, Hilbert wrote that Williams was being investigated after being accused of “improper behavior” toward chamber staff and also “potential misuse of state resources.”  

Hilbert, R-Bristow, did not elaborate in that email on what those allegations are, but wrote that a private law firm, Fuller Tubb Bickford Warmington & Panach, PLLC, was hired to conduct an external investigation.

On Thursday, Hilbert’s office said they did not know what the external investigation into Williams has cost Oklahoma taxpayers. Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Faxon, who chairs the chamber’s budget committee, said he would not comment on internal investigations and also did not provide a cost. 

In Hilbert’s July 23 email, which was provided to Oklahoma Voice, the chamber leader wrote that he became aware of a complaint against Williams earlier this summer. 

“Our House HR Division and the external firm focused their fact finding on alleged improper behavior towards House staff,” Hilbert wrote. “However, during the investigation additional concerns of potential misuse of state resources emerged. The matter of use of state resources is likewise being reviewed to determine if it should also be referred to the House Rules Committee and/or the Ethics Commission upon completion of the investigation.”

The law firm had completed their review of eight current or former House employees and other documentation, according to the email. Hilbert wrote that the findings and the House’s human resources investigation prompted him to refer the issue to the House Rules Committee, which Osburn chairs. Hilbert did not disclose the content of the HR investigation.

Hilbert wrote that referring the matter to the Rules Committee follows House precedent from 2017, a year with several, separate investigations into lawmakers. 

One involved accusations that Republican lawmaker Dan Kirby sexually harassed a legislative assistant. In another case, Democrat Will Fourkiller was accused of making inappropriate comments to a high school page. 

In his resignation letter, Kirby called the accusations “unfounded,” but said he would no longer be able to effectively represent his district because of the “unreasonable committee recommendations.” 

Fourkiller at the time said he did not recall what he said or did wrong, but apologized. 

Kirby resigned after a committee recommended expulsion, while Fourkiller accepted sanctions, including a recommendation that he be barred from involvement in the House page program.

Williams, whose district includes Pottawatomie and Seminole counties, faces Democrat Blake Cummings, of Prague, in November’s general election.