Committee Recommends Giving State Rep. Dan Kirby The Boot

For the first time in state history, a sitting member of the House of Representatives could be kicked out.

A House investigative committee recommended Representative Dan Kirby should be removed from office after two women accused him of sexual harassment. 

The committee actually looked into allegations against two house members, Representative Dan Kirby and Representative Will Fourkiller. They also looked into whether a taxpayer funded payout to one of the women who accused Kirby of sexual harassment was legal.”

The committee has been meeting behind closed doors since mid-January. Thursday, it released it’s 113-page report.

The report showed a high school legislative page filed an official complaint against Fourkiller. But because he refused to testify, the committee recommended a reprimand.

“Initial statements from Representative Fourkiller is that he had no clue what was going on. What the allegations were about,” said committee chair, Representative Josh Cockroft (R) District 27. “And we reviewed through a memo that that wasn't true. He was approached by House staff.”

Democrats say the accusations against Fourkiller were nothing but political theater.

"By what it looks like to my caucus is that the republican majority, because there wasn't an outside public investigation, was trying to do their level best to mitigate damage to the republican brand by trying to find anything that would stick to a member of the democratic caucus,” said Representative Scott Inman (D) House Minority Leader.

Representative Kirby, on the other hand, was accused of harassing two women. One was paid a $44,000 taxpayer funded settlement; a move that the committee determined was legal. The other, a legislative aid named Carol Johnson, accused Kirby of pressuring her into sending him topless photos and going to a strip club with him. Kirby told the committee the two had been in a consensual relationship.

12/29/16 Related Story: Investigation Planned Into Harassment, Settlement Claims Against OK State Rep.

"Representative Kirby tries to excuse his actions by saying his close personal relationship with its Ms. Johnson justified his behavior " Cockroft said.

Besides, Kirby told the committee, it happened after business hours or out of session.

"These excuses led the committee to believe he does not truly believe he engaged in any wrong behavior,” Cockroft said.

In the end, the committee recommended the expulsion of Kirby from his House seat.

Kirby released a statement saying:

“I am very disheartened and disappointed by the recommendations released by the committee today. I do feel that the committee’s recommendations are far more severe than necessary. Unfortunately, I was not given the committee report, any evidence, any accusation, or any other material in relation to the report prior to the media receiving that information during the press conference today. Because of that, my advisors and I have not been able to review the material to offer a complete public statement at this time. I assure the people of Oklahoma, my colleagues, and my constituents that I will speak publicly about the report and the committee’s findings as soon as I have had time to review it myself most likely in the next couple days.”

Governor Mary Fallin said there should be no tolerance for sexual harassment. "There is no room for sexual harassment in any business. Whether it's at the state Capitol or anywhere else."

The expulsion is just a recommendation that will now go before the full House of Representatives where it will need a two-thirds majority vote to kick Kirby out. Because Kirby is still a sitting Representative, he will have a chance to argue his case before the House and vote on whether to kick himself out. 

Representative Fourkiller has not responded to a request for comment.