OKLAHOMA CITY – The Republican leaders in the Oklahoma House of Representatives will spend three days this month reviewing allegations of misconduct against a longtime GOP member.
Southwest Ledger learned that Rep. Mike Osburn, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, will hold the committee’s first meeting about State Rep. Danny Williams on Sept. 8 to examine complaints made by some House staff against Williams. That meeting will be closed. The committee will also review the outcome of other related investigations by House staff.
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert emailed members on July 23 that complaints had been raised again against Williams, R-Seminole. Hilbert said he had become aware of the complaints earlier this summer.
Williams has served in the House of Representatives as both a Republican and a Democrat and, at one time, was a candidate for governor. He was investigated for improper conduct and is now being examined by the House’s Rules Committee Williams has not returned phone calls. However, the lawmaker previously told one television station that he would not discuss the allegations and added the complaints weren’t sexual in nature.
Information about the complaints has not been made public. House officials said the House has several choices of action, including expelling Williams from the House.
Osburn told the Oklahoma Voice website that he has not yet seen the reports from the investigations, and that he was not sure what the hearings will look like. Osburn said the committee may also meet Sept. 9 and 10 if more time is needed.
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 said the Fuller Tubb Bickford Warmington & Panach law firm was hired to conduct an investigation. “Earlier this summer, I became aware of a complaint against Representative Williams alleging improper conduct toward one of our House employees. Upon receiving this complaint, I directed Jason Sutton, our Chief of Operations and Administration, to speak to a witness of the alleged incident,” Hilbert wrote. “After this interview was conducted, it became clear that a thorough review of the situation and other allegations that arose during the interview was necessary.”
After the law firm completed its review of eight current or former House employees and other documentation, Hilbert said the findings and information gathered from the House’s human resources investigation prompted him to send the data to the House Rules Committee.
“Our House HR Division and the external firm focused their fact-finding on alleged improper behavior towards House staff,” Hilbert wrote in July. “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.”
Williams, state records show, left the Oklahoma House as a Democrat in 1994. That same year, he placed third in a Democratic four-way gubernatorial contest won by Jack Mildren.
In addition to his work in the Legislature, Williams previously told Southwest Ledger that he has been in the wireless internet business since 2000. ___
M. Scott Carter is an award-winning political and investigative reporter with more than 40 years’ experience covering federal and state government and politics in Oklahoma. He can be reached at scott.carter@swoknews. com.