On Tuesday, Rep. Kelly Townsend questioned the lack of due process in the process employed by the House Ethics Committee in the matter of Rep. David Cook. Townsend, like Cook’s attorney are outraged that Cook is being denied not only a fair hearing, but any hearing at all.
Townsend outlined her concerns and objection is a tweet on Tuesday:
I have been concerned with the way the House of Representatives and has addressed issues concerning ethics for some time. I went on record last year stating that I regretted the expulsion of Don Shooter without an ethics probe through the Ethics committee.
Then, during this most recent ethics investigation, I expressed my concern to leadership that Representative Cook was not being given opportunity to examine the evidence, approach his accusers, or receive the documents that he has requested through public records. He has not been given opportunity to provide exculpatory evidence. I am told that the subpoena items he did not comply with were either already accessible to leadership, or were unrealistic in nature to include every communication he has had with any lobbyist ever for all the years he has been in the House. This is wholly unreasonable, and it would be a violation for him to comply.I requested multiple times an answer as to why the ethics investigation was being handled in such a way. I did not receive an answer at all. I then went to the Attorney General’s office and asked them if they were going to look at the way that this was being handled, yet again another legislator being denied due process. I was very concerned for all of us because this could happen at any time to any of us.
The answer I was given by the Attorney General was that they do not involve themselves in legislative matters and that I would have to take it up with the Ethics chair and the speaker.
What happens when the problem is the Ethics chair and the Speaker? Where do we go for recourse? I asked this very question of when I was Majority Whip because I had the same concern, in that I could foresee a situation where a member might be unfairly treated by a Speaker who did not like them and would use one of their political allies to exact unfair justice.
You see, there is no HR department for the legislature. There is no one we can go to for protection if we are being harassed. It all hinges on the leadership team and whether or not they can get the votes to remove you. And in recent court testimony we learned that a person could be removed for reasons like they were black. I don’t think that legislators should give up their constitutional rights just because they have been elected to the legislature.
For this reason, I went to department of Administration and asked similar questions, as to whether or not they would be able to serve as the HR department for the legislature. I was told that because the department of Administration is in the executive branch, the legislative branch was left to themselves to deal with any kind of bad behavior, either on the part of the member or on the part of leadership.
I would just like the public to understand that when you see anything coming out of the Ethics committee, you must understand that just because the committee is called “Ethics” does not mean the members use ethical tactics to deal with a situation.
You should also understand that most of the testimony against Mr. Cook was given by someone who cannot stand him. Someone who vowed to destroy his own daughter. And those in leadership have long since made it very aware that they do not like Mr. Cook.
I am not condoning any behavior that is unbecoming of a legislator. But regardless, every legislator has the right to have a fair investigation. This is setting a most dangerous precedent for future political execution. I cannot say silent. The public does need to know the dynamics of this legislature and what can be done from one Republican to another fellow Republican.
As James T Harris most correctly put it yesterday on the radio, this is worse than what they did to President Trump. At least his accusers were from the other party.
In an interview on KFYI’s James T. Harris show, Cook’s attorney, Dennis Wilenchik decried the lack of due process afforded Cook and questioned how a small committee could thwart the will of the voters.
“The people who make laws,” said Wilenchik, “don’t follow any.”
Wilenchik explained, “If they (leadership) decides they don’t like someone, they can just throw them out and there is no due process. No fair hearing. There is no trial. In this case, they don’t even intend to allow us to call witnesses.”