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House Investigative Committee Expands Scope To Second Lawmaker

Rep. Will Fourkiller, D-Stilwell
Oklahoma House of Representatives

A special committee in the Oklahoma House of Representatives that is investigating the wrongful termination claim of a former aide will expand its scope to a second lawmaker.

Updated Jan. 10 at 3:56 p.m.

The House's Special Investigations Committee released information Tuesday at it is investigating Rep. Will Fourkiller, D-Stilwell, after a sexual harassment complaint was filed against him.

In an email from the Oklahoma House of Representatives Democratic Caucus, Fourkiller said the complaint was filed in April 2015 and involved a high-school page.

“I was informed by the House chief clerk and a female attorney that one of the female pages said I had made her ‘feel uncomfortable’. I do not know what I did or said, but whatever it was I certainly didn’t mean to do it, and I apologized.

“That is the only such incident they have ever talked to me about,” Fourkiller said in the statement.

Original post:

A special committee in the Oklahoma House of Representatives that is investigating the wrongful termination claim of a former aide will expand its scope to a second lawmaker.

 
In a statement on Tuesday, Rep. Josh Cockroft, the Republican chair of the Special Investigations Committee, said a complaint has been filed against Rep. Will Fourkiller, D-Stilwell. In addition to Fourkiller, Rep. Dan Kirby, R-Tulsa, is under investigation.

Fourkiller denied the allegations.

“I haven’t a clue what this is about. I am at a loss. I have called and texted Speaker McCall about this but he has not responded yet. This has floored me. I wish that at the very least I had been notified before Representative Cockroft issued his statement. I am certainly willing to work with the committee, after I have been told what I’m suspected of having done,” Fourkiller said in a statement.

Kirby has also said he is innocent. Kirby resigned in December after allegations surfaced that a former aide was wrongfully terminated after she filed a sexual harassment claim against Kirby. The House paid $44,500 for a settlement. Kirby later rescinded his resignation.

 

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Jacob McCleland spent nine years as a reporter and host at public radio station KRCU in Cape Girardeau, Mo. His stories have appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, Here & Now, Harvest Public Media and PRI’s The World. Jacob has reported on floods, disappearing languages, crop duster pilots, anvil shooters, Manuel Noriega, mule jumps and more.
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