Oregon House Republicans said on Tuesday that they are withholding judgment until the completion of investigations into their colleague Rep. Mike Nearman, who let violent demonstrators into the Capitol during a special session last month.
Nearman is among the subjects of a criminal investigation by the Oregon State Police. And House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and multiple other lawmakers filed a formal conduct complaint with the Legislative Equity Office, alleging that Nearman created a hostile work environment in the Capitol, Kotek’s spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Video released by the Legislature in response to a public records request clearly shows Nearman opening a side door at the Capitol during a time when his colleagues were on the upper floor of the building, engaged in a floor debate. A right-wing demonstrator who was waiting outside the door rushed in and others quickly followed and clashed with police who tried to keep them out of the building. At least two men were arrested in connection with the incident.
“The caucus position is that we believe the process should work through, the investigations should be completed and then decisions should be made,” Rep. Cedric Hayden, of Roseburg, said on Tuesday. Hayden is an assistant leader in the caucus.
Deputy House Republican Leader Daniel Bonham of The Dalles said that seeing the criminal investigation through is his top priority and the Joint Committee on Conduct that will receive the Equity Office’s findings “will have a role in due time.”
Those investigations “should determine any future action by the Legislature,” whether the conduct committee or the entire body, Bonham said. If House Democrats wish to expel Nearman from the Legislature, they would need at least three Republican votes to reach the two-thirds majority required under the Oregon Constitution, The Oregonian/OregonLive has reported.
Both Hayden and Bonham said Kotek and other Democrats have erred in calling for Nearman to resign before the investigations are complete.
Nearman issued his most complete statement to date on Tuesday evening, expressing no contrition, misstating several facts and lashing out at Democrats for their action.
On Monday, Kotek called for Nearman to resign because she said his actions “put every person in the Capitol in serious danger.” Oregon State Police and Salem police contained the raucous crowd, some with guns, to a vestibule of the Capitol and ultimately removed them from the building. But Kotek said “the consequences could have been much worse had law enforcement not stepped in so quickly.”
Kotek also stripped Nearman of his two committee assignments, rescinded his commission appointments and fined Nearman $2,000 for the property damage protesters caused. That means Nearman will have virtually no involvement in legislative work in the near term, with lawmakers planning to spend the first weeks and potentially a couple months of the session that begins Jan. 19 entirely on committee work, holding online public hearings and work sessions on legislation. Floor votes, which Nearman can join, will be delayed until the spring due to coronavirus.
At least two other House Democrats from Portland, Majority Leader Barbara Smith Warner and Rep. Maxine Dexter, have joined Kotek in calling for Nearman to resign.
“This is not the first instance where this presiding officer has jumped to a conclusion of guilt,” Bonham said. In 2020, Kotek publicly sought the resignation of a member of her own caucus, Rep. Diego Hernandez of Portland, over allegations he sexually harassed multiple women at the Capitol. Hernandez won reelection in November, even as he remains under investigation by the Legislative Equity Office.
Hayden pointed out that House Republican Leader Christine Drazan of Canby said in a statement Sunday that “If the investigation finds that actions taken were criminal, legislators are not above the law and will be held responsible.”
“I agree with Christine’s statement that none of us are above the law and if there is something found there that needs to apply, then it should,” Hayden said. “And I believe that our caucus would be supportive of that. But you know, we’re reluctant to get ahead of the investigation process, as it appears that it may have happened in this case.”
On Monday, Nearman agreed to several terms regarding his work at the Capitol, including relinquishing his badge to access the building, agreeing not to let any non-authorized person inside and giving 24 hours’ notice before he enters.
Hayden said that was an important concession. “I think that helps to deescalate the situation, that he was willing to say, ‘Hey I’ll give up my key card and give notice’ of the things he listed there,” Hayden said.
