NASHVILLE — House Speaker Beth Harwell and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey say embattled Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, the subject of sexual harassment allegations by several unnamed women at the state Capitol, should be expelled.
“We’re looking into the procedure,” Harwell, R-Nashville, told reporters this morning on her way up to the House chamber for the morning legislative session.
Harwell acknowledged that there are difficulties given that none of the women filed formal charges against the 32-year-old Durham.
House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, talks to a House member as the 108th General Assembly is reconvened Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Nashville.“That’s excactly what we’re looking into right now,” Harwell said. “It’s not an easy procedure and I’m seeking legal counsel to see how it takes place.”
House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, said he, Harwell and Speaker Pro Tempore Curtis Johnson spoke with Durham later Wednesday afternoon.
“We asked him to consider that [resigning] rather than going through a lengthy process,” McCormick, alluding to House action against Durham.
McCormick earlier this week said two women who work in or around the Capitol last year approached him with complaints about Durham’s “inappropriate” behavior. He said he told them to file formal complaints with the House’s Human Resources division but they were reluctant to do so.
Harwell is trying to get one of the women to make a formal complaint.
But House GOP Caucus Chairman Glen Casada told reporters today that unless there are firm grounds for taking action against Durham, Republicans shouldn’t seek to try and expel him.
Casada also said that if lawmakers proceed against Durham, they should also consider expelling Rep. Joe Armstrong, D-Knoxville, who was faces federal tax fraud charges.
House majority leader Glen CasadaDurham earlier this month survived a GOP Caucus effort to strip him of his majority whip position, the No. 4 GOP slot in the House. But he stepped down from that last weekend after the Tennessean reported three unnamed women told the newspaper they had received inappropriate text messages from Durham.
On Wednesday, as House Republicans held another meeting to take action against Durham, the lawmaker told them he would “separate” himself from Republicans.
Later in the Republican Senate Speaker Ramsey called publicly on Harwell and other GOP House counterparts to expel Durham.