Idaho House ethics committee denounces an absent Rep. Giddings, recommends punishment

A House ethics committee on Tuesday unanimously voted to censure Rep. Priscilla Giddings, a White Bird Republican, and remove her from a committee that oversees state employees after investigating an ethics complaint brought against her.

The complaint alleged that Giddings defamed a 19-year-old who accused a former House Republican of sexual assault by sharing an article from a far-right website that identified her. The complaint, supported by 25 House members, also said she misrepresented her actions to the ethics committee while under oath.

Committee members said Giddings exhibited a pattern of dishonesty and disrespect to her colleagues in her testimony, both on Monday and during the previous ethics hearing against former Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger.

But her actions didn’t rise to the level of expulsion, Republican committee members told the Statesman. They said the panel unanimously arrived at a punishment of removal from the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee, which oversees laws around state employees.

Annie Hightower, acting co-executive director of the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence, who represented the legislative intern, said the decision not to expel was “incredibly disappointing.”

“The recommendation does not demonstrate the level of accountability we expected for absolutely abhorrent behavior of pushing out private information about someone who reported a rape,” Hightower wrote to the Statesman.

Committee members said they still believed it was a strong response to Giddings’ behavior.

Rep. Sage Dixon, a Ponderay Republican who chairs the ethics committee, said the committee wanted to send a message and set a standard for House members. The panel “thought that we needed to make a strong statement to the body and for future members as well,” Dixon told the Statesman. “Maintaining honesty and integrity is of utmost importance to this body.”

Rep. Wendy Horman, an Idaho Falls Republican and member of the committee, said that while Giddings had a First Amendment right to post the article that identified the accuser, she questioned Giddings’ judgment and intent. Horman said she was unaware of any other legislator who identified the accuser.

“While Rep. Giddings claims to take a back seat to no one in protecting victims’ rights, it appears instead that she was indeed not in the back seat but in fact in the driver’s seat, and the only legislator to expose, not protect, the identity of an alleged victim,” Horman said.

Horman also said Tuesday that Giddings showed “a pattern of lack of respect for the dignity of other human beings.” And she said it was “troubling” that Giddings appeared to be using the ethics hearing to raise funds for legal counsel she didn’t use.

Giddings has denied any wrongdoing and accused members of her own party of playing politics. She wasn’t in the room Tuesday when ethics committee members voted on the censure and made statements about their deliberations.

In a statement after the committee vote, Giddings said the decision “makes a mockery of Idaho’s ethical standards.” She also criticized the committee for wanting to remove her from a panel in which she passed a bill to ban vaccine mandates among state contractors.

She again tried to blame House Speaker Scott Bedke, an Oakley Republican also running for lieutenant governor, despite public testimony that Bedke was not the chief complainant.

“This kind of unblushing corruption is why I am running for lieutenant governor,” Giddings said. “It’s time to clean up the swamp Scott Bedke is creating in Boise!”

The full House must now vote on the censure. Under House Rule 45, members must vote on the recommendation “during the regular session of the Legislature in which the committee reports.” The House in May voted to recess, not end, the regular session and to reconvene before Dec. 31.

Crane says Giddings lied about how ethics committee operates

Giddings on Monday directed much of her ire at Bedke for the May 3 ethics complaint supported by 25 House members, most of them Republicans.

“I deny all the allegations made against me in their entirety,” Giddings said then. “These accusations are unfounded, biased attacks driven by partisan political goals.”

Rep. Brooke Green, a Boise Democrat, said Monday that she was the chief complainant and told no one about the full list of legislators who signed the complaint — which was filed before Giddings announced her run for lieutenant governor. Bedke’s name was first on the list of complainants because it was sorted alphabetically.

Bedke declined to comment Tuesday. But in a previous statement, he denied Giddings’ allegations and said ethics committee deliberations are impartial.

“I believe all elected officials should be held to a higher ethical standard — that was the intent of adding my name to the letter,” Bedke said.

Rep. Brent Crane, a Nampa Republican and member of the committee, said he didn’t know Giddings would run at the time the complaint was brought forward. Giddings also made a “bald-faced lie” about the committee chair working with the House speaker to bring forward ethics complaints, he said.

Crane said Giddings was entitled to her own narrative, but “not your own facts.” He said she was combative and showed a “stunning” lack of respect for her colleagues when she didn’t appear for their testimony Monday.

“Candidly, it pains me to have to punish you,” Crane said, with Giddings absent. “But current and future legislators will look at the actions of this committee, and I hope our action will serve as a guideline as to what conduct is expected of legislators.”

Legislators say sexual assault survivors should feel safe to come forward

Before the ethics hearing against von Ehlinger, Giddings shared a Redoubt News article that identified the 19-year-old legislative intern who, according to a police report in Boise, accused him of rape.

Rep. John Gannon, a Boise Democrat, cited Idaho code that addresses whistleblowers and protects public employees who come forward with complaints. He pointed to testimony from legislators, with experience as public employees, who said that such conduct would not be acceptable in their previous workplaces.

Gannon pointed out that Giddings chose not to interview any of the ethics hearing witnesses.

“All the evidence was that you don’t disclose the name of a person who has filed a complaint, a whistleblower-type complaint,” Gannon said. ”You don’t put her picture on social media. You don’t do that if you’re involved in the organization. So you know I don’t see where I really have a choice but to find that what was done was wrong, because I don’t have any evidence to the contrary.”

Rep. John McCrostie, a Garden City Democrat, said Giddings’ action was harmful to Jane Doe and further victimized potential sexual assault survivors.

Giddings’ testimony on Monday showed a “pattern” of dishonesty that harmed the integrity of the House and the ethics committee, McCrostie said.

“If she had owned her actions and apologized, it’s entirely conceivable that the complaints could have been dismissed,” McCrostie said. “Her lack of participation in the investigatory phase forced this committee’s hand to move forward with this public hearing.”

Under House Rule 45, the Ethics and Policy Committee can recommend to reprimand, censure or expel a House member. The full House then votes on the recommendation. A censure requires a simple majority vote.

Green told the Statesman that she believed the action was appropriate and that legislators must respect the committee’s process.

“I want all victims of sexual assault to know that, in this institution, if you come forward because of an egregious behavior that occurred, we’re going to provide the necessary protection and ensure your confidentiality,” Green told the Statesman.

Hightower said the censure wasn’t enough. She said she hoped for a recommendation that would send a clear message that Giddings’ behavior “would be met with an appropriate consequence.”

“It certainly won’t undo the chilling effects on future reporting of sexual assault that was created by the postings at the center of the complaints,” Hightower said.