Scott controversy continues in Boise
BOISE — House Speaker Bedke’s decision to strip Rep. Heather Scott of all of her committee assignments continues to stir up controversy in Boise.
After making claims in a radio interview on Jan. 13 that she was being wrongfully persecuted for speaking the truth, and that Bedke’s punitive action was merely a diversionary tactic by the Republican establishment, Rep. Scott issued a statement on Wednesday, Jan. 18 apologizing for the comment she made back in December that “legislators shouldn’t have to sleep around or spread their legs to advance.”
“I apologize, to every member of the House, again, for not being more careful,” Scott said in the statement, adding that, “I commit to being more diligent in speaking in the voice and words of a statesman in all my conversations.”
This statement was issued right before a two-hour, closed-door meeting of the GOP caucus. After the meeting, Bedke told reporters that he had nothing to announce regarding Scott’s committee assignments. The Speaker of the House did say that he is “optimistic that we as a group can move on,” and that he will do everything he can to “make sure that we consider the people’s business at hand, not a distraction.”
Scott’s statement on Jan. 18 came two days after she sent a legislative update to her constituents, saying, “I was blindsided when House Speaker Scott Bedke pulled me from all my committee assignments for no addressed reason in order to flex his muscle to intimidate new liberty legislators. However, please know that the time I won’t spend sitting in committees will free me up to run legislation for you and testify for citizens in committee hearings. I’m good at making lemonade out of lemons!”
On the same day that update was sent out, Jan. 16, five legislators chose to stand with Rep. Scott and asked Bedke to remove them from their committee assignments. Rep. Ron Nate (R-Idaho Falls), who is now in his second term, was the first to make this request. He was followed by Rep. Priscilla Giddings (R-White Bird), Rep. Dorothy Moon (R-Stanley), Rep. Christy Zito (R-Hammett) and Rep. Karey Hanks (R-St. Anthony), all of whom were elected to their first term in November. Bedke refused to grant these unprecedented requests, and the five lawmakers have since attended and participated in their respective committee meetings as scheduled.
Meanwhile, the Bonner County Republican Central Committee (BCRCC) passed a resolution on Jan. 17 supporting Rep. Scott and demanding in the “strongest term of civility” that her committee assignments be reinstated. The BCRCC represents one voice among a choir of Scott’s supporters who believe that she has done nothing wrong and should not be punished for exercising her First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Scott has continued to exercise this right, and on Jan. 19, she posted yet another opinionated statement on her Facebook page:
“It is obvious to me that my apology will never be good enough for the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. His statements to the media define exactly how HE defines an apology. Is this a personal issue against me? Does he want to keep the headlines going?”
When asked about Scott’s statement on social media (which has since been deleted) later that day, Bedke told the Spokesman-Review, “I think there’s a list of ladies that she needs to talk to, and then when she has, she and I should talk.”
“It was not my actions that put her on this course of events,” he added, “and it will be her actions that get us off this course of events, not mine.”