OLYMPIA -- An Auburn senator long known for her abrasive ways lashed out at fellow Republicans who lead their undermanned Senate caucus Tuesday, accusing Minority Leader Mike Hewitt of having "exposed" his clothed posterior to her during a recent meeting.
Hewitt, who underwent a medical procedure Tuesday, was unavailable for comment, but three members of the Senate Republican leadership team issued a statement rejecting Pam Roach's accusations.
The messy internal dispute, which became public when Roach issued a news release Monday night, only adds to the woes of a caucus outnumbered by Democrats 32-17.
Reached in a Denver airport en route to Honduras, Roach said the incident occurred March 7 at an evening meeting of the caucus at a lobbyist's home just off the Capitol campus.
Roach, who lost to Hewitt for the opportunity to lead the caucus after the 2006 elections, said she asked for the meeting to discuss the upcoming Senate campaigns. She is upset the caucus has been unable to raise more money and recruit more candidates.
During the meeting, she said a dispute arose after she requested voter lists for all caucus members and that she and Hewitt came close together in a small living room.
She acknowledged flashing an obscene hand gesture to Hewitt and said Hewitt responded by flipping up the back of his sports coat and bending over.
"He was bent clear in a perpendicular position, down so far his head didn't show," Roach said, following up after boarding her plane.
"It was three feet from my face," Roach said. "I was sitting down and he's a short man, so there you go."
The statement issued by Republican Sens. Linda Parlette of Wenatchee, Mark Schoesler of Ritzville and Dale Brandland of Bellingham said that allegation "is factually deceptive and personally harmful."
Instead, they argued Roach merely was retaliating for a recent reprimand.
"Sen. Roach has distorted events that happened off campus to distract attention from internal personnel issues for which she was disciplined," the statement said.
They wouldn't elaborate, saying, "We want to make it clear that this disciplinary decision did not involve any one member of leadership; it involved all four members of the senior Republican leadership. The matter has to do with Sen. Roach's official actions, not any off-campus comments or observations she has about the caucus."
Roach said she was scolded for talking to staffers for too long and for keeping them past quitting time. She said she was instructed not to talk to caucus staffers, who have been instructed not to talk to her.
Once a candidate for governor, Roach has caused many a headache for Republican leaders over the years. Perhaps most famously, she once berated staff in a floor speech for having removed flowers from her desk. And in 2003 she was reprimanded for "retaliatory acts" against a former aide who accused her of brandishing a handgun in a threatening fashion.
Print
E-Mail
