A defiant Todd Hiett, the chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, said Wednesday that allegations he got blackout drunk and groped an energy industry employee at a conference in Minnesota will not cause him to resign from office.
“I don’t have any plans of resigning,” Hiett said in his office after a meeting Wednesday. “I’ve confessed my sin, apologized, and I’ve sought treatment with some of the best doctors and counselors in the country for this area, you know, specializing in this area. And that’s ongoing and very successful. And it’s been going now for 30 days as of tomorrow, I guess.”
Hiett stood his ground in the Will Rogers Memorial Office Building despite Commissioner Bob Anthony calling for his resignation and Commissioner Kim David directing the agency to begin an independent investigation.
Also Wednesday, House Democrats asked Gov. Kevin Stitt to call a special session for impeachment proceedings against Hiett, a former Republican speaker of the House elected to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission in 2014. He was reelected in 2020 to serve another six-year term, and he cannot seek a third term in 2026 because of term limits.
“That’s across the street (at the State Capitol), and I’ll just let them sort that out over there,” Hiett said of the call for his impeachment.
In 2005, Hiett became the first Republican speaker of the Oklahoma House in 80 years, leaving office two years later when he could not seek reelection because of legislative term limits.
The investigation ordered Wednesday will examine reports that an intoxicated Hiett groped a man during a meeting of the Mid-America Regulatory Conference in June in Minneapolis. As first reported by Nolan Clay of The Oklahoman, the man is said to be associated with a utility that conducts business before the OCC.
“I don’t want this agency to be seen as brushing something under the rug,” David said toward media during the meeting before turning to Hiett. “And I do understand, Commissioner, that you have been seeking treatment on this, and I appreciate that. I feel it may be prudent for us to do an independent investigation. That way it’s not this agency doing an investigation.”
Anthony, a Republican departing in January owing to term limits after 36 years in his position, was more direct.
“I call on Commissioner Hiett to resign his office immediately,” he said. “There can be no tolerance for his actions, especially when directed toward persons whose companies, industries and jobs will otherwise continue to be directly affected by the regulatory decisions he makes. The situation is untenable.”
Over the years they have served together, Anthony and Hiett have sparred over different issues, including Anthony’s claim that Hiett’s service on the board of Spirit Bank threatens “the very lawfulness of the commission process.”
On Wednesday, Anthony noted that Hiett has apologized for the actions he claims not to remember, but the longtime commissioner said that is not enough.
“Neither getting sober nor sincerely apologizing can resolve it,” Anthony said. “Hiett’s immediate departure is the only corrective action possible to restore any functional level of integrity or credibility to the business conducted at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. His so-called apology is insufficient and unacceptable, and his ongoing attempts to downplay the seriousness of what occurred only compound the offense.”
Anthony referenced Hiett’s statements to The Oklahoman that he “clearly” was not in his “right mind” and that he was “apparently playing a joke on someone.”
“Hiett has not apologized for what he actually did, nor has he apologized for the disgrace and delegitimization his actions have brought upon the Corporation Commission, its employees and his fellow regulators, especially those from other states,” Anthony said. “The behavior that has been described is beyond inappropriate or offensive. It is horrifying, disgusting and probably criminal. Alcohol is no excuse for it.”
Commissioners say they have heard other allegations about Hiett
Anthony said this is not the first time he has heard allegations that Hiett has behaved inappropriately. He said he attended a National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners meeting in November and was told by witnesses that Hiett had passed out from drinking and that he had to be taken by a golf cart to his room.
At another NARUC meeting in January, Anthony said Hiett got drunk during the convention’s reception and showed up for the conference’s morning session the next day two hours late “and looked like hell.”
“And that’s me observing personal knowledge, not hearsay,” Anthony said.
David said after the meeting that she had heard allegations of other incidents in which Hiett has shown drunken behavior.
“It’s just conjecture so I don’t want to say anything about conjecture, you know, so that’s why I think it’s important that we investigate it,” she said.
David, who was elected to the commission in 2022, agreed with Anthony that they cannot force Hiett to resign.
“The harshest thing we could hand down is to remove him as chairman,” David said.
If Hiett does not resign, the House of Representatives could remove him through impeachment.
Since July 16 when The Oklahoman first reported on Hiett’s alleged behavior in Minneapolis, Hiett has issued statements about why he is not stepping down. He has attempted to apologize and explain his alleged inappropriate behavior.
“As a commission, we are facing a heavy workload including numerous rate cases with a tremendous potential impact to ratepayers,” he said in one statement. “It would be a detriment for me to step aside from my responsibility to balance the interests of ratepayers to those of the utilities.”
In another statement, Hiett said he has “fallen into the trap of using alcohol to combat stress.”
“I am appalled and ashamed by what I have been told about my behavior while drinking in a social situation at a recent conference. I have no memory of this incident,” Hiett said initially. “I acknowledge the seriousness of this situation and upon learning of this event, I immediately sought treatment. (…) I take full responsibility for my actions and apologize to anyone who was offended by my behavior.”
After Wednesday’s meeting, Hiett reiterated that he cannot recall the June incident.
“I’m very confused by what happened,” he said. “But for whatever reason, I have no memory.”
Oklahoma Corporation Commission director of administration Brandy Wreath said after the Wednesday’s meeting that he will ask the Civil Service Division of the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services to see if it has a process or protocol for conducting an independent investigation.
Wreath said he received a call from the chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission telling him two of the agency’s employees saw an intoxicated Hiett rubbing a man’s arm and shoulder and then reaching down to his leg before groping him. He said police were not called.
Wreath said he asked if they wanted to make a statement to the OCC or talk with the agency’s general counsel.
“They said, ‘Thank you, but no thanks,'” Wreath said.
Wreath said the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s general counsel contacted the employer of the man allegedly touched by Hiett.
“They said the same thing,” Wreath said.
On Thursday, the day after the publication of this article, Kansas Corporation Commission director Linda Berry emailed NonDoc to say Wreath’s comments “do not accurately reflect communications between OCC and KCC personnel.”
“It is correct that KCC Chair Andrew French spoke with Brandy Wreath regarding this incident. The KCC’s general counsel has also communicated with legal counsel for the OCC. Neither Chair French nor the KCC general counsel expressed an unwillingness to cooperate with an investigation. In fact, the KCC informed both the OCC and the Oklahoma Ethics Commission that the agency and its personnel, including potential witnesses, are available and willing to cooperate with any investigation,” Berry said. “The suggestion that the KCC was not willing to cooperate is inaccurate.”
OCC employees who were at the conference were then contacted, Wreath said, but he said none were present when the incident allegedly occurred, which was after the conference’s business sessions.
“Our folks, they go home after the (conference) events,” Wreath said. “They don’t go out, you know, to the post events. They just don’t do that.”
About 90 minutes before the OCC commissioners began their meeting, House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson issued a release referencing Article 8, Section 1 of the Oklahoma Constitution, which specifies that state elected officials shall be “subject to impeachment for wilful neglect of duty, corruption in office, habitual drunkenness, incompetency, or any offense involving moral turpitude committed while in office.”
The last state official to be impeached in Oklahoma was Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher in 2004, who faced five allegations related to financial and campaign malfeasance. At the time, Hiett was the House minority leader as a Republican.
“I think it was the right thing to do,” Hiett said of impeaching Fisher. “We said as a Legislature, both Democrats and Republicans, that we demand accountability.”
Munson said Wednesday that the “reported incidents are an example of someone abusing their power and status in order to intimidate and take advantage of people.
“I want to formally request the governor to issue a special session to impeach Commissioner Todd Hiett after several reports of his habitual drunkenness and moral turpitude,” said Munson (D-OKC). “There is no place for such inappropriate and appalling behavior, especially sexual assault. If the Republican supermajority truly believes in accountability, keeping the trust of Oklahomans, and maintaining the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor will heed this call. If we do not hold those in power accountable for their actions, regardless of their political party, they will continue to wield their power in dangerous ways.”
(Update: This article was updated at 2:35 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1, to include comment from Kansas Corporation Commission director Linda Berry. It was updated against at 4:20 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5, to correct a reference Brandy Wreath made to a conversation between the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s general counsel and a third party.)
