Effort to expel Rep. Matt Shea fails with no Republican support

February 20, 2020 4:22 PM

Emily Oliver,

Posted: February 20, 2020 4:22 PM

Updated: February 21, 2020 8:27 PM

by Emily Oliver

The Washington legislature released documents used in a report that deemed Spokane Valley Rep. Matt Shea a political threat — Ted S. Warren/AP

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Not a single state Republican signed a letter to expel Spokane Valley Rep. Matt Shea from the Washington Legislature on Thursday.

In the letter addressed to Speaker Laurie Jinkins and Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, Representatives Gael Tarleton and Tana Senn asked the House Executive Rules Committee to consider Shea’s expulsion.

An investigative report released in December by Rampart Group accused Shea of domestic terrorism. One month later, the documents used to come to that conclusion were released.

“Considering the full report, including the additional information in these underlying documents, it is clear that Rep. Shea must now face the consequences of his actions, and the responsible consequence of those actions is expulsion,” the letter reads, in part.

The letter asked leaders of the House Democratic and and Republican caucuses for the two-thirds vote necessary to remove Shea from office.

Members were given until 5 p.m. on Thursday to sign the document, located on Rep. Senn’s desk on the House floor.

All 56 Democrats, with the exception of Jinkins, signed the letter, according to a communications specialist with the House Democratic Caucus. No Republican members signed the letter.

“It is profoundly disappointing and, I believe, destructive to the institution that not a single Republican member of the House signed the letter,” Jinkins said in a release. “While 56 members did sign the letter, without Republican support any expulsion of Matt Shea is futile. I will not spend another minute trying to convince my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stand up for what is right. There are 20 days left in this session, and I’m focused on addressing the needs across our state and finishing on time. I’ll let future actions be decided after we’ve done our work here for the people of Washington state.”