Previewing Day 3 of the Courser/Gamrat Hearings

A special committee that will determine the fate of two state lawmakers accused of misusing taxpayer resources enters its third day of hearings today and could vote on a recommendation to either censure or expel State Representatives Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat.

The bulk of Wednesday’s hearing was spent on Courser.

For an hour people in the hearing room listened – at times uncomfortably – to a recording of Courser describe his crumbling marriage, his affair with Gamrat and an email he was concocting to divert attention from it.

Then, he spent two hours on the hot seat fielding questions from lawmakers

House Minority Leader Tim Greimel says his members aren’t crazy about how House Republicans have handled the hearings so far but stopped short of saying they wouldn’t put votes on a resolution to expel the lawmakers.

Expelling either lawmaker would take a two-thirds vote of the House, meaning it would require Democrat support.

The chair of the committee, State Representative Ed McBroom, says he is leaning towards expelling both.

That goes against the recommendation from House general counsel which is to censure Gamrat and expel Courser.