After a three-hour hearing Monday, the Kiowa Legislature unanimously voted to impeach and remove Chairman Lawrence SpottedBird. The hearing brought little new information to the public, but legislators re-presented their case and ultimately welcomed a new chairman who called for the tribe to “move forward with unity and urgency.”
SpottedBird faced a laundry list of charges alleging financial misconduct, including allowing his former brother-in-law to connect his RV to tribal utilities, losing $70,000 in T-shirt inventory, making a $50,000 “investment” in a Kiowa citizen’s toilet company and violating charitable donation laws.
“The Legislature is duty bound to convict on the charges under review and to bring an end to the wide-ranging and continuing pattern of financial abuse that has plagued our tribe for the past decade and a half,” Legislator Cole DeLaune, who presented most of the body’s case, said in his opening remarks.
Given an opportunity to speak after the case against him was presented, SpottedBird remained defiant by referring to the Kiowa Legislature’s impeachment power as the “fallacy of our constitution.”
“Well, it comes down to this: Do I have the authority to implement the budget that was approved and handed to me by the people when I first came on board? The constitution says I do. Do I have the authority to negotiate with outside agencies on behalf of the tribe? The constitution clearly says I do, and I have been,” SpottedBird said in his opening statement. “Fifty-seven percent of the people (elected me). The people get the right to impeach every one of you (legislators). That’s the way it happens. The people elected you, they should impeach you. But the fallacy of our constitution is that it gives seven people the authority to impeach the chairman or vice chairman. The people who elected me do not get a voice in this matter, and that’s a shame.”
He argued his administration was still in “sensitive negotiations” with the National Indian Gaming Commission over the letter of concern sent to the tribe in November 2023, and he argued legislators were impeaching him based on social media posts and vagaries.
“This is not a court of law, and this is how you’re allowed to present Facebook posts and innuendo and distortions of fact that you know are (distorted),” SpottedBird said. “You’re presenting a case to yourself because you are the jury and the judge. That’s what the fallacy is of our constitution. But, you know what, it’s our constitution. So you have that authority, and so I’m here to say, make your decision based on your Facebook and your innuendo and your distortions of fact.”
SpottedBird, a political newcomer who succeeded controversial Chairman Matthew Komalty in 2022, called the presentation of a defense a “moot issue.”
“Do I make mistakes? Of course. Do I break the law? No. You infer I do. You allege I do, but that is as far as you need to go, because you are the judge and you are jury of the leader of the Kiowa Tribe that 57 percent of the people voted for to find, once again, somebody that has experience turning tribes around in economic development. They had a lot of hopes when they elected me, and I tried to adhere to that promise,” SpottedBird said. “I know this is a moot issue, for me to defend myself. I don’t have an attorney. It’s just me, myself, as the leader of the Kiowa Tribe standing up strong against opposition, but I will accept this decision whatever you make today.”
After legislators were given an opportunity to speak, the Legislature unanimously impeached SpottedBird and barred him from holding tribal office for four years. Under the Kiowa Constitution, Vice Chairman David Sullivan assumes the office of chairman and may appoint a new vice chairman.
Before the meeting adjourned, Sullivan gave the closing prayer and delivered his first statements as chairman of the Kiowa Tribe.
“I just want to say before I pray that I know this has been a tough day. Tough on all of us, because we are a family. We are family,” Sullivan said. “No matter what, at the end of the day, we are family, and I pray that we all respect each other, and from this point on, we move forward with unity and urgency so we can move forward.”
SpottedBird, who appointed Sullivan after former Vice Chairman Jacob Tsotigh was removed from office, expressed support for the next administration.
“Well, that’s your decision. I respect it. I don’t agree with it, but I will respect it,” SpottedBird said. “I will support Chairman Sullivan in the smooth transition and hope he gets support from this body rather than starting a new battle against him. I hope there is a new start and that the Kiowa Tribe can move forward once and for all.”
‘Lead them with an example of principled resistance’
Speaker Michael Primus II introduced Monday’s hearing before handing off to DeLaune.
“These proceedings are convened in fulfillment of the Kiowa legislators’ solemn duty to uphold the rule of law, preserve the integrity of tribal governance and retain the trust placed in this institution by the Kiowa people,” Primus said. “Impeachment is an extraordinary constitutional function entrusted exclusively to the Kiowa Legislature as a safeguard of accountable government. It is not undertaken for personal or political purpose, but is a lawful process designed to ensure that public office remains faithful to the standards, responsibilities and obligations established under tribal law.”
In his opening statements, DeLaune acknowledged many Kiowa citizens may feel overwhelmed after experiencing corruption allegations in the past three administrations, but he argued “principled resistance” to corruption was needed to help solve the problem for future generations.
“This morning, our tribe finds itself at a flashpoint. No one can credibly deny that the Kiowa government contends with a crisis that carries with it profound implications for the kind of legacy that our youth and future generations of our people will inherit,” DeLaune said. “Will the dynamic that we leave to our children, grandchildren and their respective descendants be one defined by passive acceptance of corruption by leaders that have betrayed public trust, or will we instead lead them with an example of principled resistance to the moral arc demonstrated by the legal and ethical misconduct that has plagued past and current administrations?
“With the gravity of the deliberations at hand, mixed emotions are inevitable. As far as procedural points of progress, we are in unprecedented times. At the same time, members of the Legislature and many folks who are tuning in may be overcome with an uncanny sense of deja vu. For a decade and a half, no less than three successive executive branch administrations of the tribe have fallen under the dark cloud of corruption. Echoes of those governments past ring loud right now.”
DeLaune stressed that Kiowa citizens should focus on three main questions when evaluating the impeachment hearing, before arguing the record indisputably showed misconduct by SpottedBird’s administration.
“No. 1, is it reasonable to expect the chairman — as chief executive of the tribe — to answer for the use and/or misuse of tribe monies? No. 2, is it reasonable to expect the chairman — invested by the constitution with the responsibility to implement the laws of the tribe — to follow those laws himself? And No. 3, if financial impropriety and/or violations of tribe law by the chairman occur, then what is the appropriate remedy?” DeLaune asked. “Review of the facts and record is irrefutable and conclusive: Chairman SpottedBird has broken multiple tribe laws and constitutional tenants, as well as engaged in both illegal and reckless conduct through financial malfeasance, economic negligence, wanton disregard for tribal funds and outright what we would colloquially term as fraud or embezzlement.”
DeLaune, Queton present impeachment counts
DeLaune’s presentation went into detail on each of the impeachment counts passed by the Legislature, beginning with the case of Indian City Screen Printing. He argued the company’s total losses amounted to the equivalent of losing one year’s worth of emergency assistance funding for Kiowa citizens.
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“So Indian City Screen Printing in 18 months had a net loss of $448,294.19 (and) effectively wiped out tantamount to an entire year of emergency assistance (funding) that could have subsidized some of the most economically vulnerable tribe members,” DeLaune said. “No business plan was ever finalized for that particular enterprise. Obviously, that is disconcerting in the extreme.”
Legislator Warren Queton, who authored the Kiowa laws on charitable donations, presented another impeachment charge on illegal charitable donations and highlighted six violations of the law.
When discussing count four, DeLaune introduced NonDoc’s reporting on SpottedBird’s connections with South Korean religious leader Ock Soo Park into the legislative record.
“[SpottedBird’s attorney general] inaccurately states that the tribe was paid back by a check from Ms. SpottedBird, but as we can see in that exhibit, we were paid back as a tribe by Indigenous Leaders of North America — which, despite its name, is actually an organization helmed by a Korean religious leader of a new charismatic movement. A little bit of information was sort of delineated in a NonDoc article recently published on this particular preceding, and that is Exhibit 24,” DeLaune said. “According to NonDoc’s reporting, actually that July trip coincided with the prosecution of Ock Soo Park’s daughter in South Korea for effectively contributing to child abuse and the death of a child in her care.”
DeLaune also argued SpottedBird’s use of former Vice Chairman Jacob Tsotigh’s signature on more than 13,000 checks opened the tribe to unknown legal liability.
“Chairman SpottedBird says, ‘I don’t know and I can’t answer that,’ in respect to the question of if there is any potential for clawbacks of federal funds for any funds distributed from federal pots through the fraudulent use of Jacob Tsotigh’s signature,” DeLaune said.
After a lunch break, DeLaune focused on the National Indian Gaming Commission’s request that the tribe seek repayment for alleged overpayments to members of the Kiowa Casino Operations Authority.
“Just to be very clear, Chairman SpottedBird was obviously not the chairman from 2017 to 2020, but this charge is oriented around the misrepresentations documented in the testimony of (KCOA) Chairman (Richard) McMahon and Attorney General (Randal) Homburg to the National Indian Gaming Commission,” DeLaune said.
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‘I could be telling your pastors’: SpottedBird’s grandmother chastises lawmakers
A few short interruptions throughout Monday’s hearing were quickly handled with little issue. However, after SpottedBird spoke, he requested that his grandmother also be allowed to speak. Despite SpottedBird not submitting a witness list in advance as required by the impeachment rules, the Legislature allowed two Kiowa elders to speak on behalf of SpottedBird’s character. One was SpottedBird’s 93-year-old grandmother, Dorothy WhiteHorse DeLaune, who threatened to support recall efforts against members of the Kiowa Legislature who impeached her grandson.
“I am 93 years old this year. I am the last of the fullbloods — in fact, I’m a pureblood. My folks were both full blown Kiowa. I know all of you. I know what roots you come from. Some of them are rich and some of them are poor, and I can pass judgement because I look around and know the ones that try,” WhiteHorse DeLaune said. “It’s not going to take me long to get a petition to recall people. I can get it in a couple of weeks.”
She argued her grandson was a tribal elder who deserved the tribe’s respect.
“Respect is respect. He’s an elder, and you don’t just blatantly call someone (a thief). I didn’t know I could get y’all in trouble saying you’re a thief, but goodness me,” she said. “I could be telling your pastors. I could be doing things like that, but I’m too busy trying to represent the tribe on things that are positive.”
After the witnesses spoke, Cole DeLaune said SpottedBird’s arguments against the constitution and invocations of his faith in his defense were troubling.
“Three separate times the chairman used the phrase ‘the fallacy of our constitution.’ That is profoundly troubling coming from the elected officer who is meant to defend, uphold and implement our constitution impartially,” DeLaune argued. “There are many invocations of Christianity and the fundamental tenants of Christianity — along with love — are justness, fairness and making sure that everyone is treated equally and that we are accountable to ourselves and our Lord. All glory to God and all power to the people, because that is where the power in our tribe should rest.”
