Rep. Jeremy Durham walks back to his desk in the House Chambers after a motion to expel him was presented by Rep. Susan Lynn during a special session Tuesday Sept. 13, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Forty seven Republicans were joined by 23 Democrats Tuesday to vote to oust Durham from the Tennessee state Legislature. Durham faced allegations of sexual harassment detailed in a state attorney general's report. He denied most of them.

(George Walker IV / The Tennessean via AP)

By Joel Ebert and Dave Boucher, USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee

Embattled Rep. Jeremy Durham, accused of sexual misconduct toward at least 22 women and still under investigation by state and federal officials, was expelled Tuesday from the Tennessee House of Representatives during a special legislative session.

Republicans and Democrats joined together to oust the 32-year-old Franklin Republican, voting 70-2-4 after more than an hour of discussion to approve the first legislative expulsion since 1980, and only the second since the Civil War. The House needed 66 votes to remove him.

(Read our editorial about the expulsion of Jeremy Durham.)

Durham appeared Tuesday to defend himself before the House. He again noted that no formal complaint had been filed against him and that he's never been charged with a crime.

"No matter how guilty you think I am, there are aspects of this situation that should bother you," Durham said.

Rep. William Lamberth was clearly bothered. A former prosecutor, he thundered away at Durham the moment the embattled lawmaker stopped speaking on the House. He asked Durham to respond to numerous allegations outlined in the report, including whether Durham had sex in his office with a 20-year-old woman.

Durham looked agitated as he spoke from the well, but never directly responded to those questions.

House Democratic Caucus Leader Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, walked Durham through a series of questions about the attorney general report and investigation.

No complaint or charge is required to remove a member from the House, according to rules and the Constitution. Durham repeatedly tried to argue that an ouster procedure should be treated like a criminal hearing or any trial. But Rep. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, noted earlier in the day that court procedure has nothing to do with the House expelling a member.

Durham went on again to say the attorney general report was "anonymous hearsay" and that it was an unethical investigation. Much of Durham's speech focused on the mechanism of the investigation, not the substance of the allegations. But he denied sexually harassing anyone, as he's done in the past. He also argued that the alleged transgressions happened outside a 180-day statute of limitations that he noted pertaining to sexual harassment in law.

"I ask that you vote for due process," Durham said, after speaking for roughly 20 minutes.

The decision comes nearly eight months after leading Republicans, including Gov. Bill Haslam, state party chairman Ryan Haynes and House Speaker Beth Harwell, called for Durham to resign in the wake of a Tennessean investigation. The January investigation, which included reports from three women who accused Durham of sending inappropriate late-night text messages, set off a firestorm of scrutiny for the once-rising star.

In the aftermath of the Tennessean investigation Durham resigned from his leadership post, left the House Republican caucus and took a two-week hiatus from the legislature. At the time, Harwell also began exploring the process for expelling Durham while also calling for Attorney General Herbert Slatery to open an independent investigation.

That led to the roughly six-month investigation by Slatery's office, culminating in the scathing report issued in July. The report was released only after a Davidson County judge nixed an effort by Durham and his attorney Bill Harbison to stop the release of the report. The day after the report was released, Durham denied most of the accusations but announced he would suspend his re-election campaign.

The attorney general also sent information from a former Durham employee to state election officials. The former employee said Durham told him to put money from his campaign finances into his personal business. Durham has denied the allegation, arguing the state has also cleared him on this particular issue.

The state registry of election finance did say that a payment from Durham's campaign to the former employee "appears to have not been paid directly from Rep. Durham's campaign account," although a payment was listed to the employee in Durham's election finance report. The registry is still investigating a $191,000 discrepancy between Durham's campaign report and his bank account. In his letter to colleagues, Durham said the discrepancy is due to investments but didn't elaborate.

A federal investigation also still appears to be underway. Peter Strianse, a Nashville criminal defense attorney recently hired by Durham, recently told The Tennessean that the U.S. attorney issued two subpoenas for records related to campaign finances and a possible tax violation. Durham also closed his title company recently.

But before any discussion could get underway, House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, R-Franklin, called for and received a 30-minute recess. The recess lasted almost 45 minutes.

"I'm asking the speaker if I can go into recess to remind the caucus that paramount is to protect the Jane Does — the innocent women who are brave enough to come forward. So we’re going to break here in a few minutes," Casada said moments before the start of session.

The vote to oust Durham, R-Franklin, comes months after The Tennessean's investigation into inappropriate late-night text messages from the lawmaker prompted a Tennessee attorney general investigation and calls for his resignation.

The attorney general found 22 women, referred to in the report as Jane Does, who said Durham had acted sexually inappropriate with them. The report includes an array of allegations, from lewd comments and inappropriate hugs to giving beer to and having sex with a 20-year-old "college student/political worker" in his legislative office and home.

During the recess, Lamberth said he planned to make a motion on the floor that would allow Durham's microphone to be cut off if he tried to name any of the women noted in the report.

Her voice breaking, Harwell asked the GOP caucus to support the motion in order to try and protect the women from the attorney general's report.

"Don't do this to these women. Don't you dare," Harwell said.

Lamberth also called on the press not to print the names of any victims if Durham does mention them or try to release them.

"Please, for God sakes, do not print anybody's name. It is not right," Lamberth said.

The Tennessean has never published the names of any women who have accused Durham of inappropriate conduct.

The caucus meeting went on to debate the constitutionality of the session in general, with Rep. Andy Holt vowing not to vote on any measure to oust Durham.

Others disagreed.

"Let's go up there and flush this commode," said Rep. David Alexander.

Casada said he had not had a conversation with Durham Tuesday morning. When asked if the speaker had talked to him, Casada said he did not know, and reasoned that one of the leaders may need to talk to Durham.

"It’s unethical behavior for Rep. Durham to attempt to release names of any of these women that were taken advantage of," Casada said earlier in the day through a spokesman.

Durham has denied sexually harassing anyone, calling the investigation unconstitutional and an attempt to remove a conservative stalwart. He sent a letter to colleagues Monday outlining his critiques of the investigation and other allegations, and threatened to release a document that he says names the women who accused him of inappropriate conduct.

It had been unclear whether Durham planned to attend Tuesday's session, set to start at 9:30 a.m. Harwell and Casada said Monday they believed they have more than the 66 votes needed to expel Durham.

Casada seemed less confident after the GOP meeting Tuesday.

"It's going to be a closer vote than I thought," Casada said, moments before resuming the legislative session.