Should Congress have a sexual harassment slush fund?

Lauretta Brown reports for Town Hall,

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), an ethics watchdog group, asked Monday for “the immediate release of the names of all Members of Congress who have been connected to the $17 million in taxpayer funds that the Office of Compliance (OOC) has paid out to victims of sexual harassment and other forms of harassment and discrimination over the past 20 years.”

FACT emphasized that Congress is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), arguing that “this is even more reason why releasing this information quickly is important—not only for the purposes of ensuring transparency in government, but to hold public officials accountable for criminal behavior as well as ensuring a safe workplace for employees.”

... Congressional leaders need to name names and each day that goes by without action is another day more innocent people are put at risk of becoming victims of predatory behavior in the workplace.”

...Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) is pushing for legislation that would make members of Congress personally liable for harassment settlements.

Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL) also recommended during House Administration Committee hearing on sexual misconduct that lawmakers accused of harassment personally repay the Treasury for settlements.

Read more here.

The way Conyers does it

Paul McLeod and Lissandra Villa report at Buzzfeed the details of the charges against Congressman John Conyers. They also explain the process victims must go through. Conyers is Chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee.

And the documents also reveal the secret mechanism by which Congress has kept an unknown number of sexual harassment allegations secret: a grinding, closely held process that left the alleged victim feeling, she told BuzzFeed News, that she had no option other than to stay quiet and accept a settlement offered to her.

“I was basically blackballed. There was nowhere I could go,” she said in a phone interview. BuzzFeed News is withholding the woman’s name at her request because she said she fears retribution.

Last week the Washington Post reported that Congress’s Office of Compliance paid out $17 million for 264 settlements with federal employees over 20 years for various violations, including sexual harassment. The Conyers documents, however, give a glimpse into the inner workings of the office, which has for decades concealed episodes of sexual abuse by powerful political figures.

Read more here.

Sexual harassment slush fund by members of Congress

Joel B. Pollak reports at Breitbart,

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet the Press Daily on Tuesday that the U.S. House of Representatives has paid $15 million to alleged victims of sexual harassment by its own members in recent years.

“We do know there is about $15 million that has been paid out by the House on behalf of harassers in the last ten to 15 years,” she said.

“15 million dollars has been paid out over sexual harassment claims,” Todd replied, somewhat shocked. “So, obviously more than one member of Congress.”

Pressed for details, Speier said she did not know how many members of Congress were involved. She also explained that victims had signed non-disclosure agreements.

“If the taxpayers are involved, don’t we have the right to know?” Todd asked later in the segment.

“I think you do have the right to know,” she said. “But right now, under the system, you don’t have a right to know.”

Speer described a one-sided investigative process that does everything to protect members of Congress — and little to protect the rights of victims: “Right now it takes almost 90 days to be able to file a complaint. And before actually going through the mediation, you have to sign a non-disclosure agreement. And then, you are not represented by counsel, but the harasser is represented by the House of Representatives general counsel.”

Todd admitted that Congress’s proclivity to sexual harassment was an open secret in Washington, DC: “It’s like finding out that there was gambling going on in Casablanca. The environment on Capitol Hill, particularly when I was younger in the ’90s and the ’00s. It was sort of well-known that that environment existed.”

Earlier in the day, Speier testified at the Committee on House Administration that there were two current members of Congress, one Republican and one Democrat, who were guilty of sexual harassment. She did not divulge names.

CNN also reported on Tuesday that harassment was widespread on Capitol Hill and in the surrounding office buildings.