Lawmaker Used $84K of Taxpayer Money to Settle Sexual Harassment Complaint

The sex scandals erupting all over the nation have involved both political parties.  Al Franken, Roy Moore, and John Conyers have dominated the headlines.  And now a little-known Treasury Department “shush fund” has been revealed, apparently created by the congressional Office of Compliance (OOC), to help silence accusers of sexual predators who also happen to be career politicians.

Yes, you read that correctly: the government is using tax payer money to silence victims of sexual abuse. Here’s the latest from the Washington Post: “Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.) used $84,000 in taxpayer dollars to settle with a former aide who sued him for sexual harassment in 2014.”

Here are more details:

The congressman’s former communications director, Lauren Greene, accused him of making sexually charged comments designed to gauge whether she was interested in a sexual relationship. She filed suit in after going through the OOC’s counseling and mediation process. Farenthold denied wrongdoing in the case.

The revelation sheds new light on the secretive process that lawmakers use to settle workplace complaints against them and their aides using public funds. In total, the Treasury fund has paid for settlements related to six claims against House members’ offices since 2013, the OOC wrote in a letter Friday to the Committee on House Administration. The five complaints not pertaining to sexual harassment alleged one or more forms of employment discrimination and in some cases, retaliation, the letter stated.

So, is anyone else furious that such a fund exists?  And should the government so strongly assume the presence of sexual intimidation and predatory behavior that it has its own cushy fund to keep it all quiet?

There’s a lot of secrecy around this.  “Members such as Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) have used their office budgets to settle — and conceal — complaints. Settlements reached using this method are not tracked, and they are difficult to identify, even in congressional offices’ payment records.”

Wait, didn’t Americans believe in transparency?  Let’s hear what Farenthold believes about that.

“While I 100% support more transparency with respect to claims against members of Congress, I can neither confirm nor deny that settlement involved my office as the Congressional Accountability Act prohibits me from answering that question,” he said.

Got that?

If 2017 has taught us anything, it’s that sexual scandals eventually see the light of day.  Both parties need to come clean and to make it stop.  Here’s a secret, politicians — none of you are that important.  If you get sent home from Washington DC carrying a suitcase because you’re a sexual creep to others, the American people are fine with that.

It’s way past time to stop elevating politicians and to restore accountability to the American people.

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Hat Tip: Washington Post