Men have been harassing and preying on women since the beginning of time. But as a wave of accusations against shitty men and subsequent firings have rocked industries from Hollywood to gaming journalism, it appears we've finally entered a new era. In this post-Weinstein world, bad behavior that's been swept under the rug for years is being forced out into the light. And Capitol Hill seems to be one of the many places while the hideous, toxic behavior of powerful men has been concealed for a long time.
As my colleague Allie Conti wrote in November, congressional offices are potential breeding grounds for inappropriate behavior, and the mechanism for complaints is hardly designed to help victims:
Accusers often get funneled through a byzantine process that ultimately leads to private settlements reminiscent of the ones that kept Harvey Weinstein's victims in the dark for decades. That system, coupled with the fact that elected officials in DC are often sleeping on cots away from their families, interacting with much younger staffers, and working in an environment that lacks a true Human Resources department and revolves around cocktail hours, together make for a perfect storm of enablement for would-be predators.
Here is a list of representatives and senators who have been accused of sexual misconduct. It will be updated as more allegations surface:
Representative John Conyers (Democrat from Michigan)
The accusations: In November, BuzzFeed published a story about the (now former) ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee secretly settling a complaint in 2015 in which a former aide alleged her employment was terminated after she refused “succumb to [his] sexual advances.” (That staffer, Marion Brown, later revealed her identity on Today.) From BuzzFeed:
She alleges that Conyers asked her to work out of his room for the evening, but when she arrived the congressman started talking about his sexual desires. She alleged he then told her she needed to “touch it,” in reference to his penis, or find him a woman who would meet his sexual demands. She alleged Conyers made her work nights, evenings, and holidays to keep him company... [She also] alleged the congressman insisted she stay in his room while they traveled together for a fundraising event. When she told him that she would not stay with him, she alleged he told her to “just cuddle up with me and caress me before you go.”
Three other Conyers staffers sent affidavits to the congressional Office of Compliance, which, BuzzFeed reported, "outlined a pattern of behavior from Conyers that included touching the woman in a sexual manner and growing angry when she brought her husband around."
After BuzzFeed published its story, Deanna Maher, who worked for the congressman from 1997 to 2005, spoke about Conyers sexually harassing her to the Detroit News. Allegedly, after a Congressional Black Caucus event in 1997 "she rejected [Conyer's] offer to share his room at the Grand Hyatt in Washington and have sex... The other incidents with the now 88-year-old Conyers involved unwanted touching in a car in 1998 and another unwanted touching of her legs under her dress in 1999."
Ethics attorney Melanie Sloan, who worked for Conyers in 1990s, told the Washington Post that she "witnessed and experienced behavior by Conyers similar to episodes described in claims against him that on Tuesday prompted the House Ethics Committee to open an investigation."
Sloan claimed that "Conyers routinely yelled at and berated her, often criticizing her appearance. On one occasion, she said, he summoned her to his Rayburn Building office, where she found him in his underwear."
The response: Conyers has denied all wrongdoing, but stepped down from his post on the House Judiciary Committee, at least temporarily. Arnold E. Reed, his lawyer, told the New York Times, “He wants an opportunity to exonerate himself." On Thursday, he was hospitalized for what Reed "would assume... is related to stress."
Though House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi delivered a bizarre defense on Conyers on Sunday's Meet the Press, where she called him "an icon," she later changed her tune. “The allegations against Mr. Conyers, as we have learned more since Sunday, are serious, disappointing and very credible,” she told reporters Thursday. “It is very sad. The brave women who came forward are owed justice... Congressman Conyers should resign." In a rare bipartisan moment, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan agreed the congressman should step down.
Senator Al Franken (Democrat from Minnesota)
The accusations: Six women have accused Franken of sexual misconduct. In November, news radio host Leeann Tweeden accused the comedian-turned-senator of kissing and groping her without her consent in 2006 on a USO tour. She wrote in a blog post that Franken, who was performing "comedy" for the troops, wrote a sketch that required the former model to kiss him. After pressuring her into "rehearsing" the kiss, Tweeden wrote, "We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth... I felt disgusted and violated."
She also published a photo from the tour where Franken is "jokingly" groping her chest while she was asleep.
Since then, five other women have accused Franken of sexual harassment. Lindsay Menz, a 33-year-old woman who now lives in Texas, said Franken "totally grabbed my butt" when she posed for a photo with him at the Minnesota State Fair. Two women spoke anonymously to HuffPost about their experiences with Franken. “My story is eerily similar to Lindsay Menz’s story,” one woman said. “He grabbed my buttocks during a photo op.”
The other woman said Franken "cupped my butt" at a 2008 Democratic fundraiser in Minneapolis, and suggested they go to the bathroom together. “My immediate reaction was disgust,” she told HuffPost. “But my secondary reaction was disappointment. I was excited to be there and to meet him. And so to have that happen really deflated me. It felt like: ‘Is this really the person who is going to be in a position of power to represent our community?’”
“I can categorically say that I did not proposition anyone to join me in any bathroom,” Franken told HuffPost.
On Thursday, Army veteran Stephanie Kemplin said Franken "groped my right breast" during the photo op on his 2003 USO tour. Shortly after, Jezebel published an account from a former New England elected official who said Franken tried to give her "a wet, open-mouthed kiss" when she appeared as a guest on Air America when he was a host on the short-lived progressive radio station. “It was onstage in front of a full theater... It was insidious. It was in plain sight and yet nobody saw it," the woman said.
The response: After Tweeden came forward with her accusation, Franken released a statement apologizing and inviting the Senate ethics committee to investigate him:
I respect women. I don't respect men who don't. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed... While I don't remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences. I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.
Amid the growing number of allegations against Franken, his spokesperson released this statement:
When asked whether Franken should resign, Senate Democrats have largely stuck to the same response: It's up to the ethics committee to investigate. On Thursday New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand told a reporter, "It's his decision" when asked whether Franken should resign.
Three House Democrats—Ohio's Tim Ryan and New York's Kathleen Rice and Joseph Crowley have called on Franken (and Conyers) to resign.
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