Reps. Massie, Greene Call for Release of ‘Congressional Sexual Misconduct Fund List’
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Reps. Massie, Greene Call for Release of ‘Congressional Sexual Misconduct Fund List’

Reps. Massie, Greene Call for Release of ‘Congressional Sexual Misconduct Fund List’

“Congress has paid out more than $17.2 million over the last 20 years to cover 268 settlements on Capitol Hill, according to the Office of Compliance.”

Two days before Christmas, the House Ethics Committee (HEC) released a 37-page report alleging that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) had used illegal drugs and paid women for sex between 2017 and 2020. The report also claimed that one of his partners was 17-years-old at the time. According to HEC rules, an investigation ends when the subject resigns from Congress. Nevertheless, long after Gaetz’s resignation from Congress and his withdrawal from consideration for the attorney general nomination, the committee chose to release its findings.

In light of this decision, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) called for the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to disclose the names of lawmakers who have benefited from over $17 million in taxpayer funds used to “quietly settle charges of harassment (sexual and other forms) in Congressional offices.” In a Thursday post on X, Massie asked, “Don’t you think we should release the names of the Representatives? I do.”

In November 2017, Axios reported, “Congress has paid out more than $17.2 million over the last 20 years to cover 268 settlements on Capitol Hill, according to the Office of Compliance, which was set up in 1995 under the Congressional Accountability Act. In 2002 and 2007, those tallies topped several million dollars.” If the payouts totaled $17.2 million in 2017, it’s reasonable to assume the amount has grown significantly over the past seven years.

Massie included a clip from a June House Judiciary Committee hearing in his post, during which he had raised the issue with Trey Trainer, the former chair of the Federal Election Commission. Referring to President-elect Donald Trump’s then-recent conviction in a Manhattan courtroom on 34 felony counts related to a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, Massie said:

Congress has paid over $17 million in hush money for sexual misconduct inside of the offices in these buildings. And what’s more, that was taxpayer money, right? The allegation is that President Trump paid $130,000 of his own money, but here in Congress, we have – there may be some on this dais. I mean, I’m for turning loose all of these records. Who in here has had the taxpayer pay for their sexual misconduct charges the hush money?

I don’t know but I do know it is taxpayer money. And I do know not a single penny of it has been turned in as a campaign finance expense. Wouldn’t — I mean, is the FEC going to investigate the $17 million that the Congress has paid to settle, you know, behind closed doors, these sexual misconduct allegations?

Massie’s call to release the list was quickly echoed by other Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and former Reps. Mo Brooks (R-AL) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT).

Elon Musk replied on X, “Whoa? Yeah.”

Taxpayers have a right to know which lawmakers benefited from this slush fund. The hypocrites among them (on both sides of the aisle) deserve to be exposed. Hopefully, the forthcoming Department of Government Efficiency will provide us with the transparency we deserve in this matter and well beyond.

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Comments

Watch those who squeal the loudest against such disclosure….

I’m much like Otter, waiting for the parade to begin.
“Oh boy, is this gonna be great or what?”

thalesofmiletus | December 30, 2024 at 2:25 pm

Fat Alvin says sexual NDA’s are illegal in the state of NY. Looking forward to Congressional Democrats being prosecuted like Trump.

What a job! You’re surrounded by lobbyists who will ply you with free alcohol. You’re surrounded by young, nubile pages and interns who are eager to please. And you get your very own sexual harassment payout slush fund? Where do I sign up?

That’s like asking the FBI to release all of the Russian hoax material or the Seth Rich murder info. Never gonna happen.

It’s there to avoid blackmail because not-very-bright women vote. Men just see it as playing regular men vs women rules.

Indeed, the public deserves to know about all these taxpayer provided settlements algorithms allegations of sexual improprieties. The foolish demands by some Members, the leaking and release of the allegations about former Rep Gaetz from the ethics committee report seems to create a moral obligation to do so…. Unless that was just hypocrisy and partisan/ideological hardball.

I, unfortunately, believe that albeit incoming appointees are saying the right things, that we all hope means what we think it means, the CTH indicates that the decision makers of yea/nay only agree to appointees that will protect the institutions, not hold the institutions or personnel to account.

Rep. Thomas Massie has a great point. I hope that the speaker will get that data released. This is surely a non-partisan issue.

Sure would be terrible to miss an opportunity such as an undercover sting operation to rid both chambers of rot.

No one is above the law

Oh oh. Some people elected some other people who turn out to be qualified to cast the first stone. Mommas hide your daughters.

This whole story is nonsense built on nonsense. There is no ‘Congressional Sexual Misconduct Fund’. There is no ‘slush fund’.

Congress has something like 30,000 employees, all told. That includes people who work at the Library of Congress, the Botanic Gardens, the Capitol Police, the Capitol building itself, etc., as well as those who work for congressional committees, the house and senate administration, etc., and also those who work in the offices of individual congressmen.

Like any large employer, Congress is routinely sued by its employees, for all kinds of things including alleged sexual harassment, regular harassment, sexual discrimination, racial, age, or disability discrimination, safety violations, pay disputes, and all the other things that employees routinely sue their employers for. And like any large employer, such claims are often settled for money.

The Axios article said that over the 20 years from 1997 to 2017 the total amount paid to settle employee complaints was $17.2M. That’s an average of about $800K a year. But the graph published in that article showed that 2002 and 2007 had huge spikes, and the total for an average year was much less than that. So in the last 6 years it’s not likely to have been another $6M but probably about half that, bringing the total to maybe $21M for nearly 30 years. Show me another employer of 30,000 people with better numbers than that.

Of course the taxpayer pays these settlements. Who else should? Congress is the employer and therefore the one being sued.

The whole supposed scandal is because out of the hundreds of settlements (something like 15 per year), it stands to reason that some unknown number are for alleged sexual harassment, and out of that number some smaller number are for alleged sexual harassment by a congressman.

    CommoChief in reply to Milhouse. | December 31, 2024 at 9:38 am

    Then the Congress doesn’t really have anything to conceal and should immediately make known the accusations, the names of the accused and an exact accounting of the expenditure of taxpayer $.

    Sultan in reply to Milhouse. | December 31, 2024 at 10:39 am

    I doubt that “Congress” is the defendant in these lawsuits.

    And Milhouse, notwithstanding all you say, you make no case for keeping the identity and accusation information secret.

      Milhouse in reply to Sultan. | December 31, 2024 at 9:45 pm

      Of course Congress is the defendant. Congress is the employer.

      The Office of Congressional Workers’ Rights was established under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, which was one of Gingrich’s big achievements, making Congress subject to a bunch of employment laws from which it had previously been exempt.

    Ironclaw in reply to Milhouse. | December 31, 2024 at 8:34 pm

    It’s taxpayer money, we deserve a full accounting of how much was spent, on what and all of the associated details. No more trusting those crooks.

Of course congress is paying it but congress is elected and paid by the taxpayers. You say any large company does the same and you are probably correct but at the same time the people who make the hiring and firing decisions in that company know the names and details of what happened so they can decide if they want to keep that person. In the case of Congress the hiring and firing decisions are made by voters who have every right to know if the person they are voting for has been sued for harassment of their aides.

    It’s my understanding that this fund is specifically for members of Congress not their staff, office supervisors or office managers its a specific perk Congress voted for itself to cover member’s misdeeds. At taxpayer expense no less. Members of Congress are so spoiled, they never want to spend their own money! Our nation is at a financial brink because they find it so easy to spend other people’s money and to hold other people liable for their misdeeds. Both sides will fight and obstruct DOGE because none want to give up their cash cow. Follow the money!

      Milhouse in reply to jstrm. | December 31, 2024 at 9:48 pm

      It’s my understanding that this fund is specifically for members of Congress not their staff, office supervisors or office managers its a specific perk Congress voted for itself to cover member’s misdeeds.

      That’s precisely why I wrote that comment. Because your understanding is wrong, but unfortunately it seems to be common among people who read and believe stupid right-wing propaganda, which is no better than the stupid left-wing propaganda that one finds in such cesspools as ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, NYT, WaPo, etc.

Taxpayers have a right to know which lawmakers benefited, and taxpayers have a right to see the practice ENDED.

    Milhouse in reply to ChrisPeters. | December 31, 2024 at 9:52 pm

    In most of these cases no lawmaker benefited. In any case the practice SHOULDN’T be ended. Ending it means going back to the days before the Gingrich revolution, when Congress was exempt from employment laws, and employees who were wronged had no recourse. Congressional employees, whether they work in a congressman’s office or in the janitorial staff, should have the same protections as all other employees, and that is what this is about.

      CommoChief in reply to Milhouse. | January 1, 2025 at 8:15 am

      That’s a false choice. We can provide employees of the Congress access to the CTs for injuries, to include settlements instead of a trial but we can simultaneously publicise the allegations, the known facts and the names of the accused and accuser. When taxpayer dollars are used the public has every right to know about the expenditure in such cases.

Massey is my congressman. If all others had his honor there would be no problem in the U.S. House.